Amazon's promotional email

Amazon launched a promotion to try and get its Fire TV set-top box in the hands of as many of its loyal customers as possible. The company sent an email out to shoppers who have had an Amazon account for more than two years offering them the option to pay for the new box in monthly installments, instead of covering the $99 cost all at once.

After making their first $19.80 payment with the purchase of the box, Amazon will ship customers the Fire TV. They’ll then be on the hook for four more payments over the next four months in order to pay off their set-top device. Amazon won’t be charging interest, and won’t perform a credit check to determine whether users are eligible for the promotion. The email says it’s a limited-time offer, though it’s unclear when the promotion will end.

The promotion is limited to one Fire TV per customer, so people interested in having more than one box will either need multiple eligible Amazon accounts or enough money to pay for a full price unit up front.

Amazon has already offered similar quarterly installment plans for its Kindle Fire HDX tablets, though it’s unclear how many people have taken advantage of that offer. Like the Kindle Fire promotion, customers who can’t pay for further installments could get their Fire TV deregistered, which would lock them out of streaming further comment through Amazon’s service.

The move could make the Fire TV attractive to people who would otherwise avoid buying a set-top box at all, or choose a cheaper alternative, like Google’s Chromecast dongle. Amazon has plenty of incentive to offer its box to consumers at as low a price as possible, since it gives people more reason to use the company’s Instant Video service.

Reviews of the Fire TV have been largely positive, and Amazon has been on a full-court press to promote its new device. Earlier this week, the company released an advertisement for the box featuring 15 minutes of Gary Busey talking to things in his house in order to promote the Fire TV’s voice search function.

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