4 ms·

The thing I never understood about Prime is that unless you are extremely impatient, prime buys you nothing [1]. I'm not impatient (2 business days vs 5 is rare

by ac29 11y ago

The thing I never understood about Prime is that unless you are extremely impatient, prime buys you nothing [1]. I'm not impatient (2 business days vs 5 is rarely a problem), but even if I had paid for 2 day shipping on every Amazon order I made last year, it would have cost less than the cost of a Prime Subscription. The real insidious thing is what the OP pointed out -- in an attempt to justify their $100 subscription, people end up spending more than they otherwise would. [1] I'm not counting the Prime Video service/etc, which may have value to people.

dabeeeenster 11y ago
In the UK they recently upped the minimum spend to qualify for free delivery which is what tripped me to get Prime...
apendleton 11y ago
I think this misunderstands the value proposition somewhat. Prime changes the convenience calculus of Amazon vs. buying locally. Before I had Prime, I also rarely paid for expedited shipping, but if I had needed something quickly, I'd instead have been more likely to go to the local Best Buy (or Target or whatever) instead. I don't buy from Amazon to justify the subscription, but the fact that I have the subscription now makes Amazon sufficiently convenient that it's the best choice as compared to other options.
- natch 11y ago
  It changes the calculus in Amazon's favor, with the benefit accruing to Amazon, and yet, Amazon tricks the customer into paying for this benefit. It's pretty brilliant, but I'm not gullible enough to pay for it when it buys me literally nothing. Faster shipping, when needed, I can already buy, without Prime, and for much less.
  - dxhdr 11y ago
    I don't see it that way. I'd rather pay $100 a year to avoid going to chains like Best Buy, Target, Bed Bath, Walmart, what have you. Not only are those places inconvenient compared to online shopping but their products are often inferior, overpriced, or both. Frankly 2 day shipping is awesome, $8/month is totally worth the convenience, no tricks involved. Similarly, does Starbucks trick me when it charges $2.25 for a coffee that I could brew myself for $0.15? Sometimes the convenience is worth it. Amazon Prime makes shopping extremely convenient!
cj 11y ago
If you're ordering a new pair of fancy headphones, you can probably wait an extra few days without Prime. But if you're about to run out of toilet paper, soap, deodorant, dish detergent, printer paper, etc... sometimes you just can't wait 5 days :)
- mikeash 11y ago
  Sounds like a failure of planning. Those thing don't disappear suddenly. (I know, a lot of people suck at this, and it's good for them to have options.)
- natch 11y ago
  I never understood this argument. Stores are still a thing, right? And if you are incapable of planning, how is Prime going to help you? When you need one of those things, even with Prime you're still going to the store, because you're not going to wait a day or two for TP or printer paper.
wlkr 11y ago
I find it useful being certain that an ordered item is coming on a certain day so that I don't have to worry about missing delivery and dealing with later collecting it. The additional services (Video/Music/Kindle Lending Library) are nice features if you make the most of them, which I do as I use no other media streaming services. I should probably say that I don't pay full price for Amazon Prime but pay the student rate (50%) which I find to be reasonable.
petke 11y ago
I don't get it either. National shipping isn't that expensive to justify paying 100 usd a year, and prime doesn't cover international shipping. So what do you actually get? Fast shipping. Doesn't seem worth it. I live in a European country without its own Amazon portal, so all my shipping is international. Even if they had free international shipping the next day, prime doesn't seem like a good deal to me. As I only buy a handful of items a year from them. Mostly books.
- ketralnis 11y ago
  If Amazon doesn't even market to your country, surely you can't think that you are the target market for it

by ac29 11y ago

dabeeeenster 11y ago

In the UK they recently upped the minimum spend to qualify for free delivery which is what tripped me to get Prime...

apendleton 11y ago

I think this misunderstands the value proposition somewhat. Prime changes the convenience calculus of Amazon vs. buying locally. Before I had Prime, I also rarely paid for expedited shipping, but if I had needed something quickly, I'd instead have been more likely to go to the local Best Buy (or Target or whatever) instead. I don't buy from Amazon to justify the subscription, but the fact that I have the subscription now makes Amazon sufficiently convenient that it's the best choice as compared to other options.

natch 11y ago
It changes the calculus in Amazon's favor, with the benefit accruing to Amazon, and yet, Amazon tricks the customer into paying for this benefit. It's pretty brilliant, but I'm not gullible enough to pay for it when it buys me literally nothing. Faster shipping, when needed, I can already buy, without Prime, and for much less.
- dxhdr 11y ago
  I don't see it that way. I'd rather pay $100 a year to avoid going to chains like Best Buy, Target, Bed Bath, Walmart, what have you. Not only are those places inconvenient compared to online shopping but their products are often inferior, overpriced, or both. Frankly 2 day shipping is awesome, $8/month is totally worth the convenience, no tricks involved. Similarly, does Starbucks trick me when it charges $2.25 for a coffee that I could brew myself for $0.15? Sometimes the convenience is worth it. Amazon Prime makes shopping extremely convenient!

cj 11y ago

If you're ordering a new pair of fancy headphones, you can probably wait an extra few days without Prime. But if you're about to run out of toilet paper, soap, deodorant, dish detergent, printer paper, etc... sometimes you just can't wait 5 days :)

mikeash 11y ago
Sounds like a failure of planning. Those thing don't disappear suddenly. (I know, a lot of people suck at this, and it's good for them to have options.)
natch 11y ago
I never understood this argument. Stores are still a thing, right? And if you are incapable of planning, how is Prime going to help you? When you need one of those things, even with Prime you're still going to the store, because you're not going to wait a day or two for TP or printer paper.

wlkr 11y ago

I find it useful being certain that an ordered item is coming on a certain day so that I don't have to worry about missing delivery and dealing with later collecting it. The additional services (Video/Music/Kindle Lending Library) are nice features if you make the most of them, which I do as I use no other media streaming services. I should probably say that I don't pay full price for Amazon Prime but pay the student rate (50%) which I find to be reasonable.

petke 11y ago

I don't get it either. National shipping isn't that expensive to justify paying 100 usd a year, and prime doesn't cover international shipping. So what do you actually get? Fast shipping. Doesn't seem worth it. I live in a European country without its own Amazon portal, so all my shipping is international. Even if they had free international shipping the next day, prime doesn't seem like a good deal to me. As I only buy a handful of items a year from them. Mostly books.

ketralnis 11y ago
If Amazon doesn't even market to your country, surely you can't think that you are the target market for it