7 ms·

Amazon Prime To Cost $99 A Year

41 points by czstrong 13y ago

scottcanoni 13y ago
This makes Newegg even more attractive with their $50 a year premier plan. If you mostly buy computers or electronics (which I assume most of HN readers do).
- josefresco 13y ago
  Prime these days is less about fast shipping and more about the bundled streaming/media services.
  - aroch 13y ago
    Speak for yourself, prime for me is still about fast shipping. I pretty much won't buy anything that doesn't have prime shipping
    - thrill 13y ago
      Perhaps you (like I do myself) look for the Prime Shipping item to create some self-justification for the service.
  - csmatt 13y ago
    Is it? I'd rather they split this into 2 plans and let me have just the fast shipping for $79 (or less) and people who want streaming can pay $99. Netflix still has the better offering IMO. Not only content, but the video interface is better too. Initially Amazon's video player worked on Linux out of the box, but now it's just as hacky to get running as Netflix. Due to this price increase, I'm going to reevaluate how important fast shipping is to me.
    - knowaveragejoe 13y ago
      It's not just fast but free shipping. For someone who orders from Amazon regularly throughout the year, that's the real value. Also, Amazon has way more content on their video streaming service with the caveat that you have to pay to rent/own a lot of it. Agreed about the interface though, Amazon's app offerings for PS3/SmartTV have been subpar in comparison to Netflix though.
  - darklajid 13y ago
    Interesting. In DE those services were just unlocked (and the price increased for renewals accordingly). So far it was JUST for fast shipping. I subscribed for faster/cheaper shipping and canceled now, after a couple years. The streaming services are of no use to me. Most content in Germany is .. German (dubbed). I don't see a streaming client on Android or a way to stream from my XBMC. Inaccessible + expensive -> No prime for me anymore.
    - egeozcan 13y ago
      Content being dubbed is the most annoying thing. Here's a relevant discussion (a mixture of English and German replies): http://www.amazon.de/forum/high-definition?cdThread=Tx3PQMDU3HO82SC http://www.amazon.de/forum/high-definition?cdThread=Tx3PQMDU... Apparently, there is some content which isn't dubbed but it's not enough to make it attractive.
      - darklajid 13y ago
        Well, as I said: For me it is the combination of these things. Even if the content would be awesome: I cannot access it. Unless I own a particular brand of TVs, a weird Amazon tablet, an iOS device (all negative and no interest in any of these things) - how am I supposed to get that stuff on my TV (which happens to BE a 'smart' TV with optional internet connectivity, but it's offline for a very good reason)?
  - xur17 13y ago
    Amazon's streaming video is useless to me. It doesn't work on any of my devices (android, linux, or chromecast), while Netflix does. I made 2 online movie rentals within the past few weeks, and both times I checked amazon, but then remembered that it doesn't work on my devices, and ended up getting it from Google Play. They're missing out on purchases, and getting people used to using other services - not a great way to set yourself up for the future...
    - dnissley 13y ago
      Yeah, I can't quite figure that out. Is their kindle business really so valuable that they are willing to cannibalize their media services? Just doesn't seem to make sense to race for device adoption in a world where everybody else seems to be racing for broader platform adoption. I guess I've never been all that impressed with their offering in this area though, especially video, so maybe they're simply recognizing that it isn't as valuable.
      - deleted 13y ago
        [deleted]
    - knowaveragejoe 13y ago
      Seems to depend on the device. I have no issue using Amazon video on the PS3. As for total selection, I'd say it dwarfs Netflix's library, but you have to pay to rent/own most of it.
  - muyuu 13y ago
    Yep and that's how you alienate your existing user-base who signed up when it was all about the shipping. If they wanted to run a streaming/media service they should have done just that. They have definitely lost me as a customer by switching me from one service to another without even asking for confirmation (I found out in hackernews). Even if I was interested in the media streaming service which I'm absolutely not, I would still be upset about the way they have dealt with it.
  - Encosia 13y ago
    I've been paying for Prime for a couple years (and will continue at $99/year), but I couldn't care less about the video. If there were a shipping-only Prime for $79, I wouldn't think twice about dropping the video.
  - lsaferite 13y ago
    I'd say that is a personal opinion. I say that as my own personal opinion is quite the opposite. I rarely use Prime streaming and prefer Netflix simple based on ease of use. Of course Netflix seems determined to screw that up, but that's a different story.
- FraaJad 13y ago
  You can get Shoprunner and shipping will be free on Newegg and lot of other companies (i've used it last week on newegg and brooks brothers). If you have an SPG Amex card, the membership is at no cost to you.
theboywho 13y ago
The settings page to opt out of Amazon Prime is disabled.
wdewind 13y ago
While I would always wish to pay less for something, this is fine with me. Prime is still such an amazing value for me, and Amazon has created so much good will with me by being so awesome for so long that my reaction to this was basically to shrug and say "what took so long?"
- amykhar 13y ago
  Agreed. And, they haven't raised the prices in years.
  - lsaferite 13y ago
    Yeah, I checked the BLS site about the inflation from 2005-2014 and they are just about on track to follow inflation. And if you consider they didn't adjust in that entire period then the slight amount over inflation is warranted (IMHO). http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=80&year1=2005&year2=2014 http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=80&year1=2005&y...
- staked 13y ago
  Ditto. Sure, price increases suck, but a quick perusal of how many Prime-eligible items I've ordered in the last year would still put me way ahead even at $99/yr.
tptacek 13y ago
Prime could cost $199 and I still wouldn't have to think before subscribing.
- desireco42 13y ago
  Pretty much same here and from what I hear, others feel the same.
silviorelli 13y ago
In Italy Prime costs just 9,99€. That's just a little more than a single shipment. http://www.amazon.it/gp/prime http://www.amazon.it/gp/prime
- xsace 13y ago
  Crazy. It's 49€ in France
- puzzlingcaptcha 13y ago
  Wow, that's great. In France and Germany it's 49€
  - darklajid 13y ago
    In Germany it used to be less and was only just increased - due to the addition of the media services (Prime Instant Video or whatever it is called). I'd guess that Italy doesn't offer access to that so far, so the price difference isn't thaaaaat big.
- cenhyperion 13y ago
  Does this have to do with the size of the country? 2 day shipments have to be easier to do within Italy than the continental United States.
- tirant 13y ago
  €14.95 in Spain http://www.amazon.es/gp/prime http://www.amazon.es/gp/prime
- veidr 13y ago
  ¥3,900 (38 USD) in Japan, with free same-day delivery (of many items) and no media content included.
- keidian 13y ago
  $79 in Canada without any streaming :(
sephronius 13y ago
I'm surprised they did not change the cost to $97 so that the cost would still be a prime number.
pidg 13y ago
In the UK, Amazon have just raised the cost of Prime from £49 to £79, and bundled in their (failing?) LoveFilm movie streaming service to excuse it. A lot of people I know (including me) are cancelling as a result - not due to the cost, but more the brazenness of it.
- morsch 13y ago
  Incredibly, it's 49 EUR (41 GBP) in Germany -- that's after the price hike/LoveFilm inclusion. Half that amount for students. Still not worth it for me, everything I buy from Amazon tends to be eligible for free shipping anyway. And as far as I know their streaming service doesn't stock videos in their native languages, so it's practically worthless to me.
- moron4hire 13y ago
  Probably not actually a lot of people. Most likely most people will continue their subscriptions. And if you haven't cancelled already, I'd be surprised if you actually did, even with what you said. It's just human nature. You'll put it off. You'll forget about your rage daycamping. And 6 months from now, when you accidentally look at your credit card statement, you'll say to yourself "I really should cancel Prime" and go back to playing Flappy Bird instead.
gdulli 13y ago
I can't understand the idea of paying for shipping (whether it's annual or per-shipment) when there's an option to get it for free. If I decided I couldn't wait a few extra days to get the things I order, I feel I'd be crossing a line of giving in too much to consumerism. Taking away impulse buying is one of the better things about shopping online. And the streaming services combined don't match what I get with cable, so I found Prime hard to justify at the previous price point.
- untog 13y ago
  If I decided I couldn't wait a few extra days to get the things I order, I feel I'd be crossing a line of giving in too much to consumerism. What about when, you know, you need something urgently? Last time I took a long trip I ordered a backup battery for my cellphone three days before I left. It was either use Amazon Prime or go to a store and pay twice as much.
  - lsaferite 13y ago
    This is one reason I love Prime. I frequently find myself ordering something I need for a trip at the last minute. Another instance was when our son needed to move from the carrier to a real car seat. We ordered the new one late one night. The next day before noon it was on our doorstep. And that was the 2-day shipping option.
  - gdulli 13y ago
    In a rare case like that I have the option of paying for faster shipping, but it happens rarely enough that it costs me far less than locking myself into paying for a year's worth of shipping I may or may not use.
- lsaferite 13y ago
  I hate shopping in physical stores as I don't like crowds of people and find it a waste of my time. As a consequence, I order most things online. Over the years as a Prime member, I've saved an enormous amount of money in shipping. If you cannot control your impulse buying in a store, what makes you think you can control it online any differently? Where are you shopping that you can get free shipping for everything? Hell, even getting free shipping for anything before Prime came out was rare, at least for me. After Prime, many stores have shifted to offer free shipping to compete with Amazon. But still, finding everything you want online with free shipping is difficult or impossible. I know because I still find myself buying from other shops when Amazon doesn't carry something I need.
codegeek 13y ago
For a heavy amazon user such as myself, not much difference. Still very happy to continue using amazon. The math is simple. We probably have 5-10 shipments on average a month coming in. Most of it is for our kids (newborn/1 year) and includes subscriptions for milk, diapers etc. Just recently, my wife added another subscription for stuff like toilet paper, napkins. Without amazon prime, you might end up paying $3-5 on average. So that's almost $30-50 per month. So over a year, you might pay almost $500 in shipping if you use amazon like we do. So really a no-brainer. Not to mention the super fast shipping (many times next day) and hassle free returns for the most part. I hate driving to a store just to buy household items that require no brain or thought process. Actually wait, I lied. I have even bought my TV, computer desk on amazon recently. So our visit to the "stores" is now pretty much limited to grocery. If I could, would buy everything online. Thanks Amazon Prime, you have a long term member. Please continue to do the great things that you do. Really waiting for the amazon grocery delivery service /fanboy EDIT: I got curious and checked my last 6 months order history [0]. We had 73 orders in just last 6 months. For entire 2013, we had 85 orders. [0] http://imgur.com/5IvQtQG http://imgur.com/5IvQtQG
- mhb 13y ago
  I'm considering whether it's worth it. I thought that, for orders over $25, shipping was free anyway. With the amount of ordering you do, wouldn't there be little advantage to having Prime, especially if you tried to aggregate your items?
  - schrodinger 13y ago
    The free shipping isn't 2 day I don't think
  - codegeek 13y ago
    You will be surprised that my wife buys items worth $2.99 from amazon at times. Sometimes, it is not possible to bunch orders together because it is all "on demand". Because we have prime, we don't care about whether it is 1 item or 5 items in same shipment. So our orders could look like ($2.99, 1 item )on one day while it could be ($40+$6, 2 items) another day. Other than fixed subscriptions, our buying pattern is very random. And Prime is not just about free shipping, but it is a lot more about "fast" shipping. I am not sure about non prime but I doubt that free shipping will be 2 day or less like Prime.
joesmo 13y ago
The quality of this service is hit and miss. Sometimes they use a reliable carrier like UPS, other times they send things via USPS so they can be stolen. With this price increase, and their inability (I've asked multiple times) to determine what carrier they will ship with and ship with a reliable carrier, this has become a liability now that I wish I had not renewed. It's amazing to me that Amazon would ship anything of value with such an unreliable carrier as USPS.
- lsaferite 13y ago
  I would dispute the unreliability of the USPS based on my own anecdotal evidence. (FedEx/UPS was always iffy based on the driver) But, assuming USPS is totally unreliable and packages go missing a lot, have you ever had Amazon NOT either refund or replace the item? I ask because I 'received' a package via UPS with a GoPro and when I got home it was not there. I reported to Amazon and they shipped one out overnight to replace the missing item. That's just one of multiple instances of Amazon having an amazing policy regarding shipping and returns.
  - joesmo 13y ago
    No, Amazon has been great about refunding packages so far. Of course, the packages stolen or opened by USPS in the last couple of weeks don't cost a lot. I doubt they would be this gracious with say a Macbook or other high price item, regardless of what their policy might be. USPS steals and opens packages. Period. This has been the case for decades. They also do not respond to any complaints.
    - lsaferite 13y ago
      Do you have any facts to back up that allegation or is it just you opinion? I've only lost a few package via USPS in my entire life and none of them recently. I find myself far more likely to lose a package via UPS or FedEx.
      - joesmo 13y ago
ludicast 13y ago
Still worth it to me. The quick free shipping is great and the streaming educational kid's tv is a godsend. Plus for a family there are considerably more packages coming down (tools, toys, etc.). Seems like they crunched the numbers and realized that if $79 was worthwhile, $99 would be too. Those who wouldn't find $99 worthwhile probably wouldn't be using it anyway. Still do think customers should be grandfathered when at all possible.
uptown 13y ago
While I don't mind the Prime price-hike, I've begun noticing that Amazon's prices are also increasing quite-dramatically. Cereal that used to cost $10 now costs over $18. Dog biscuits used to cost $11 are now over $22. Yet if you compare Amazon's prices to Walmart, you can get these items close to Amazon's old prices with $5 shipping (or free shipping over $50). I know there's been considerable discussion about Amazon being able to "flip the switch" on profitability, and maybe this is what we're seeing ... but even if many consumers are trained to just "go to Amazon" for their shopping needs, if prices rise by 100%, they're likely to seek discounts from competitors. I definitely have.
- icefox 13y ago
  Same here, and without the carrot of "free shipping" it is much easier to just place an order elsewhere now.
nathanb 13y ago
Most of the conversation here seems to be around shipping costs and speed. But there are a number of other perks to Prime. Here are the ones that I use: * Streaming video: not all the stuff I want to watch is on Prime, but when it is, it saves me a few bucks * Lending library: ditto, for books. If I care deeply about permanently owning a book, I'll buy the physical copy. * Kindle First (get a free book every month one month before its release): the books are not exactly destined to be timeless classics, but free reading material is nice and it helps me discover new authors Any other important Prime perks I'm missing? The shipping plus the above go a long way toward justifying the cost, to me at least.
JohnTHaller 13y ago
The value proposition for Amazon Prime has sunk quite a bit in the last year. More and more products have multiple listings: one that's not Prime eligible, and one that is Prime eligible but costs more. So, that two day free shipping isn't free. Plus, living in NYC, a large percentage of the two day free shipping items just get sent USPS anyway, so I'm not getting anything extra. Amazon's Prime video service is similarly less of a value than it should be. Unlike competing services like Hulu and Netflix, you can't watch Amazon Prime videos on your Android phone or tablet (who cares, it's just the #1 mobile OS, right?). Amazon's logic is to force you to use their proprietary tablets that are based on Android but don't support Google's app store or Google's services, meaning that a whole array of Android apps aren't compatible, including big ones like Google Chrome and Firefox. I'm ditching Amazon Prime at the end of my term in two months as a result.
- jamesbritt 13y ago
  I've watched prime videos on my asus tablet just by using a browser. Seems to work fine.
  - JohnTHaller 13y ago
    They work to varying degrees within the mobile browser. But the app, which does a better job of displaying and caching the video as you play resulting in a better image, is only available for iOS and Amazon's gimped Android tablets.
zengr 13y ago
My activity has dropped on amazon significantly in the last 1year. The prices on amazon.com have gone up, I always find something cheaper else where online including shipping. And now this, just cancelled my subscription.

41 points by czstrong 13y ago

This makes Newegg even more attractive with their $50 a year premier plan. If you mostly buy computers or electronics (which I assume most of HN readers do).

josefresco 13y ago
Prime these days is less about fast shipping and more about the bundled streaming/media services.
- aroch 13y ago
  Speak for yourself, prime for me is still about fast shipping. I pretty much won't buy anything that doesn't have prime shipping
  - thrill 13y ago
    Perhaps you (like I do myself) look for the Prime Shipping item to create some self-justification for the service.
- csmatt 13y ago
  Is it? I'd rather they split this into 2 plans and let me have just the fast shipping for $79 (or less) and people who want streaming can pay $99. Netflix still has the better offering IMO. Not only content, but the video interface is better too. Initially Amazon's video player worked on Linux out of the box, but now it's just as hacky to get running as Netflix. Due to this price increase, I'm going to reevaluate how important fast shipping is to me.
  - knowaveragejoe 13y ago
    It's not just fast but free shipping. For someone who orders from Amazon regularly throughout the year, that's the real value. Also, Amazon has way more content on their video streaming service with the caveat that you have to pay to rent/own a lot of it. Agreed about the interface though, Amazon's app offerings for PS3/SmartTV have been subpar in comparison to Netflix though.
- darklajid 13y ago
  Interesting. In DE those services were just unlocked (and the price increased for renewals accordingly). So far it was JUST for fast shipping. I subscribed for faster/cheaper shipping and canceled now, after a couple years. The streaming services are of no use to me. Most content in Germany is .. German (dubbed). I don't see a streaming client on Android or a way to stream from my XBMC. Inaccessible + expensive -> No prime for me anymore.
  - egeozcan 13y ago
    Content being dubbed is the most annoying thing. Here's a relevant discussion (a mixture of English and German replies): http://www.amazon.de/forum/high-definition?cdThread=Tx3PQMDU3HO82SC http://www.amazon.de/forum/high-definition?cdThread=Tx3PQMDU... Apparently, there is some content which isn't dubbed but it's not enough to make it attractive.
    - darklajid 13y ago
      Well, as I said: For me it is the combination of these things. Even if the content would be awesome: I cannot access it. Unless I own a particular brand of TVs, a weird Amazon tablet, an iOS device (all negative and no interest in any of these things) - how am I supposed to get that stuff on my TV (which happens to BE a 'smart' TV with optional internet connectivity, but it's offline for a very good reason)?
- xur17 13y ago
  Amazon's streaming video is useless to me. It doesn't work on any of my devices (android, linux, or chromecast), while Netflix does. I made 2 online movie rentals within the past few weeks, and both times I checked amazon, but then remembered that it doesn't work on my devices, and ended up getting it from Google Play. They're missing out on purchases, and getting people used to using other services - not a great way to set yourself up for the future...
  - dnissley 13y ago
    Yeah, I can't quite figure that out. Is their kindle business really so valuable that they are willing to cannibalize their media services? Just doesn't seem to make sense to race for device adoption in a world where everybody else seems to be racing for broader platform adoption. I guess I've never been all that impressed with their offering in this area though, especially video, so maybe they're simply recognizing that it isn't as valuable.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
  - knowaveragejoe 13y ago
    Seems to depend on the device. I have no issue using Amazon video on the PS3. As for total selection, I'd say it dwarfs Netflix's library, but you have to pay to rent/own most of it.
- muyuu 13y ago
  Yep and that's how you alienate your existing user-base who signed up when it was all about the shipping. If they wanted to run a streaming/media service they should have done just that. They have definitely lost me as a customer by switching me from one service to another without even asking for confirmation (I found out in hackernews). Even if I was interested in the media streaming service which I'm absolutely not, I would still be upset about the way they have dealt with it.
- Encosia 13y ago
  I've been paying for Prime for a couple years (and will continue at $99/year), but I couldn't care less about the video. If there were a shipping-only Prime for $79, I wouldn't think twice about dropping the video.
- lsaferite 13y ago
  I'd say that is a personal opinion. I say that as my own personal opinion is quite the opposite. I rarely use Prime streaming and prefer Netflix simple based on ease of use. Of course Netflix seems determined to screw that up, but that's a different story.
FraaJad 13y ago
You can get Shoprunner and shipping will be free on Newegg and lot of other companies (i've used it last week on newegg and brooks brothers). If you have an SPG Amex card, the membership is at no cost to you.

theboywho 13y ago

The settings page to opt out of Amazon Prime is disabled.

wdewind 13y ago

While I would always wish to pay less for something, this is fine with me. Prime is still such an amazing value for me, and Amazon has created so much good will with me by being so awesome for so long that my reaction to this was basically to shrug and say "what took so long?"

amykhar 13y ago
Agreed. And, they haven't raised the prices in years.
- lsaferite 13y ago
  Yeah, I checked the BLS site about the inflation from 2005-2014 and they are just about on track to follow inflation. And if you consider they didn't adjust in that entire period then the slight amount over inflation is warranted (IMHO). http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=80&year1=2005&year2=2014 http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=80&year1=2005&y...
staked 13y ago
Ditto. Sure, price increases suck, but a quick perusal of how many Prime-eligible items I've ordered in the last year would still put me way ahead even at $99/yr.

tptacek 13y ago

Prime could cost $199 and I still wouldn't have to think before subscribing.

desireco42 13y ago
Pretty much same here and from what I hear, others feel the same.

silviorelli 13y ago

In Italy Prime costs just 9,99€. That's just a little more than a single shipment. http://www.amazon.it/gp/prime http://www.amazon.it/gp/prime

xsace 13y ago
Crazy. It's 49€ in France
puzzlingcaptcha 13y ago
Wow, that's great. In France and Germany it's 49€
- darklajid 13y ago
  In Germany it used to be less and was only just increased - due to the addition of the media services (Prime Instant Video or whatever it is called). I'd guess that Italy doesn't offer access to that so far, so the price difference isn't thaaaaat big.
cenhyperion 13y ago
Does this have to do with the size of the country? 2 day shipments have to be easier to do within Italy than the continental United States.
tirant 13y ago
€14.95 in Spain http://www.amazon.es/gp/prime http://www.amazon.es/gp/prime
veidr 13y ago
¥3,900 (38 USD) in Japan, with free same-day delivery (of many items) and no media content included.
keidian 13y ago
$79 in Canada without any streaming :(

sephronius 13y ago

I'm surprised they did not change the cost to $97 so that the cost would still be a prime number.

pidg 13y ago

In the UK, Amazon have just raised the cost of Prime from £49 to £79, and bundled in their (failing?) LoveFilm movie streaming service to excuse it. A lot of people I know (including me) are cancelling as a result - not due to the cost, but more the brazenness of it.

morsch 13y ago
Incredibly, it's 49 EUR (41 GBP) in Germany -- that's after the price hike/LoveFilm inclusion. Half that amount for students. Still not worth it for me, everything I buy from Amazon tends to be eligible for free shipping anyway. And as far as I know their streaming service doesn't stock videos in their native languages, so it's practically worthless to me.
moron4hire 13y ago
Probably not actually a lot of people. Most likely most people will continue their subscriptions. And if you haven't cancelled already, I'd be surprised if you actually did, even with what you said. It's just human nature. You'll put it off. You'll forget about your rage daycamping. And 6 months from now, when you accidentally look at your credit card statement, you'll say to yourself "I really should cancel Prime" and go back to playing Flappy Bird instead.

gdulli 13y ago

I can't understand the idea of paying for shipping (whether it's annual or per-shipment) when there's an option to get it for free. If I decided I couldn't wait a few extra days to get the things I order, I feel I'd be crossing a line of giving in too much to consumerism. Taking away impulse buying is one of the better things about shopping online. And the streaming services combined don't match what I get with cable, so I found Prime hard to justify at the previous price point.

untog 13y ago
If I decided I couldn't wait a few extra days to get the things I order, I feel I'd be crossing a line of giving in too much to consumerism. What about when, you know, you need something urgently? Last time I took a long trip I ordered a backup battery for my cellphone three days before I left. It was either use Amazon Prime or go to a store and pay twice as much.
- lsaferite 13y ago
  This is one reason I love Prime. I frequently find myself ordering something I need for a trip at the last minute. Another instance was when our son needed to move from the carrier to a real car seat. We ordered the new one late one night. The next day before noon it was on our doorstep. And that was the 2-day shipping option.
- gdulli 13y ago
  In a rare case like that I have the option of paying for faster shipping, but it happens rarely enough that it costs me far less than locking myself into paying for a year's worth of shipping I may or may not use.
lsaferite 13y ago
I hate shopping in physical stores as I don't like crowds of people and find it a waste of my time. As a consequence, I order most things online. Over the years as a Prime member, I've saved an enormous amount of money in shipping. If you cannot control your impulse buying in a store, what makes you think you can control it online any differently? Where are you shopping that you can get free shipping for everything? Hell, even getting free shipping for anything before Prime came out was rare, at least for me. After Prime, many stores have shifted to offer free shipping to compete with Amazon. But still, finding everything you want online with free shipping is difficult or impossible. I know because I still find myself buying from other shops when Amazon doesn't carry something I need.

codegeek 13y ago

For a heavy amazon user such as myself, not much difference. Still very happy to continue using amazon. The math is simple. We probably have 5-10 shipments on average a month coming in. Most of it is for our kids (newborn/1 year) and includes subscriptions for milk, diapers etc. Just recently, my wife added another subscription for stuff like toilet paper, napkins. Without amazon prime, you might end up paying $3-5 on average. So that's almost $30-50 per month. So over a year, you might pay almost $500 in shipping if you use amazon like we do. So really a no-brainer. Not to mention the super fast shipping (many times next day) and hassle free returns for the most part. I hate driving to a store just to buy household items that require no brain or thought process. Actually wait, I lied. I have even bought my TV, computer desk on amazon recently. So our visit to the "stores" is now pretty much limited to grocery. If I could, would buy everything online. Thanks Amazon Prime, you have a long term member. Please continue to do the great things that you do. Really waiting for the amazon grocery delivery service /fanboy EDIT: I got curious and checked my last 6 months order history [0]. We had 73 orders in just last 6 months. For entire 2013, we had 85 orders. [0] http://imgur.com/5IvQtQG http://imgur.com/5IvQtQG

mhb 13y ago
I'm considering whether it's worth it. I thought that, for orders over $25, shipping was free anyway. With the amount of ordering you do, wouldn't there be little advantage to having Prime, especially if you tried to aggregate your items?
- schrodinger 13y ago
  The free shipping isn't 2 day I don't think
- codegeek 13y ago
  You will be surprised that my wife buys items worth $2.99 from amazon at times. Sometimes, it is not possible to bunch orders together because it is all "on demand". Because we have prime, we don't care about whether it is 1 item or 5 items in same shipment. So our orders could look like ($2.99, 1 item )on one day while it could be ($40+$6, 2 items) another day. Other than fixed subscriptions, our buying pattern is very random. And Prime is not just about free shipping, but it is a lot more about "fast" shipping. I am not sure about non prime but I doubt that free shipping will be 2 day or less like Prime.

joesmo 13y ago

The quality of this service is hit and miss. Sometimes they use a reliable carrier like UPS, other times they send things via USPS so they can be stolen. With this price increase, and their inability (I've asked multiple times) to determine what carrier they will ship with and ship with a reliable carrier, this has become a liability now that I wish I had not renewed. It's amazing to me that Amazon would ship anything of value with such an unreliable carrier as USPS.

lsaferite 13y ago
I would dispute the unreliability of the USPS based on my own anecdotal evidence. (FedEx/UPS was always iffy based on the driver) But, assuming USPS is totally unreliable and packages go missing a lot, have you ever had Amazon NOT either refund or replace the item? I ask because I 'received' a package via UPS with a GoPro and when I got home it was not there. I reported to Amazon and they shipped one out overnight to replace the missing item. That's just one of multiple instances of Amazon having an amazing policy regarding shipping and returns.
- joesmo 13y ago
  No, Amazon has been great about refunding packages so far. Of course, the packages stolen or opened by USPS in the last couple of weeks don't cost a lot. I doubt they would be this gracious with say a Macbook or other high price item, regardless of what their policy might be. USPS steals and opens packages. Period. This has been the case for decades. They also do not respond to any complaints.
  - lsaferite 13y ago
    Do you have any facts to back up that allegation or is it just you opinion? I've only lost a few package via USPS in my entire life and none of them recently. I find myself far more likely to lose a package via UPS or FedEx.
    - joesmo 13y ago

ludicast 13y ago

Still worth it to me. The quick free shipping is great and the streaming educational kid's tv is a godsend. Plus for a family there are considerably more packages coming down (tools, toys, etc.). Seems like they crunched the numbers and realized that if $79 was worthwhile, $99 would be too. Those who wouldn't find $99 worthwhile probably wouldn't be using it anyway. Still do think customers should be grandfathered when at all possible.

uptown 13y ago

While I don't mind the Prime price-hike, I've begun noticing that Amazon's prices are also increasing quite-dramatically. Cereal that used to cost $10 now costs over $18. Dog biscuits used to cost $11 are now over $22. Yet if you compare Amazon's prices to Walmart, you can get these items close to Amazon's old prices with $5 shipping (or free shipping over $50). I know there's been considerable discussion about Amazon being able to "flip the switch" on profitability, and maybe this is what we're seeing ... but even if many consumers are trained to just "go to Amazon" for their shopping needs, if prices rise by 100%, they're likely to seek discounts from competitors. I definitely have.

icefox 13y ago
Same here, and without the carrot of "free shipping" it is much easier to just place an order elsewhere now.

nathanb 13y ago

Most of the conversation here seems to be around shipping costs and speed. But there are a number of other perks to Prime. Here are the ones that I use: * Streaming video: not all the stuff I want to watch is on Prime, but when it is, it saves me a few bucks * Lending library: ditto, for books. If I care deeply about permanently owning a book, I'll buy the physical copy. * Kindle First (get a free book every month one month before its release): the books are not exactly destined to be timeless classics, but free reading material is nice and it helps me discover new authors Any other important Prime perks I'm missing? The shipping plus the above go a long way toward justifying the cost, to me at least.

JohnTHaller 13y ago

The value proposition for Amazon Prime has sunk quite a bit in the last year. More and more products have multiple listings: one that's not Prime eligible, and one that is Prime eligible but costs more. So, that two day free shipping isn't free. Plus, living in NYC, a large percentage of the two day free shipping items just get sent USPS anyway, so I'm not getting anything extra. Amazon's Prime video service is similarly less of a value than it should be. Unlike competing services like Hulu and Netflix, you can't watch Amazon Prime videos on your Android phone or tablet (who cares, it's just the #1 mobile OS, right?). Amazon's logic is to force you to use their proprietary tablets that are based on Android but don't support Google's app store or Google's services, meaning that a whole array of Android apps aren't compatible, including big ones like Google Chrome and Firefox. I'm ditching Amazon Prime at the end of my term in two months as a result.

jamesbritt 13y ago
I've watched prime videos on my asus tablet just by using a browser. Seems to work fine.
- JohnTHaller 13y ago
  They work to varying degrees within the mobile browser. But the app, which does a better job of displaying and caching the video as you play resulting in a better image, is only available for iOS and Amazon's gimped Android tablets.

zengr 13y ago

My activity has dropped on amazon significantly in the last 1year. The prices on amazon.com have gone up, I always find something cheaper else where online including shipping. And now this, just cancelled my subscription.