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Part of Prime is getting you to give them $120 membership fee so you feel youre getting some kind of bonus buying from them ("free shipping") which reduces comp

by basch 7y ago

Part of Prime is getting you to give them $120 membership fee so you feel youre getting some kind of bonus buying from them ("free shipping") which reduces comparison shopping. I'm probably not going to buy $100/year memberships to costco, walmart, amazon, and target, even though im half way there and really tempted to pull the trigger on another. The membership fees almost pay for themselves just in preventing me from going into the store and impulse buying something on a shelf once a month. As far as Amazon Prime, I have to believe the price of shipping is built into the products, and the membership is for other psychological and behavior control reasons. Is part of this social network price the same thing. A cost to make it exclusive, acts as a bit of a spam filter. Then after having sunk money into it, you feel the need to make it worthwhile. I never think "ive been watching too much prime I better get my value out of netflix this month" but a communication tool might be different.

wtmt 7y ago
I agree with you on the Amazon Prime membership triggering impulse purchases, stickiness with the one day or two day deliveries and of course, shipping built into the products' prices. But Amazon Prime video here (in India) has a lot of local content and gets many new movies quickly onto it. My assessment is that Prime Video is probably a bigger attraction for people here (perhaps with Prime Music) than two day shipping alone (which is not very widely available on many products).
- basch 7y ago
  The one nice thing about Prime vs Prime video, is they advertise both prices separately, so we can at least get a peak at what percent of the prime cost amazon thinks video is worth. We know they arent selling Video by itself at a loss, it wouldnt make sense to give away video as a loss leader, if you arent snagging people elsewhere.
billfruit 7y ago
100$s? Amazon prime membership is 1000rs per year, which is less than 14$ a year.
- garmaine 7y ago
  Lucky you. In the US it is $119/yr.
  - ryanmercer 7y ago
    Gotta be smart, I think Amazon technically paid me to have prime one year and this year I've negatived a good chunk of it. Any time they have the 1$ digital credit for delay shipping I select it which then subsidizes a good chunk of my eBook purchases. I think I've had 4$ in credit just this week and have another 1$ I'll get whenever the 5$ shoehorn I ordered yesterday ships.
    - hombre_fatal 7y ago
      This post shows how smart Amazon's Prime strategy is. We have someone probably spending thousands of dollars with Amazon (and Amazon taking a good chunk of that in commission) bragging about getting some free ebooks.
      - ryanmercer 7y ago
        Spending money I'd spend at a brick and mortar store, that I'd have to drive to using oil life/tire life/gasoline/brake pad life/brake rotor life while also losing time. Instead, I can think "oh hey I need to get a shoe horn, the heels on the uppers of the slip-ons I wear to church are getting funky" or "ah crap, I forgot to stop and get a new belt on the way home and this one is getting pretty loose on the last notch and I don't think this synthetic material is going to be happy if I punch a new hole" or "instead of driving to 6 stores hoping to find filters for my air purifier, I can buy 2 on Amazon right here on the toilet and be good for the next 2 years" and "my xlear nasal spray is about empty here at work and this heat is really drying my nose out, I'll just order another now instead of waiting until I go to the grocery Saturday" and "I need another USB C cable, this one is starting to get pretty stressed, I'll order one on Amazon instead of driving miles out of my way to go to Walmart or Best Buy hoping they have one". Those are this week's purchases. All things I needed, all things I would have had to buy somewhere, all things I got a 1$ credit for which I will use towards eBooks I would have purchased either way. Or last week when I ordered a tofu press, I have no idea where to buy a tofu press in the real world but wasting gobs of paper towels and using books just wasn't doing it for me. It's not like I opened Amazon in a moment of boredom and said "let's see what I should waste money on today".
ansible 7y ago
I feel that Costco is worth it just based on bulk-buying toilet paper, dish detergent, and such.
- paulddraper 7y ago
  I have Costco premium or whatever the highest one is. Consistently great quality + deals. Right now they're selling a Costco-sized box of 1,500 Legos for $40.
  - godelski 7y ago
    Also get the executive. At the end of the year you get back 2% or $60, whichever is higher. So if you can front the extra $60, there's no reason to not do it.
    - basch 7y ago
      To get the up to $60 refund you have to quit the executive program. You dont get the difference every year, AND get to keep making 2%.
  - munificent 7y ago
    > a Costco-sized box of 1,500 Legos for $40. Man, you can't just put information like this out there. I can't be trusted with this knowledge.
  - ansible 7y ago
    Yeah, I've been eyeing that as a good gift for family. Or myself. I like the old-school stuff that isn't tied to movies or whatever.
- basch 7y ago
  Is this kind of bulk really much cheaper than walmart?
  - lotsofpulp 7y ago
blondin 7y ago
oh wow!! can't amazon create a social network of buyers?
distances 7y ago
I agree Amazon Prime is a trap. Without it the free shipping starts at around €29. That alone makes me bundle my purchases, which hinders impulse buying. Based on observing Prime members I feel most people would be much better off without the subscription.
- periya 7y ago
  This exact reason has helped me stop frivolous purchases as soon as I discontinued my prime membership. I hate paying for shipping and most of the time the items in my cart are < $25 at which point I ask myself if I really need this item. If I really need it, I go to the target/Wal-Mart near my place since they always price match. Not renewing my prime membership has been by very liberating!

by basch 7y ago

wtmt 7y ago

I agree with you on the Amazon Prime membership triggering impulse purchases, stickiness with the one day or two day deliveries and of course, shipping built into the products' prices. But Amazon Prime video here (in India) has a lot of local content and gets many new movies quickly onto it. My assessment is that Prime Video is probably a bigger attraction for people here (perhaps with Prime Music) than two day shipping alone (which is not very widely available on many products).

basch 7y ago
The one nice thing about Prime vs Prime video, is they advertise both prices separately, so we can at least get a peak at what percent of the prime cost amazon thinks video is worth. We know they arent selling Video by itself at a loss, it wouldnt make sense to give away video as a loss leader, if you arent snagging people elsewhere.

billfruit 7y ago

100$s? Amazon prime membership is 1000rs per year, which is less than 14$ a year.

garmaine 7y ago
Lucky you. In the US it is $119/yr.
- ryanmercer 7y ago
  Gotta be smart, I think Amazon technically paid me to have prime one year and this year I've negatived a good chunk of it. Any time they have the 1$ digital credit for delay shipping I select it which then subsidizes a good chunk of my eBook purchases. I think I've had 4$ in credit just this week and have another 1$ I'll get whenever the 5$ shoehorn I ordered yesterday ships.
  - hombre_fatal 7y ago
    This post shows how smart Amazon's Prime strategy is. We have someone probably spending thousands of dollars with Amazon (and Amazon taking a good chunk of that in commission) bragging about getting some free ebooks.
    - ryanmercer 7y ago
      Spending money I'd spend at a brick and mortar store, that I'd have to drive to using oil life/tire life/gasoline/brake pad life/brake rotor life while also losing time. Instead, I can think "oh hey I need to get a shoe horn, the heels on the uppers of the slip-ons I wear to church are getting funky" or "ah crap, I forgot to stop and get a new belt on the way home and this one is getting pretty loose on the last notch and I don't think this synthetic material is going to be happy if I punch a new hole" or "instead of driving to 6 stores hoping to find filters for my air purifier, I can buy 2 on Amazon right here on the toilet and be good for the next 2 years" and "my xlear nasal spray is about empty here at work and this heat is really drying my nose out, I'll just order another now instead of waiting until I go to the grocery Saturday" and "I need another USB C cable, this one is starting to get pretty stressed, I'll order one on Amazon instead of driving miles out of my way to go to Walmart or Best Buy hoping they have one". Those are this week's purchases. All things I needed, all things I would have had to buy somewhere, all things I got a 1$ credit for which I will use towards eBooks I would have purchased either way. Or last week when I ordered a tofu press, I have no idea where to buy a tofu press in the real world but wasting gobs of paper towels and using books just wasn't doing it for me. It's not like I opened Amazon in a moment of boredom and said "let's see what I should waste money on today".

ansible 7y ago

I feel that Costco is worth it just based on bulk-buying toilet paper, dish detergent, and such.

paulddraper 7y ago
I have Costco premium or whatever the highest one is. Consistently great quality + deals. Right now they're selling a Costco-sized box of 1,500 Legos for $40.
- godelski 7y ago
  Also get the executive. At the end of the year you get back 2% or $60, whichever is higher. So if you can front the extra $60, there's no reason to not do it.
  - basch 7y ago
    To get the up to $60 refund you have to quit the executive program. You dont get the difference every year, AND get to keep making 2%.
- munificent 7y ago
  > a Costco-sized box of 1,500 Legos for $40. Man, you can't just put information like this out there. I can't be trusted with this knowledge.
- ansible 7y ago
  Yeah, I've been eyeing that as a good gift for family. Or myself. I like the old-school stuff that isn't tied to movies or whatever.
basch 7y ago
Is this kind of bulk really much cheaper than walmart?
- lotsofpulp 7y ago

blondin 7y ago

oh wow!! can't amazon create a social network of buyers?

distances 7y ago

I agree Amazon Prime is a trap. Without it the free shipping starts at around €29. That alone makes me bundle my purchases, which hinders impulse buying. Based on observing Prime members I feel most people would be much better off without the subscription.

periya 7y ago
This exact reason has helped me stop frivolous purchases as soon as I discontinued my prime membership. I hate paying for shipping and most of the time the items in my cart are < $25 at which point I ask myself if I really need this item. If I really need it, I go to the target/Wal-Mart near my place since they always price match. Not renewing my prime membership has been by very liberating!