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At what point will customers start to say “maybe paying for shipping/driving to the store” isn’t that bad? This is a 50% increase in price since Prime got star

by stirlo 8y ago

At what point will customers start to say “maybe paying for shipping/driving to the store” isn’t that bad? This is a 50% increase in price since Prime got started and if you’re not getting something delivered every fortnight probably costing you more. Let alone the fact that amazon has been shown to use their reputation as a cost leader (in electronics, books, etc.) to increase the price of everyday items so the same basket can cost you less in Walmart.

ocdtrekkie 8y ago
Walmart has an excellent free two day shipping policy, as the case is, without a subscription fee. They don't have nearly the selection for odds and ends, but I don't use Prime, and buy where I can order the cheapest and get free shipping.
assblaster 8y ago
The problem is Amazon prices are frequently more expensive than competing online stores, so you're spending more with Amazon anyways. I think people will eventually figure out the predatory nature of Amazon's practices. The question is if it will be before or after online competitors are out of business.
c22 8y ago
This is true, but this increase still comes in at slightly cheaper than Netflix and includes a comparable streaming service. From this perspective the free shipping is simply a bonus.
- stirlo 8y ago
  I wouldn't consider Netflix and Amazon Prime Video comparable. Netflix has around 10x the content whenever I look whereas amazon has The Grand Tour, The Man in the High Castle and not much else. I can't see many people having Prime and skipping a Netflix subscription so it doesn't really work as a saving it's more of a nice to have bonus.
  - c22 8y ago
    I consider them fairly comparable: * They both have a very large corpus of garbage shows and films. * They each have a small handful of quality shows and movies that shifts as their licensing deals evolve and expire. * Both of them are increasingly bolstering their content with self-produced content that is mostly of dubious quality. At least in my household we seem to use each service roughly equally (I'd say 40/40 with the other 20% going to HBO now and no other cable, tv, or video consumption). You're also not giving Amazon a fair shake if all you see of value is The Man in the High Castle and The Grand Tour, I clearly get a lot of value out of my subscription and I have yet to watch either of those. Right now I see they have all of House, Sons of Anarchy, Star Trek (most/all versions?), The Americans, and many more; dozens of episodes of I Love Lucy, Mr. Rogers, and Sesame Street; and some great movies like 1984, Spaceballs, Charlotte's Web, the Indiana Jones movies, (all the?) Star Treks, etc.
- wuliwong 8y ago
  Yea that's really true for me. I didn't even think about Prime Video when I signed up but now I look at it as more important for me than the prime shipping. I feel duped. :)
Spooky23 8y ago
It is really puzzling to me. I honestly don’t understand the continued growth of Amazon retail. For most of the stuff I buy, Amazon prices are at par or worse than retail, plus you need to be aware of counterfeit goods. As my son has gotten older I go to the mall more to see movies and actually find shopping there pretty good. Discounters like walmart and Target have upped their game as well in recent years. Looking at my Amazon credit card, my spend has dropped about 30% a year without any conscious effort on my part. I guess I am a weirdo. :)
gnicholas 8y ago
Agree. There's still free shipping on larger orders, and if you need something cheap and can't wait to aggregate purchases you can always just pay extra to expedite. If you figure five bucks to expedite, this would cover 20 individual purchases. Of course, there's the media content to consider, but at this point I've found myself scrolling through their content for several minutes before finding something I can bear to watch. It's more common for me to give up than to find something I'm excited about.
- ktsmith 8y ago
  I've pretty much given up on Prime Video since they've added in Prime Video Direct. If I wanted to watch the crap that's flooding YouTube I'd watch YouTube.
deftnerd 8y ago
I'm in one of those areas where I can buy everything from Walmart online and just drive there a few hours later and they load everything into my trunk. It's faster than Amazon shipping, I don't have to get out of my car (useful with 3 kids), it costs the same or less, and I don't have to worry about obvious counterfeit items.

by stirlo 8y ago

ocdtrekkie 8y ago

Walmart has an excellent free two day shipping policy, as the case is, without a subscription fee. They don't have nearly the selection for odds and ends, but I don't use Prime, and buy where I can order the cheapest and get free shipping.

assblaster 8y ago

The problem is Amazon prices are frequently more expensive than competing online stores, so you're spending more with Amazon anyways. I think people will eventually figure out the predatory nature of Amazon's practices. The question is if it will be before or after online competitors are out of business.

c22 8y ago

This is true, but this increase still comes in at slightly cheaper than Netflix and includes a comparable streaming service. From this perspective the free shipping is simply a bonus.

stirlo 8y ago
I wouldn't consider Netflix and Amazon Prime Video comparable. Netflix has around 10x the content whenever I look whereas amazon has The Grand Tour, The Man in the High Castle and not much else. I can't see many people having Prime and skipping a Netflix subscription so it doesn't really work as a saving it's more of a nice to have bonus.
- c22 8y ago
  I consider them fairly comparable: * They both have a very large corpus of garbage shows and films. * They each have a small handful of quality shows and movies that shifts as their licensing deals evolve and expire. * Both of them are increasingly bolstering their content with self-produced content that is mostly of dubious quality. At least in my household we seem to use each service roughly equally (I'd say 40/40 with the other 20% going to HBO now and no other cable, tv, or video consumption). You're also not giving Amazon a fair shake if all you see of value is The Man in the High Castle and The Grand Tour, I clearly get a lot of value out of my subscription and I have yet to watch either of those. Right now I see they have all of House, Sons of Anarchy, Star Trek (most/all versions?), The Americans, and many more; dozens of episodes of I Love Lucy, Mr. Rogers, and Sesame Street; and some great movies like 1984, Spaceballs, Charlotte's Web, the Indiana Jones movies, (all the?) Star Treks, etc.
wuliwong 8y ago
Yea that's really true for me. I didn't even think about Prime Video when I signed up but now I look at it as more important for me than the prime shipping. I feel duped. :)

Spooky23 8y ago

It is really puzzling to me. I honestly don’t understand the continued growth of Amazon retail. For most of the stuff I buy, Amazon prices are at par or worse than retail, plus you need to be aware of counterfeit goods. As my son has gotten older I go to the mall more to see movies and actually find shopping there pretty good. Discounters like walmart and Target have upped their game as well in recent years. Looking at my Amazon credit card, my spend has dropped about 30% a year without any conscious effort on my part. I guess I am a weirdo. :)

gnicholas 8y ago

Agree. There's still free shipping on larger orders, and if you need something cheap and can't wait to aggregate purchases you can always just pay extra to expedite. If you figure five bucks to expedite, this would cover 20 individual purchases. Of course, there's the media content to consider, but at this point I've found myself scrolling through their content for several minutes before finding something I can bear to watch. It's more common for me to give up than to find something I'm excited about.

ktsmith 8y ago
I've pretty much given up on Prime Video since they've added in Prime Video Direct. If I wanted to watch the crap that's flooding YouTube I'd watch YouTube.

deftnerd 8y ago

I'm in one of those areas where I can buy everything from Walmart online and just drive there a few hours later and they load everything into my trunk. It's faster than Amazon shipping, I don't have to get out of my car (useful with 3 kids), it costs the same or less, and I don't have to worry about obvious counterfeit items.