# Amazon coins/Virtual cash - COMBINED thread



## Jesslyn (Oct 29, 2008)

It was announced in a Press Release (see below), and from what I gather, you get the coins like points or Amazon promos--they point out that they (Amazon) will be giving away millions of them. The coins can be used in the Amazon Store for apps, games and in-app purchases on your Fire. Since gift certificates are similar, albeit can be used on anything, I think these are non-purchasable and can only be awarded or gifted. Maybe you can also win them in games? You can purchase them. Folks are speculating on if they are purchase controls for kids/teens, but that just confuses me--can't you use gift cards for the same purpose? Maybe you will be able to limit Fire purchases to Coin-only, but my comment on that is why don't they just do that with gift cards.

Whatever their purpose, I've learned not to underestimate Amazon's roadmap, so I'm interested to see what they plan for these.

Press Release

Introducing Amazon Coins​Coming in May, Amazon Coins is a new virtual currency for purchasing apps, games, and in-app items on Kindle Fire.

Amazon Coins is an easy way for Kindle Fire customers to spend money on developers' apps in the Amazon Appstore, offering app and game developers another substantial opportunity to drive traffic, downloads and increase monetization even further

Amazon will give customers tens of millions of dollars' worth of Amazon Coins to use on developers' apps in the Amazon Appstore-apps and games must be submitted and approved by April 25 to be ready when Amazon Coins arrive in customers' accounts

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 5, 2013-- (NASDAQ: AMZN)-Amazon today announced another new way for app and game developers to make money on Kindle Fire-introducing Amazon Coins-the new virtual currency for purchasing apps, games and in-app items on Kindle Fire. Amazon Coins is an easy way for Kindle Fire customers to spend money in the Amazon Appstore, offering app and game developers another substantial opportunity to drive traffic, downloads and increase monetization. When Amazon Coins launches in the U.S. this May, Amazon will give customers tens of millions of dollars' worth of free Amazon Coins to spend on developers' apps on Kindle Fire in the Amazon Appstore. Amazon will also make it quick and easy for customers to buy additional Amazon Coins using their Amazon accounts.

Amazon Appstore developers will earn their standard 70 percent revenue share when customers make purchases using Amazon Coins. Developers with apps and games currently in the Amazon Appstore for the U.S. don't need to do anything with their apps to capitalize on this new opportunity. Developers not yet in the Amazon Appstore should submit their apps soon-only apps submitted and approved by April 25 will be ready when Kindle Fire customers have Amazon Coins to spend across the Amazon Appstore. Developers can learn more about Amazon Coins today at http://www.amazon.com/amazon-coins.

"Developers continue to report higher conversion rates on Amazon compared to other platforms," said Paul Ryder, Vice President of Apps and Games for Amazon. "Now we have another new way to help developers reach even more of our millions of customers. Amazon Coins gives customers an easy way to spend money on developers' apps on Kindle Fire in the Amazon Appstore-and we're giving customers tens of millions of dollars in Amazon Coins to get started. Developers who aren't yet in the Amazon Appstore will want to make sure their apps have been submitted and approved by April 25 so they're ready for customers to start spending their Amazon Coins."

"We've already found that the average revenue per user on Amazon is higher than other Android platforms," said Keith Shepherd, CEO of Imangi Studios. "We're very excited about the monetization opportunity with Amazon's new virtual currency."

"Everyone recognizes Amazon's success in the e-commerce world - now the Amazon Appstore has become a major player in the mobile app marketplace," said Misha Lyalin, ZeptoLab's CEO. "Amazon's new virtual currency is designed to open new opportunities for developers and make things easier for customers. This is a great example of appstore innovation and we want to support it."

"We've been extremely pleased with how well our games monetize on Amazon," said Michael Grobe, Chief Financial Officer of GameCircus. "We're very excited about the launch of Amazon's new virtual currency."

Amazon Coins is the latest in a series of new features and services for developers that make Amazon the most complete end-to-end ecosystem for building, monetizing and marketing their apps and games. Recent announcements include:

In-App Purchasing for Mac, PC and web-based games, enabling developers to let customers use their Amazon accounts to purchase virtual goods and currencies from games on those platforms
Game Circle, which includes capabilities like Achievements, Leaderboards, Friends, and Whispersync for syncing games across devices, and leads to better engagement with games
Game Connect, which lets developers marry the ease and security of shopping on Amazon with the convenience of having virtual goods delivered directly to customers' game accounts
A/B Testing, a service that helps developers improve app functionality, retain customers and increase monetization
Adobe AIR Native Extensions, which makes it simple for Adobe Flash developers to add In-App Purchasing and Game Circle features to their apps and games
Amazon Mobile App SDK Eclipse Plugin (beta) allows developers to rapidly and reliably integrate Amazon APIs into their Android projects, speeding up development and cutting down on project setup time
Developers can get started at the Amazon Mobile App Distribution Portal (https://developer.amazon.com/welcome.html).


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## TraceyC/FL (Mar 23, 2011)

They say it, but others might not believe it... but i bet they are 100% on the Fire only. 

Great - you won free coins? BUy a Fire to redeem them.... 

Oh you want to lock your kids out of purchases and/or removed your CC? Great, you can with our coins and a Fire.

Give your kids an allowance of Kindle Coins to use on their Fire.

Control what and when your kids can shop with Kindle Coins, and integratal part of kindle Free Time on the FIre.


That covers my thoughts on the topic! LOL!! 

Don't get me wrong, they are entitled to do what they want. BUt they are in a position to make themselves look better than the Google Play store to the tablets that aren't certified for it (all kids tablets with shells for starters). They want to sell content - but apparently they want to sell devices AND content, not just content. 

Oh well, their store, their decisions!


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## ktylman (Jan 7, 2013)

There are a lots of reasons for Amazon to do this on the business side. There is the issue of controlling in-app revenue so Amazon properly gets their cut. There are also tax and currency exchange issues that can be addressed by using a virtual currency. It also makes micro-transactions more economical. These reasons are why some other platforms also use virtual currencies.

I'm sure a big part of the coins is to lock users somewhat to the Amazon platform. Another part is to also lock in developers. Compared to Android as a whole, Amazon has been doing an amazing job introducing features like this. I'm not a huge fan of in-app purchases so I probably won't use their coins but they similarly introduced GameCircle a while back. I will use that. I'm sure Amazon will continue to introduce more features in the future.

Google on the other hand is either struggling to implement these kinds of things Android-wide or they just don't care. Even BlackBerry is introducing these kinds of features faster than Google is. For my games, it is coming to a point where standard Android is becoming limited compared to the other platforms. What that means is that my future games will likely get a Kindle Fire port before a general Android port. And when I do get around to a general Amazon port I will likely have to cut features. I'm sure that behavior from developers is exactly what Amazon intends to happen.


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## TraceyC/FL (Mar 23, 2011)

This was posted in the comments on Gizmodo. THIS makes sense.... the more people they can convince to use it - the more they pocket. Before I read this, it didn't make a lot of sense.... but this, yup, this does.

http://gizmodo.com/5981745/amazon-just-made-its-own-currency-amazon-coins



> As a small business owner this makes perfect sense and I hope every company starts doing this. Here is why, every time you buy a 99 cent app, Amazon, Apple or Google have to pay a part of that to the developer but also a part of that to Visa, MC or Amex or whomever to process your CC. But if they sell their own "Currency", then you just buy it in bulk and it saves them a shit load on CC processing fees and depositing fees to large banks. Only way to break the monopoly from the banks.


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## runtmms (Aug 15, 2010)

Am I the only one who instantly thought of "Super Mario Bros." and collecting coins?

Or have I just watched way too much of my husband and my nephew playing wii together?


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## PaulLev (Nov 2, 2012)

I'm quoted in this article about a new virtual currency system for Kindle Fire to launch in May http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/77244.html


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## Hadou (Jun 1, 2011)

This is the first I've heard about some new "e-currency" from Amazon.  (I should come out from under my rock now and again, I suppose).  

I...can't say that I like the idea.  Just adds another kink to making purchases.  I don't really care for having to buy stuff just to buy stuff.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Folks: I merged a couple of threads on the same topic.. . sorry for any confusion.


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## PaulLev (Nov 2, 2012)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Folks: I merged a couple of threads on the same topic.. . sorry for any confusion.


Fine by me - thanks, Ann.


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

Maybe amazon is doing like Virginia?

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/06/virginia-is-one-step-closer-to-returning-to-gold-standard/


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