Amazon Prime

Myrtle said:
I've been a member for years, more for the Kindle books than the shipping. I've watched a lot of videos too and subscribed to a few other video services off and on over the years.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I have, Rose. :)
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me too..have had Prime for years... (y)
 

we live semi-rural and all the big box stores are 30 to 34 minutes drive, so the free shipping is a huge advantage. other members of the household indulge in the videos. in the grand scheme of things it's proven to be well-worth the annual subscription fee.
 
I'm a member, have been since it first appeared. I do think the benefits are worth the cost.

However, I don't always feel good about it... The think I don't like about the "free" shipping is that Amazon does it by more or less monopolizing low cost shipping. You or I could never ship anything for a cost even close to as low as they get. I believe that really disadvantages small businesses.

Doesn't stop me from using them...
 
Naturally said:
Been a member since 2007. Use free shipping and Prime Video the most.
The promise of 2 day shipping isn't as reliable as it once was before the pandemic.
But still pretty fast in the context of online ordering as a whole.
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I think the value of the free shipping depends on where you live. There's an Amazon warehouse a few miles from me and I often get things same day and almost anything next day. International can take longer.

My son is very rural and everything he gets from Amazon depends on UPS delivery to his post office and he picks it up there. It can take several days. He won't pay for Prime.
 
WhatInThe said:
Same day charges are brought against Amazon for making it too hard to stop membership. Some say fraudulently enrolled

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/bu...ive-prime-sign-cancellation-process-rcna90375

Either someone got my cc number or I was on a virus filled site because I was enrolled and didn't even know it. The cc company took care of it for me.
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I just heard this about Amazon on the news. That must stop and I think it will stop pretty quick.

I've never been signed up for anything without my knowledge or had any trouble with them about returns, renewals, exchanges or anything. They have been very easy to deal with in my experience.
 
Playing Devil's advocate here. I'm wondering about my current membership with Prime. Seems that Prime Video is either not working properly with my new ROKU TV or they're having trouble with the quality, Buffers frequently while watching, we have to keep restarting. It restarts okay but not where it stopped usually further back so we have to either fast forward or watch the scenes all over again. Really bothersome. And, my opinion Prime movies pale in comparison to other streaming services.

During 2022 my savings on shipping was a little less than the $139. I use the free shipping on Walmart now more than Amazon's. Besides you get it shipped free when order is over $35 with Prime anyway, just have to bundle more when ordering. I'm going to rethink renewing next spring. Also the prices are somewhat competitive if not lower @ Walmart. I wish I had the figures before I renewed in May.
 
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WhatInThe said:
Same day charges are brought against Amazon for making it too hard to stop membership. Some say fraudulently enrolled

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/bu...ive-prime-sign-cancellation-process-rcna90375

Either someone got my cc number or I was on a virus filled site because I was enrolled and didn't even know it. The cc company took care of it for me.
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When I was going to cancel last spring, I removed my CC info from my account. Seemed like that would be the only way to avoid getting charged. Then the wife convinced me to renew. I will turn a deaf ear to her logic.
 
Iā€™ve grown a bit jaded with Amazon Prime, but if I really work at it, I can almost make it pay back for the $130 or so that I pay for the service each year. The trick is not to also get hooked into additional offers that they throw your way, like for Audible, Kindle Reading Unlimited, Amazon Music Unlimited, and so onā€¦
 
Rose65 said:
I finally stopped dodging it, signed up and found it the best thing I ever did. I have saved a fortune on delivery charges and am getting to watch some great programmes on the channel. No downsides.
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Total rip-off merchants, and I avoid all Amazon purchases like the plague. In this week's news.



By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday accused Amazon.com of enrolling millions of consumers into its paid subscription Amazon Prime service without their consent and making it hard for them to cancel, the agency's latest action against the e-commerce giant in recent weeks.
 
Avon said:
Total rip-off merchants, and I avoid all Amazon purchases like the plague. In this week's news.



By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday accused Amazon.com of enrolling millions of consumers into its paid subscription Amazon Prime service without their consent and making it hard for them to cancel, the agency's latest action against the e-commerce giant in recent weeks.
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That is strange because I used to be irritated at how easy it was to be trapped into signing up. However, a couple of times I mistakenly did get trapped but found I could cancel quite easily.
Eventually I decided to stay with it and it's great. I use Amazon all the time to buy things and find it excellent, saving me time, money and energy.
 
I've considered getting prime but, I always buy enough that the shipping is free and I usually get the orders within 3 or 4 days, I already have Netflix and several free streaming channels that I am happy with and the books I buy are purchased at a discount with Book Buddy or others, so for me It's just not worth the annual fee....same with Walmart's plan.
 
Alligatorob said:
The think I don't like about the "free" shipping is that Amazon does it by more or less monopolizing low cost shipping. You or I could never ship anything for a cost even close to as low as they get. I believe that really disadvantages small businesses.
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For shipping personal or business smallish boxes I've found USPS is priced better than UPS or FedEx Ground, and delivers within a similar period of time.

There's no such thing as free shipping. It starts costing from the moment you add packaging and send it out via commercial carrier or drive it yourself. Labor, gas, vehicle upkeep, packaging, etc., aren't free. Amazon has us half-believing that shipping is magic. It's not.
Roadwarrior said:
Playing Devil's advocate here. I'm wondering about my current membership with Prime. Seems that Prime Video is either not working properly with my new ROKU TV or they're having trouble with the quality, Buffers frequently while watching, we have to keep restarting. It restarts okay but not where it stopped usually further back so we have to either fast forward or watch the scenes all over again. Really bothersome. And, my opinion Prime movies pale in comparison to other streaming services.

During 2022 my savings on shipping was a little less than the $139. I use the free shipping on Walmart now more than Amazon's. Besides you get it shipped free when order is over $35 with Prime anyway, just have to bundle more when ordering. I'm going to rethink renewing next spring. Also the prices are somewhat competitive if not lower @ Walmart. I wish I had the figures before I renewed in May.
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Good idea to look... When there's a spare moment I'll go over my last year's worth of Amazon purchases to see if it's still worth our while. I don't bother with their books, preferring to use my library (also free to download and a much wider selection), use Walmart more often for free pickup/shipping, and can't remember the last time I watched something on Prime, but would bet it's been over a year.

Rarely buy anything during their Prime Days.

Like you, RW, I increasingly use WM free shipping and store pickup. Very convenient.

All that said, even with the cost of Prime I've likely saved a lot of money over the years using AMZ, because I'm much more apt to shop impulsively in stores than online. Most items languish in my AMZ cart for days or weeks before I "save for later" (usually) or actually buy them.
 
I have no issues with paying for my Prime account.
Orders come quickly .. I use my Prime Visa card and get many cash back orders during the year.

Kindle account is my only reading option anymore.
And Grocery delivery thru Whole Foods never disappoints.
 
JustBonee said:
I have no issues with paying for my Prime account.
Orders come quickly .. I use my Prime Visa card and get many cash back orders during the year.

Kindle account is my only reading option anymore.
And Grocery delivery thru Whole Foods never disappoints.
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I use a Prime Visa card too. Then I use the points to donate to some of my favorite charities. Some have wish lists and it's an easy way to help them out without costing me more.

It depends on how much you order, how much you use Prime video, how much you read discounted books, whether you take advantage of other discounts for Prime members, etc., if you will benefit from the membership.

I do think it would be very easy for a family to run up more than $139 in shipping costs alone in the course of a year. It's just me and the pets here and I get recurring orders of their supplies, to say nothing of all the other things I order.

Note: It's not for everyone. People who don't like Amazon and would not benefit from Prime, should not get it. :)
 
I'm also a member, like how things I order I get in 2-3 days
I usually buy books, in the past couple of months have bought floor lamps which are easy to assemble
 
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