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Amazon.com Help: Amazon Prime and Amazon Student Prime Membership Fee Changes

61 points by PankajGhosh 13y ago

af3 13y ago
=(
rickyc091 13y ago
$79 to $99. ~25% increase, but well worth it.
- mitchty 13y ago
  Last I heard it was going to be 120. But for a 9 year old program going from 80-100 that's an overall pretty good deal I'd think. I (a)buse prime shipping a lot so I tend to get a good bit of use out of it.
- lsaferite 13y ago
  Seems like it's in-line with inflation actually. At least according to the site I just checked. And for someone like me, even $100 a year is a deal as I order from Amazon a LOT.
piggyback 13y ago
Did Amazon Prime previously operate on a loss or are they just trying to make more money since it has gained enough momentum?
- baldfat 13y ago
  I think Prime has always been a money loser for them. There is no way that my shipping charges was less then $100 for the past 4 years.
  - simias 13y ago
    If it made you buy product you wouldn't normally have bought through amazon then they can still make a profit even if the prime membership does not finance the whole shipping charges.
    - phantom784 13y ago
      Plus, increased shipping costs are counterbalanced by the fact they don't need to run lots of brick-and-mortar locations.
- thaumasiotes 13y ago
  Prime was famously a money loser. Since, as they point out, it's been the same price for nine years, it might well still be a money loser.
  - josefresco 13y ago
    Amazon would almost be considered a money loser as their strategy has always been to go long ... very long (which urks many investors)
- SpikeGronim 13y ago
  Prime is considered a marketing expense. Amazon absorbs hundreds of millions or even a billion dollars in shipping charges through prime. It's a huge reason they have a thin profit margin.
  - newaccountfool 13y ago
    They shouldn't even have a profit margin, they pay no tax inside the UK.
    - pawn 13y ago
      A business shouldn't make money? Surely that isn't what you meant...
    - snoonan 13y ago
      That's populist propaganda. Businesses are taxed on profit, not revenue. Even if they were 100% based in the UK, they'd still probably pay very low corporate taxes (if any) due to the thin margin. They actually do pay an enormous amount of tax in the UK in the form of payroll taxes, VAT collections, etc. It's sad to see people propagate this crap. It's really about veiled protectionism. A big, efficient player comes in and is willing to forego profit indefinitely. Can't tax them legally, so shame them. Tax on 0 is 0. That's how it works for UK companies too. Try reading between the lines...
      - sudomal 13y ago
        Then why is Luxembourg such a magnet? It's not just Amazon, companies that exclusively cater for the UK market moved their base there.
        Consultant32452 13y ago
        Luxembourg is a magnet because the UK government is stupid and creates taxes that are easily avoidable.
- rickyc091 13y ago
  As SpikeGronim mentioned, they are operating at a very small profit. Investors are starting to get wary about it so they need to do something to increase those numbers. Financial Info. https://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3AAMZN&fstype=ii&ei=C7AhU8iIH6mY6AHiKQ https://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3AAMZN&fstype=ii&ei=...
- foobard 13y ago
  I seem to recall reading they made money on each Prime customer and a quick search turns up several articles[0] confirming as much. [0] http://business.time.com/2013/03/18/amazon-prime-bigger-more-powerful-more-profitable-than-anyone-imagined/ http://business.time.com/2013/03/18/amazon-prime-bigger-more...
- inyaface 13y ago
  Amazon barely makes any money, and they actually have been losing money the last several quarters.
  - iends 13y ago
    Amazon's quarterly losses are largely do to not caring too much about quarterly reports and focusing more on long term investments.
    - inyaface 13y ago
      Spending 10 million on warehouses doesn't reduce their profit by 10 million for that quarter. The point is they do not make money, and people who somehow overlook this by suggesting they are focused on longer term infrastructure investments needs to brush up on accounting (profit vs cash flow). Capital expenditures are not treated as expenses.
      - iends 13y ago
        Interesting. I would love to learn more about accounting. Do you have a suggestion on where to start? (book or otherwise).
wil421 13y ago
Doesnt matter for me the deal is still way worth it. I had 3 separate orders this week in my household and one package actually arrived within one day, not even 24 hours. At $99 it is still a deal for the customer if you order often enough.
kenjackson 13y ago
Classy post by Amazon. Not a lot of marketing fluff about the added value of this price increase (many companies try to spin it). And a link to cancel on the page. It felt like I was being treated like a respected adult customer.
- ethikal 13y ago
  The email they sent to current Prime customers was very classy and effective as well... Dear ________, We are writing to provide you advance notice that the price of your Prime membership will be increasing. The annual rate will be $99 when your membership renews on October 29, 2014. Even as fuel and transportation costs have increased, the price of Prime has remained the same for nine years. Since 2005, the number of items eligible for unlimited free Two-Day Shipping has grown from one million to over 20 million. We also added unlimited access to over 40,000 movies and TV episodes with Prime Instant Video and a selection of over 500,000 books to borrow from the Kindle Owners' Lending Library. For more information about your Prime membership, visit our Prime membership page. Sincerely, The Amazon Prime Team
- Xdes 13y ago
  I'm going to take advantage of the cancel link. Ever since they put in the add-on items I've started shopping at the local grocery store.
- Osmium 13y ago
  That's nice here, but in the UK they just upped the price from £49 to £79 along with the introduction of Amazon Instant Video, and that was definitely spun as "look at all this extra content you're getting!" Nevermind if you don't actually intend on using Amazon Instant Video...
jdubs 13y ago
I love the service and it provides great value. I'm happy the price has stayed the same for so long but times change, costs go up and I will still pay for it.
jijojv 13y ago
Be aware of color rip-off pricing on some prime items e.g. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009MLPSNC http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009MLPSNC (35% extra for some colors) I got this shipped from Target (redcard member) for $10
basicallydan 13y ago
For the first time since it was introduced nine years ago, the price of Prime is going up. Nine years? Is anybody else completely surprised by this? I only heard of it the first time when it was introduced in the UK about two years ago.
- TsomArp 13y ago
  I have been using it for at least 6 years.
- ben1040 13y ago
  Nope. I got a free trial in late 2005, but realized I didn't buy enough from Amazon to justify the $79 at the time. Then about six years ago I took a job that was really travel-heavy (gone M-Th every week). My weekends became precious and I didn't want to waste them shopping, so I started using Prime for everything, including the things I'd have otherwise bought at Target or a drugstore, like shampoo. I'd place my order Wednesday morning and it was at my house Friday when I was home. I've since quit that job and don't travel so much anymore. But between me and my wife, we still get shipments from Amazon probably 2x/ week.
- prof_hobart 13y ago
  Two years ago? I've just checked and I've been on Prime in the UK since Jan 2008.
mfrommil 13y ago
Considering Netflix comes out to $96/yr, $99 for Prime, with a comparable (albeit not quite as good) video library, along with shipping and the free ebook, it's still a deal. And even if Amazon loses money on a Prime membership, there's been statistics about Prime customers spending over 2x as much annually then non-Prime customers.
- gregpilling 13y ago
  We use it at work for buying paper, toner, office supplies, basically anything else that we would be buying from Office Max. It has saved a lot of trips and wasted time. It took a while for staff to get used to it, now I think there would be a revolt if our prime membership got cancelled. We certainly spend 2x what we used to, it is probably more like 10x
  - lotsofpulp 13y ago
    I also use it for my businesses. I am easily willing to pay the premium in Amazon prices and Prime membership to avoid going to stores. It doesn't even make sense if you include time, effort, and the possibility of the item not being in stock.
sharkweek 13y ago
I immediately think of Netflix when I read stuff like this -- They are struggling to find a way to raise their prices (or at least create a tiered pricing structure) that doesn't immediately give everyone flashbacks to the Qwikster debacle. Netflix got, after a few months of hooplah, a pass on that one because there wasn't a lot of competition yet, but I think it's a different story now; or at least becoming one. I run a Netflix blog on the side, and a lot of people comment their intent to cancel their subscription when I write about how certain shows are being removed (King of the Hill caused quite the storm). But I'm fairly certain very few people actually go through with it. $7.99 a month is an afterthought for most, especially compared with alternatives ($50/mo cable subscriptions, competition not being up to par, etc). All that said, I believe I would pay considerably more for Netflix, or a better streaming service,(I'm guessing upwards of 20-30 bucks a month) if their content library increased alongside the price change. I think many people would likely agree.
- skizm 13y ago
  I always thought people gave netflix a pass when they increased price because the film/TV industry was basically holding them hostage when they realized how popular netflix was getting. Netflix's contracts were about to expire and when they went to renew the movie/TV guys increased what they were charging to show content so netflix basically passed along the bill. What was nice is that they split up the digital/DVD content in order to keep the price pretty much unchanged for most (most people only did one or the other anyway (I think)). So basically Netflix's hands were tied and they did the best they could for the customers. Is that right? Or am I misinformed?
  - sharkweek 13y ago
    In my experience and with a somewhat smaller sample size, a lot of people blame Netflix anytime a show gets removed or the service changes at all. Example: here's an announcement we published that King of the Hill was being removed (be mindful of affiliate links if you're sensitive to that stuff): http://thebestofnetflix.com/bad-news-king-of-the-hill-to-be-removed-from-instant-stream-october-1st/ http://thebestofnetflix.com/bad-news-king-of-the-hill-to-be-... Check out the comments, people get rather upset about it and seem to direct their anger at Netflix
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
- untog 13y ago
  The problem is that delivery is such a long-tail of problems that Amazon will never get on top of it. IMO they're going the right way with their Locker delivery option - sidestepping the whole thing.
jra101 13y ago
No longer a prime number :(
stickydink 13y ago
I was aware that the streaming service came to Prime a few weeks ago, but I had no idea that the Kindle Lending Library even existed! I still believe Prime delivers very good value. I have something arriving from Amazon maybe 3 out of 5 weekdays, and now (probably for a long time, I just didn't know) I don't have to pay for books?
- Spoom 13y ago
  I haven't found the Kindle Lending Library to be very useful. It's a small subset of the books available, mostly ones you wouldn't want to buy, and they do seem to make it very hard to find on a Kindle.
  - e40 13y ago
    I'll second that. I looked through the list and didn't see a single title I wanted to read. Useless.
kriro 13y ago
Prime only recently (late February iirc) added the streaming stuff in Germany (after they bought the German streaming site "Lovefilm") and increased the prices (you're grandfathered in until early 2015 though iirc). I installed the app on my Xbox and counted...a whopping 81 films/videos were available in English. So basically I get close to 0 extra value from it. Seems like a coordinated price increase. I use Amazon a lot and think the increase is still reasonable so I won't cancel.
ctb_mg 13y ago
So has this gone into effect immediately for new memberships and renewals? My prime expired last month when it was still $79, and I'm considering renewing.
iends 13y ago
Frustrating. I only want prime for expediting shipping. The fact that Prime has streaming video is worthless to me.
Jach 13y ago
Oh look, I still can't play videos on my non-HAL Linux desktop. No matter, I originally got Prime for the free 2-day shipping, and for me I think it still makes economic sense to keep it. (Besides, their videos are too often low-quality. They won't even let you rent HD versions sometimes, if you're going to watch it on a PC. I have a fiber (albeit non-gigabit :( ) connection, darnit!)
micro_cam 13y ago
Comprable price to netflix now. It would be nice if, as part of the increase they would make kindle lending library and streaming video sharable with a limited number of house hold members like netflix does or even offer this at a small price increase. We have both but the prime is currently in my name, my wife can share the shipping so it doesn't make sense to get a membership for her just to use the other features though she would like to.
rohall 13y ago
I have to give Amazon credit. I signed up for a trial yesterday and when I saw this I figured I'd have to subscribe at the new price, but that's not the case. In a month, when my trial expires I'm eligible for the old price. My renewal the following year will be for the new price. Looks like they're handling this really well and respecting their customers!
jrockway 13y ago
Amazon increased the price of Prime a long time ago. * Once upon a time, 2-day shipping was free and next-day shipping was $3.99. Then they raised the price if the next day happened to be Saturday. Now, next-day shipping varies depending on the item and is often unavailable. It's never less than $3.99, though. 2-day shipping is rarely shipped via a 2-day shipping service; often they drop it in the mail and hope for the best. (Also, why even bother charging me $4? Just make next-day shipping free and charge $4 more for the thing.) * Various unreliable courier services end up doing a good chunk of the deliveries. UPS, Fedex, and the USPS are great. I don't know how they do it, but they manage to break into my apartment building every day of the week and drop off packages without me ever knowing the details. Lasership and A1? Yeah right. I love it when they try to deliver packages to my office at 10PM. Are any office mail rooms open at 10PM ever? Ever? Nice try. (Does Amazon even use A1 anymore? I remember finding a bug in A1's website that disclosed the name and address of all their customers. Emailed security@amazon and security@a1. Heard back from Amazon that they fixed it. Never saw another package from A1. Maybe A1 just rebranded as Lasership. I really have no idea.) * Add-on items. Need I say more? * Every time you order something from Amazon, you get a stupid interstitial about how you can opt-in to receive email about streaming a bunch of B movies and flopped TV shows at 160i resolution via your Flash player. No thanks, Amazon. You're a physical media store, not Netflix! It's cute that you're trying, though. Finally, while I'm ranting... it's weird that amazon.co.jp and amazon.com don't share my credit card information and address. Would also appreciate Prime for amazon.co.jp, but I know that's never going to happen.
- smackfu 13y ago
  >2-day shipping is rarely shipped via a 2-day shipping service; One thing I find interesting is that UPS Ground can be a guaranteed 2-day service. They call it "day-definite delivery", and it depends on the distance.
  - sgeisenh 13y ago
    With the exception of hybrid shipping, I am consistently impressed by Amazon's ability to ship using the most appropriate service. Perhaps it is due to my location in an urban area; when I use Amazon 2-day, it arrives in either 1 or 2 days unless shipped using SmartPost in which case it arrives in 5-7 days.
apress 13y ago
Over time, due to both per-item shipping fees rising and higher volumes, Amazon's losses on shipping have been rising at an unsustainable rate. The gap last year between its shipping costs and shipping charges was about $3.5 billion, up from just $600 million 5 years ago. http://www.statista.com/statistics/236503/amazons-annual-shipping-revenue-and-outbound-shipping-costs/ http://www.statista.com/statistics/236503/amazons-annual-shi...
- hga 13y ago
  Well, that's their explicit shipping charges. Obviously some of the shipping is priced into the product, just like when I buy an Amazon Marketplace book for 1 cent and $3.99 S&H.
notlisted 13y ago
Meh. Taking opportunity costs into account, a SINGLE visit to a local retail store that I can bill to a client instead more than covers the yearly expense. Add to that my experience with their customer service and returns (simply stellar[1]) and I would have gladly paid $149/yr which was hinted at previously. I've saved myself countless hours and shipping charges as a long-time prime member. Watched a whole season of The Americans and five streaming movies for free last week. I'd say I get more than my money's worth... [1] one more reason to avoid other online retailers or brick and mortars PS I never buy anything from third party sellers where Amazon doesn't handle the fulfillment. Too many scammers. Yes, I'm looking at you AntOnline on Amazon. Crooks.
- hga 13y ago
  "I never buy anything from third party sellers where Amazon doesn't handle the fulfillment." I've found that Amazon's fulfillment of Marketplace books is seriously subpar, they don't pack them like they pack their own books. By and large I now avoid this one use of Amazon fulfillment---although I made these observations before getting a Prime subscription. On the other hand, I've found that a 96% or higher satisfaction rating is very strongly correlated with successful third party experience, assuming of course it's based on enough time and transactions (modulo some merchants don't put any padding in their book envelopes and sometimes they get a little damaged). Anything below that is a real gamble. After some effort, finally trying a packaged version of Windows---a class of things I'd never get except straight from Amazon.com---your hated AntOnline has only a 92% rate.

61 points by PankajGhosh 13y ago

af3 13y ago

rickyc091 13y ago

$79 to $99. ~25% increase, but well worth it.

mitchty 13y ago
Last I heard it was going to be 120. But for a 9 year old program going from 80-100 that's an overall pretty good deal I'd think. I (a)buse prime shipping a lot so I tend to get a good bit of use out of it.
lsaferite 13y ago
Seems like it's in-line with inflation actually. At least according to the site I just checked. And for someone like me, even $100 a year is a deal as I order from Amazon a LOT.

piggyback 13y ago

Did Amazon Prime previously operate on a loss or are they just trying to make more money since it has gained enough momentum?

baldfat 13y ago
I think Prime has always been a money loser for them. There is no way that my shipping charges was less then $100 for the past 4 years.
- simias 13y ago
  If it made you buy product you wouldn't normally have bought through amazon then they can still make a profit even if the prime membership does not finance the whole shipping charges.
  - phantom784 13y ago
    Plus, increased shipping costs are counterbalanced by the fact they don't need to run lots of brick-and-mortar locations.
thaumasiotes 13y ago
Prime was famously a money loser. Since, as they point out, it's been the same price for nine years, it might well still be a money loser.
- josefresco 13y ago
  Amazon would almost be considered a money loser as their strategy has always been to go long ... very long (which urks many investors)
SpikeGronim 13y ago
Prime is considered a marketing expense. Amazon absorbs hundreds of millions or even a billion dollars in shipping charges through prime. It's a huge reason they have a thin profit margin.
- newaccountfool 13y ago
  They shouldn't even have a profit margin, they pay no tax inside the UK.
  - pawn 13y ago
    A business shouldn't make money? Surely that isn't what you meant...
  - snoonan 13y ago
    That's populist propaganda. Businesses are taxed on profit, not revenue. Even if they were 100% based in the UK, they'd still probably pay very low corporate taxes (if any) due to the thin margin. They actually do pay an enormous amount of tax in the UK in the form of payroll taxes, VAT collections, etc. It's sad to see people propagate this crap. It's really about veiled protectionism. A big, efficient player comes in and is willing to forego profit indefinitely. Can't tax them legally, so shame them. Tax on 0 is 0. That's how it works for UK companies too. Try reading between the lines...
    - sudomal 13y ago
      Then why is Luxembourg such a magnet? It's not just Amazon, companies that exclusively cater for the UK market moved their base there.
      - Consultant32452 13y ago
        Luxembourg is a magnet because the UK government is stupid and creates taxes that are easily avoidable.
rickyc091 13y ago
As SpikeGronim mentioned, they are operating at a very small profit. Investors are starting to get wary about it so they need to do something to increase those numbers. Financial Info. https://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3AAMZN&fstype=ii&ei=C7AhU8iIH6mY6AHiKQ https://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3AAMZN&fstype=ii&ei=...
foobard 13y ago
I seem to recall reading they made money on each Prime customer and a quick search turns up several articles[0] confirming as much. [0] http://business.time.com/2013/03/18/amazon-prime-bigger-more-powerful-more-profitable-than-anyone-imagined/ http://business.time.com/2013/03/18/amazon-prime-bigger-more...
inyaface 13y ago
Amazon barely makes any money, and they actually have been losing money the last several quarters.
- iends 13y ago
  Amazon's quarterly losses are largely do to not caring too much about quarterly reports and focusing more on long term investments.
  - inyaface 13y ago
    Spending 10 million on warehouses doesn't reduce their profit by 10 million for that quarter. The point is they do not make money, and people who somehow overlook this by suggesting they are focused on longer term infrastructure investments needs to brush up on accounting (profit vs cash flow). Capital expenditures are not treated as expenses.
    - iends 13y ago
      Interesting. I would love to learn more about accounting. Do you have a suggestion on where to start? (book or otherwise).

wil421 13y ago

Doesnt matter for me the deal is still way worth it. I had 3 separate orders this week in my household and one package actually arrived within one day, not even 24 hours. At $99 it is still a deal for the customer if you order often enough.

kenjackson 13y ago

Classy post by Amazon. Not a lot of marketing fluff about the added value of this price increase (many companies try to spin it). And a link to cancel on the page. It felt like I was being treated like a respected adult customer.

ethikal 13y ago
The email they sent to current Prime customers was very classy and effective as well... Dear ________, We are writing to provide you advance notice that the price of your Prime membership will be increasing. The annual rate will be $99 when your membership renews on October 29, 2014. Even as fuel and transportation costs have increased, the price of Prime has remained the same for nine years. Since 2005, the number of items eligible for unlimited free Two-Day Shipping has grown from one million to over 20 million. We also added unlimited access to over 40,000 movies and TV episodes with Prime Instant Video and a selection of over 500,000 books to borrow from the Kindle Owners' Lending Library. For more information about your Prime membership, visit our Prime membership page. Sincerely, The Amazon Prime Team
Xdes 13y ago
I'm going to take advantage of the cancel link. Ever since they put in the add-on items I've started shopping at the local grocery store.
Osmium 13y ago
That's nice here, but in the UK they just upped the price from £49 to £79 along with the introduction of Amazon Instant Video, and that was definitely spun as "look at all this extra content you're getting!" Nevermind if you don't actually intend on using Amazon Instant Video...

jdubs 13y ago

I love the service and it provides great value. I'm happy the price has stayed the same for so long but times change, costs go up and I will still pay for it.

jijojv 13y ago

Be aware of color rip-off pricing on some prime items e.g. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009MLPSNC http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009MLPSNC (35% extra for some colors) I got this shipped from Target (redcard member) for $10

basicallydan 13y ago

For the first time since it was introduced nine years ago, the price of Prime is going up. Nine years? Is anybody else completely surprised by this? I only heard of it the first time when it was introduced in the UK about two years ago.

TsomArp 13y ago
I have been using it for at least 6 years.
ben1040 13y ago
Nope. I got a free trial in late 2005, but realized I didn't buy enough from Amazon to justify the $79 at the time. Then about six years ago I took a job that was really travel-heavy (gone M-Th every week). My weekends became precious and I didn't want to waste them shopping, so I started using Prime for everything, including the things I'd have otherwise bought at Target or a drugstore, like shampoo. I'd place my order Wednesday morning and it was at my house Friday when I was home. I've since quit that job and don't travel so much anymore. But between me and my wife, we still get shipments from Amazon probably 2x/ week.
prof_hobart 13y ago
Two years ago? I've just checked and I've been on Prime in the UK since Jan 2008.

mfrommil 13y ago

Considering Netflix comes out to $96/yr, $99 for Prime, with a comparable (albeit not quite as good) video library, along with shipping and the free ebook, it's still a deal. And even if Amazon loses money on a Prime membership, there's been statistics about Prime customers spending over 2x as much annually then non-Prime customers.

gregpilling 13y ago
We use it at work for buying paper, toner, office supplies, basically anything else that we would be buying from Office Max. It has saved a lot of trips and wasted time. It took a while for staff to get used to it, now I think there would be a revolt if our prime membership got cancelled. We certainly spend 2x what we used to, it is probably more like 10x
- lotsofpulp 13y ago
  I also use it for my businesses. I am easily willing to pay the premium in Amazon prices and Prime membership to avoid going to stores. It doesn't even make sense if you include time, effort, and the possibility of the item not being in stock.

sharkweek 13y ago

I immediately think of Netflix when I read stuff like this -- They are struggling to find a way to raise their prices (or at least create a tiered pricing structure) that doesn't immediately give everyone flashbacks to the Qwikster debacle. Netflix got, after a few months of hooplah, a pass on that one because there wasn't a lot of competition yet, but I think it's a different story now; or at least becoming one. I run a Netflix blog on the side, and a lot of people comment their intent to cancel their subscription when I write about how certain shows are being removed (King of the Hill caused quite the storm). But I'm fairly certain very few people actually go through with it. $7.99 a month is an afterthought for most, especially compared with alternatives ($50/mo cable subscriptions, competition not being up to par, etc). All that said, I believe I would pay considerably more for Netflix, or a better streaming service,(I'm guessing upwards of 20-30 bucks a month) if their content library increased alongside the price change. I think many people would likely agree.

skizm 13y ago
I always thought people gave netflix a pass when they increased price because the film/TV industry was basically holding them hostage when they realized how popular netflix was getting. Netflix's contracts were about to expire and when they went to renew the movie/TV guys increased what they were charging to show content so netflix basically passed along the bill. What was nice is that they split up the digital/DVD content in order to keep the price pretty much unchanged for most (most people only did one or the other anyway (I think)). So basically Netflix's hands were tied and they did the best they could for the customers. Is that right? Or am I misinformed?
- sharkweek 13y ago
  In my experience and with a somewhat smaller sample size, a lot of people blame Netflix anytime a show gets removed or the service changes at all. Example: here's an announcement we published that King of the Hill was being removed (be mindful of affiliate links if you're sensitive to that stuff): http://thebestofnetflix.com/bad-news-king-of-the-hill-to-be-removed-from-instant-stream-october-1st/ http://thebestofnetflix.com/bad-news-king-of-the-hill-to-be-... Check out the comments, people get rather upset about it and seem to direct their anger at Netflix

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

untog 13y ago
The problem is that delivery is such a long-tail of problems that Amazon will never get on top of it. IMO they're going the right way with their Locker delivery option - sidestepping the whole thing.

jra101 13y ago

No longer a prime number :(

stickydink 13y ago

I was aware that the streaming service came to Prime a few weeks ago, but I had no idea that the Kindle Lending Library even existed! I still believe Prime delivers very good value. I have something arriving from Amazon maybe 3 out of 5 weekdays, and now (probably for a long time, I just didn't know) I don't have to pay for books?

Spoom 13y ago
I haven't found the Kindle Lending Library to be very useful. It's a small subset of the books available, mostly ones you wouldn't want to buy, and they do seem to make it very hard to find on a Kindle.
- e40 13y ago
  I'll second that. I looked through the list and didn't see a single title I wanted to read. Useless.

kriro 13y ago

Prime only recently (late February iirc) added the streaming stuff in Germany (after they bought the German streaming site "Lovefilm") and increased the prices (you're grandfathered in until early 2015 though iirc). I installed the app on my Xbox and counted...a whopping 81 films/videos were available in English. So basically I get close to 0 extra value from it. Seems like a coordinated price increase. I use Amazon a lot and think the increase is still reasonable so I won't cancel.

ctb_mg 13y ago

So has this gone into effect immediately for new memberships and renewals? My prime expired last month when it was still $79, and I'm considering renewing.

iends 13y ago

Frustrating. I only want prime for expediting shipping. The fact that Prime has streaming video is worthless to me.

Jach 13y ago

Oh look, I still can't play videos on my non-HAL Linux desktop. No matter, I originally got Prime for the free 2-day shipping, and for me I think it still makes economic sense to keep it. (Besides, their videos are too often low-quality. They won't even let you rent HD versions sometimes, if you're going to watch it on a PC. I have a fiber (albeit non-gigabit :( ) connection, darnit!)

micro_cam 13y ago

Comprable price to netflix now. It would be nice if, as part of the increase they would make kindle lending library and streaming video sharable with a limited number of house hold members like netflix does or even offer this at a small price increase. We have both but the prime is currently in my name, my wife can share the shipping so it doesn't make sense to get a membership for her just to use the other features though she would like to.

rohall 13y ago

I have to give Amazon credit. I signed up for a trial yesterday and when I saw this I figured I'd have to subscribe at the new price, but that's not the case. In a month, when my trial expires I'm eligible for the old price. My renewal the following year will be for the new price. Looks like they're handling this really well and respecting their customers!

jrockway 13y ago

Amazon increased the price of Prime a long time ago. * Once upon a time, 2-day shipping was free and next-day shipping was $3.99. Then they raised the price if the next day happened to be Saturday. Now, next-day shipping varies depending on the item and is often unavailable. It's never less than $3.99, though. 2-day shipping is rarely shipped via a 2-day shipping service; often they drop it in the mail and hope for the best. (Also, why even bother charging me $4? Just make next-day shipping free and charge $4 more for the thing.) * Various unreliable courier services end up doing a good chunk of the deliveries. UPS, Fedex, and the USPS are great. I don't know how they do it, but they manage to break into my apartment building every day of the week and drop off packages without me ever knowing the details. Lasership and A1? Yeah right. I love it when they try to deliver packages to my office at 10PM. Are any office mail rooms open at 10PM ever? Ever? Nice try. (Does Amazon even use A1 anymore? I remember finding a bug in A1's website that disclosed the name and address of all their customers. Emailed security@amazon and security@a1. Heard back from Amazon that they fixed it. Never saw another package from A1. Maybe A1 just rebranded as Lasership. I really have no idea.) * Add-on items. Need I say more? * Every time you order something from Amazon, you get a stupid interstitial about how you can opt-in to receive email about streaming a bunch of B movies and flopped TV shows at 160i resolution via your Flash player. No thanks, Amazon. You're a physical media store, not Netflix! It's cute that you're trying, though. Finally, while I'm ranting... it's weird that amazon.co.jp and amazon.com don't share my credit card information and address. Would also appreciate Prime for amazon.co.jp, but I know that's never going to happen.

smackfu 13y ago
>2-day shipping is rarely shipped via a 2-day shipping service; One thing I find interesting is that UPS Ground can be a guaranteed 2-day service. They call it "day-definite delivery", and it depends on the distance.
- sgeisenh 13y ago
  With the exception of hybrid shipping, I am consistently impressed by Amazon's ability to ship using the most appropriate service. Perhaps it is due to my location in an urban area; when I use Amazon 2-day, it arrives in either 1 or 2 days unless shipped using SmartPost in which case it arrives in 5-7 days.

apress 13y ago

Over time, due to both per-item shipping fees rising and higher volumes, Amazon's losses on shipping have been rising at an unsustainable rate. The gap last year between its shipping costs and shipping charges was about $3.5 billion, up from just $600 million 5 years ago. http://www.statista.com/statistics/236503/amazons-annual-shipping-revenue-and-outbound-shipping-costs/ http://www.statista.com/statistics/236503/amazons-annual-shi...

hga 13y ago
Well, that's their explicit shipping charges. Obviously some of the shipping is priced into the product, just like when I buy an Amazon Marketplace book for 1 cent and $3.99 S&H.

notlisted 13y ago

Meh. Taking opportunity costs into account, a SINGLE visit to a local retail store that I can bill to a client instead more than covers the yearly expense. Add to that my experience with their customer service and returns (simply stellar[1]) and I would have gladly paid $149/yr which was hinted at previously. I've saved myself countless hours and shipping charges as a long-time prime member. Watched a whole season of The Americans and five streaming movies for free last week. I'd say I get more than my money's worth... [1] one more reason to avoid other online retailers or brick and mortars PS I never buy anything from third party sellers where Amazon doesn't handle the fulfillment. Too many scammers. Yes, I'm looking at you AntOnline on Amazon. Crooks.

hga 13y ago
"I never buy anything from third party sellers where Amazon doesn't handle the fulfillment." I've found that Amazon's fulfillment of Marketplace books is seriously subpar, they don't pack them like they pack their own books. By and large I now avoid this one use of Amazon fulfillment---although I made these observations before getting a Prime subscription. On the other hand, I've found that a 96% or higher satisfaction rating is very strongly correlated with successful third party experience, assuming of course it's based on enough time and transactions (modulo some merchants don't put any padding in their book envelopes and sometimes they get a little damaged). Anything below that is a real gamble. After some effort, finally trying a packaged version of Windows---a class of things I'd never get except straight from Amazon.com---your hated AntOnline has only a 92% rate.