New (to me) Amazon shenanigans: Requiring a business account AND a “healthcare license” to buy a screwdriver bit holder

A few days back, I looked up the Amazon listing for a low-ESD precision screwdriver bit holder, the 1013 Kraftform Micro ESD Bitholding screwdriver and was nonplussed to see that Amazon was requiring a prospective purchaser to be both an Amazon business account holder and to have submitted healthcare industry credentials to one of Earth’s most nefarious gigacorps and to have had this malign entity deign to recognize your healthcare license. As prerequisites for buying a micro-screwdriver bit holder, mind you, not an actual medical device:

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As someone who won’t join Amazon Prime, over the years I’ve very occasionally (as in, can be counted on one hand’s fingers) been prevented from purchasing some item temporarily reserved for Amazon Prime suckers. Paying for the privilege of being allowed to buy stuff at an online store feels bad, man, and I won’t do it. If they’d pushed Prime much harder and more items I’d needed had been affected, I’d have stopped using Amazon and sought out the same goods elsewhere, even if that had been more expensive or troublesome.

I’ve also received Amazon robo-email solicitations to get an Amazon business account, extolling (iirc) the pennies that could’ve been saved if only I’d had one for the last year. Jumping through hoops and providing whatever documentation and other information Amazon would demand, all of which will be used by Amazon to their own advantage (e.g., in the near term, tighter targeting of recommendations and efforts to sell me on other Amazon-owned goods and services) and shared or sold to third parties ad infinitum) for paltry savings shaved off Amazon’s continually, wildly oscillating prices seems likely to be the sort of thing I’d regret in hindsight.

Here, however, we have a relatively innocuous, general-use tool placed beyond the reach of paying customers who are unwilling or unable to sign up for an Amazon business account and seek and receive recognition from Amazon as some sort of medical practitioner or a veterinarian, optometrist, medical device merchant (i.e. a Durable Medical Equipment [DME] retailer), federally-recognized medical lab (CLIA Laboratories), naturopathic doctor (in Colorado and eight other states), etc. Amazon lists the eligible professions and it seems to be a U.S.A.-only sort of thing.

This sort of thing isn’t good. You can envision scenarios where, for example, select (or all) pet chow products, bags of cat litter, or dog toys are cheaper for or perhaps only available for purchase (as with the bit holder) by customers who’ve furnished Amazon with scans of pet adoption or license documentation to Amazon, uploaded a personal selfie with their furbaby, shared veterinarian-provided proof their animals are up to date on all conceivable pet vaccinations, etc. I think you get the idea.

We’re not quite there yet, thankfully. For now at least, you can still buy the same product from another Amazon, like Amazon.de (Amazon’s tentacle into Germany) or from other retailers. If you don’t already have the compatible bits, you might be interested in one of Wera’s Kraftform Kompakt Micro ESD kits that include this bit holder and an assortment of bits in a fold-over-and-velcro-closure pouch, which you can still readily purchase from Amazon.com without having to undergo any sort of professional license and/or address verification.

Amazon listings include an error-reporting mechanism, the Report an issue with this product or seller link. I’ve submitted a report and will check back later to see if Amazon modifies or removes the purchaser qualification hurdles for this item.