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What?? Amazon Prime is a killer value! Netflix is $11/month and Spotify is $10/month. Sure, those services are definitely better than Prime Video and Music, but

by vm 9y ago

What?? Amazon Prime is a killer value! Netflix is $11/month and Spotify is $10/month. Sure, those services are definitely better than Prime Video and Music, but I still use Amazon's offerings a similar amount so the $13/month bundle feels like a great value at 40% lower cost. And this doesn't even count the services I don't use like free Kindle books or Twitch game discounts. Not to mention the faster delivery times... The real benefit there has been changing the way I shop and think about shopping. I think I save massive amounts of time by almost never going to stores again. Even if the time savings is moot in the end, the psychological benefit of never having to go to stores has been wonderful. How much is that worth? I don't know, but it feels like almost zero cost given the value I get from Prime Video and Music (again, I admit that those services aren't "great").

kodablah 9y ago
> Sure, those services are definitely better than Prime Video and Music Not for me wrt Netflix vs Prime Video. The latter is much better if you value movies over shows and quantity over quality especially for older movies.
maldusiecle 9y ago
This is actually my biggest problem with Prime: it feels like a bunch of substandard services, most of which I don't need, bundled together. If I'm not going to use free Kindle books or Twitch discounts (and I'm not), their value to me is $0. If Amazon Music doesn't have the songs I want to hear, and I have to keep paying for Spotify for those, then its value to me is $0. Prime's value is mostly free shipping, and it feels like the rest is just promotional fluff (maybe with the exception of Prime Video, which has some well-regarded original content).
- Nadya 9y ago
  But it's all shades of gray. While you might like Prime Video - others may find it useless but enjoy the free Kindle books or Twitch discounts or other included offers. Personally, I order enough things throughout a year that Prime pays for itself in shipping costs. Any additional items are just that to me. Nice to have, especially since I'm not being charged extra, but are not why I'm paying.
  - ComputerGuru 9y ago
    > Nice to have, especially since I'm not being charged extra, but are not why I'm paying. That's not how it works. Just because you aren't being billed by line item, you are being charged more. Those services come at a cost to them, and instead of being amortized across the users that benefit, they're being amortized across all users. Case in point: this price increase. I'm sure it factors into account the price of all those services you aren't using/didn't sign up for Amazon Prime for. But you're paying it anyway. EDIT: The best example of this is one of the biggest complaints about cable tv services: to get channel x, you have to purchase a bundle of 2000 other channels too, which "justifies" an insane price of $80 more a month or whatever just for that one channel. The rationale is "but you're getting 20001 channels, not one, for that price!" and that's exactly what you're seeing here.
    - Nadya 9y ago
      Only true without grandfathered pricing or with actual price increases. I've paid the same price for Prime as when I first bought into it, even as additional items have been added for what I have been paying. My example is more like: I pay $80 for 200 channels. 2 years later I still pay $80 for 200 channels and 50 other channels that have been added. 3 years later I still pay $80 for 250 channels and 10 on-demand movies 4 years later I still pay $80 for 250 channels, 10 on-demand movies, and their new music channels
      - ComputerGuru 9y ago
        I've had Prime since day 1 and the price went from $75 or $79 to $100/year, so that isn't true (at least for me, in case it somehow is for you). But in all cases, while your price for that channel hasn't increased, the market price for that channel has. Your son moves out and he can't get the package you're getting now on his own; you're an exception that doesn't have anything to do with the fact that - in general - this one service now costs that much more.
        Nadya 9y ago
- natecavanaugh 9y ago
  I used to feel this exact way, and I do still think there are more than a few of their services that are pretty paltry. But with Prime video, not only do they have highly praised original content, they fill in gaps that Netflix and Hulu have, with content from the HBO catalog, as well as TV shows that Netflix doesn't carry. Add to that, the shipping for me, while not perfect, any time I've done free same day shipping, it's there. My only request would be that I would gladly trade some of my benefits (Amazon music for example, along with others) in exchange for some type of access to audible.com content. It would be nice if you could configure these services a la carte, but I doubt that's in Amazon's financial interest.
  - alexcroox 9y ago
    I use Netflix all the time, every time I check Amazon video the landing page looks the same, no new shows or movies. In fact my video landing page has looked the same for a good 2 months now. I'm not sure if they haven't added anything new or they just suck at promoting the new additions...
    - natecavanaugh 9y ago
      I 100% agree! Every app of theirs show the same stuff. I can't tell yet if theyre copying Netflix on their initial landing page on a consistent basis, but I feel like they've let some aspect of discovery escape them. Overall, I do love their library, but they could evangelize it in such a better way.
- Fnoord 9y ago
  Yep, that's exactly my sentiment. I signed up for Amazon Prime for a month trial, and it seems pointless. There's no Amazon Netherlands, so ordering from Amazon Germany instead who do have a lot. Not everything is subject to free delivery with Prime though. They wrote next day delivery. It took them 3 days. I can already order a lot from Bol.com with free shipping from 20 EUR order, and free return S&H. I suppose this is where, internationally, there's going to be larger differences. Already got Spotify, not switching. Already got cable, Netflix, and HBO. Not gonna add another. Already can't consume all this. Free ebooks, I got a Kobo w/o DRM. Twitch I don't touch with a 10 pole feet. I use Steam primarily, and bought various games on sale but I don't have time for games. If you're using two of these services though, and it'd mean you'd ditch the competitor, then Amazon Prime is already worth it.

by vm 9y ago

kodablah 9y ago

> Sure, those services are definitely better than Prime Video and Music Not for me wrt Netflix vs Prime Video. The latter is much better if you value movies over shows and quantity over quality especially for older movies.

maldusiecle 9y ago

This is actually my biggest problem with Prime: it feels like a bunch of substandard services, most of which I don't need, bundled together. If I'm not going to use free Kindle books or Twitch discounts (and I'm not), their value to me is $0. If Amazon Music doesn't have the songs I want to hear, and I have to keep paying for Spotify for those, then its value to me is $0. Prime's value is mostly free shipping, and it feels like the rest is just promotional fluff (maybe with the exception of Prime Video, which has some well-regarded original content).

Nadya 9y ago
But it's all shades of gray. While you might like Prime Video - others may find it useless but enjoy the free Kindle books or Twitch discounts or other included offers. Personally, I order enough things throughout a year that Prime pays for itself in shipping costs. Any additional items are just that to me. Nice to have, especially since I'm not being charged extra, but are not why I'm paying.
- ComputerGuru 9y ago
  > Nice to have, especially since I'm not being charged extra, but are not why I'm paying. That's not how it works. Just because you aren't being billed by line item, you are being charged more. Those services come at a cost to them, and instead of being amortized across the users that benefit, they're being amortized across all users. Case in point: this price increase. I'm sure it factors into account the price of all those services you aren't using/didn't sign up for Amazon Prime for. But you're paying it anyway. EDIT: The best example of this is one of the biggest complaints about cable tv services: to get channel x, you have to purchase a bundle of 2000 other channels too, which "justifies" an insane price of $80 more a month or whatever just for that one channel. The rationale is "but you're getting 20001 channels, not one, for that price!" and that's exactly what you're seeing here.
  - Nadya 9y ago
    Only true without grandfathered pricing or with actual price increases. I've paid the same price for Prime as when I first bought into it, even as additional items have been added for what I have been paying. My example is more like: I pay $80 for 200 channels. 2 years later I still pay $80 for 200 channels and 50 other channels that have been added. 3 years later I still pay $80 for 250 channels and 10 on-demand movies 4 years later I still pay $80 for 250 channels, 10 on-demand movies, and their new music channels
    - ComputerGuru 9y ago
      I've had Prime since day 1 and the price went from $75 or $79 to $100/year, so that isn't true (at least for me, in case it somehow is for you). But in all cases, while your price for that channel hasn't increased, the market price for that channel has. Your son moves out and he can't get the package you're getting now on his own; you're an exception that doesn't have anything to do with the fact that - in general - this one service now costs that much more.
      - Nadya 9y ago
natecavanaugh 9y ago
I used to feel this exact way, and I do still think there are more than a few of their services that are pretty paltry. But with Prime video, not only do they have highly praised original content, they fill in gaps that Netflix and Hulu have, with content from the HBO catalog, as well as TV shows that Netflix doesn't carry. Add to that, the shipping for me, while not perfect, any time I've done free same day shipping, it's there. My only request would be that I would gladly trade some of my benefits (Amazon music for example, along with others) in exchange for some type of access to audible.com content. It would be nice if you could configure these services a la carte, but I doubt that's in Amazon's financial interest.
- alexcroox 9y ago
  I use Netflix all the time, every time I check Amazon video the landing page looks the same, no new shows or movies. In fact my video landing page has looked the same for a good 2 months now. I'm not sure if they haven't added anything new or they just suck at promoting the new additions...
  - natecavanaugh 9y ago
    I 100% agree! Every app of theirs show the same stuff. I can't tell yet if theyre copying Netflix on their initial landing page on a consistent basis, but I feel like they've let some aspect of discovery escape them. Overall, I do love their library, but they could evangelize it in such a better way.
Fnoord 9y ago
Yep, that's exactly my sentiment. I signed up for Amazon Prime for a month trial, and it seems pointless. There's no Amazon Netherlands, so ordering from Amazon Germany instead who do have a lot. Not everything is subject to free delivery with Prime though. They wrote next day delivery. It took them 3 days. I can already order a lot from Bol.com with free shipping from 20 EUR order, and free return S&H. I suppose this is where, internationally, there's going to be larger differences. Already got Spotify, not switching. Already got cable, Netflix, and HBO. Not gonna add another. Already can't consume all this. Free ebooks, I got a Kobo w/o DRM. Twitch I don't touch with a 10 pole feet. I use Steam primarily, and bought various games on sale but I don't have time for games. If you're using two of these services though, and it'd mean you'd ditch the competitor, then Amazon Prime is already worth it.