Techcrunch is reporting that Amazon is thinking of offering up a free Kindle 2 to subscribers of their Prime service. Apparently spending $80/year can be a bigger savings than just shipping!

As Techcrunch points out, this does make sense. Amazon is targeting their best customers, and what better way to insure loyalty ahead of the iPad than by tying them closer to the Kindle store? The big snag is how to not lose money on this promotion.

A few ideas Amazon could consider:
-Require a certain number of books be purchased within the first year. Nothing crazy, but say 10 books. That would cut the bill for Amazon considerably, and spreads the “cost” for Prime subscribers across several months.
-Offer a partial discount to Prime users. A $99.00 Kindle for Prime members would blow out sales of both Prime and Kindles like crazy.
-Instead of a discount on the Kindle, what about a book discount? This could be a super sneaky way to drive prices back to $9.99; the list price could be reduced by a few dollars for Prime members, to emulate the “shipping savings” Prime offers on physical goods. Since there’s no delivery charge for an ebook, offer a small price reduction!

I think any of these are viable options; the important part is to get Kindles into the hands of people who already spend like crazy at Amazon. What would give you incentive to use Prime and the Kindle? Share below!

Via Techcrunch