Amazon Prime?

[Burnsie]

With the price of shipping these days, it is definitely worth it for us. Especially for $10.00-15.00 dollar items - it drives me nuts when I order from an online vendor and the shipping is more than the item. We pay for the Prime membership 10 times over, plus you can find almost anything.

 

[roadrunner]

There is no such thing as "free" shipping. It's figured into the sale price.

If it's not, the profit margin is extremely high for the merchant to where "eating the cost" of shipping is a non-issue.

Flat rate shipping is either from killer rates the carrier gives to the merchant or it's an average used from the closest rate to the rate the furtherest away. The close guy pays more than they should, the far away guy gets the break.

 

[Burnsie]

There is no such thing as "free" shipping. It's figured into the sale price.

If it's not, the profit margin is extremely high for the merchant to where "eating the cost" of shipping is a non-issue.

Flat rate shipping is either from killer rates the carrier gives to the merchant or it's an average used from the closest rate to the rate the furtherest away. The close guy pays more than they should, the far away guy gets the break.

Technically, you are correct - nothing is free. But if you find the same exact product on Amazon with zero shipping cost, and the other online retailers are charging $10-$15-$20 shipping - it seems kinda free.

 

[TaperPin]

I don’t have prime and my wife does - what a pain in the butt if I order something and have to wait until next week and she would get it tomorrow. She uses it instead of driving to the store, often for less money, and the selection is better.

Prime videos also come with the membership, so if it’s hard to find something on Netflix, prime is usually the second place well look.

 

[roadrunner]

I don’t have prime and my wife does - what a pain in the butt if I order something and have to wait until next week and she would get it tomorrow. She uses it instead of driving to the store, often for less money, and the selection is better.

Prime videos also come with the membership, so if it’s hard to find something on Netflix, prime is usually the second place well look.

I don't have one either, I use my wife's Prime account all the time....

 

[JF_Idaho]

I'm pretty sure most everybody here only have one Prime membership per household.....

Let me guess. Do you guys wash your clothes in "your wife's" washing machine? Or do you have your own?

 

[Kyguy]

I've got my own Prime and since I've repaired "her" washing machine three times over the past two years instead of spending a grand on a new one, that damn thing belongs to me now. LOL

 

[jbwright]

Nah, just venting because I can't get my stuff in 2 days

Seriously, I think with looking at what I spend, and the fact I am a cheap bastard and will drive 45 minutes vs. buying a label. I have to think what shipping I do have may not total the yearly price of prime

I hear ya. But at the same time, time = money. What's your time worth? We still choose to renew because the value is there for us...are you seeing delays (3+ days shipping) with regular/routine items y'all order or is it one-off orders you have delays with? From my experience the last year or so "grocery" items like oatmeal, honey, etc. are less on Amazon than local grocery or walmart neighborhood but they seem to frequently delay certain items.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

We've also set up subscriptions through prime for everyday items. Things like toilet paper, paper towels and a few others. We never had a toilet paper problem during covid.

 

[1jeds]

I was just watching a documentary on Netflix called "Buy Now" about how much we consume as a result of Amazon and similar sites. I'm very guilty of it, and it has made me put more thought into purchases. For me it's not an all or nothing, as there are conveniences or speciality items that I may not be able to get locally. It's also not just about $ for me, it is about how much time I may save doing something more meaningful rather than going to the store.

I was curious about how many households in the US have a Prime membership, and it was something crazy around 82% (if I remember my Google search correctly).

 

[thegrouse]

I switched to Walmart+, I do not miss Prime.

 

[Kyguy]

Problem with Walmart, in my area, is you never know when they're going to be able to deliver. They use outside services like Doordash and GrubHub. One time it's getting delivered in 3 hours, the next it's three days. Same with pickup. One time it'll be ready that day, the next it's two or three days for something that's in stock at the local store.

 

[missjordan]

Our household uses prime a lot. I really can’t see myself ditching the service. When you need those odd items that you can’t find locally. Amazon has them. It does save fuel and time driving all over town trying to find stuff. Plus I’ve actually found vendors on their platform that i would never have found anywhere else. In a way they are great at allowing some small business to have a presence. I throughly pricing check a lot of things and most of the time Amazon is comparable or has a slight savings

The political stuff i try and not get wrapped around. Because i personally don’t have any control over it anyways. It’s convenient and works and I’m not complaining.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[deerlick]

I canceled prime recently thinking the price was out of line. Went to order a small part and shipping wasn't free unless I spent 25 more dollars and was several days. Tried not using it for a week and decided amazon sucks without prime. Re subscribed. If your use to using it alot I'd keep your subscription.

 

[Axle]

People I know who have prime honestly believe they save money with prime, and that it is a necessity for life, right up there with their iphone.

Also I am laughing about everyone who says they don't have prime but use their wife's account....are you also homeless, but your wife has a house so you just stay with her? I mean who in the heck would buy two prime subscriptions for one shipping address?

We have had numerous free trials over the years. It is really convenient, but not a necessity for us. Also whenever we have a free trial of prime, my wife orders way more crap than normal that month. It makes no sense to me. We don't need prime for free shipping, just a $35 minimum order, which is pretty easy to do if you're buying stuff for a family.

I honestly think our household would spend way less money if we just shut off the internet altogether. Yeah, we would probably miss out on a few "black friday" deals, but it would cut way down on buying stuff we don't actually need.

 

[Traveler]

Prime is entirely worth it for us. Prices are good, we save on shipping and get prime video. Not even a question.

 

[Rotnguns]

My wife and I find it worthwhile. We get just about everything we order very quickly, especially after Amazon built a gigantic distribution center in Nampa, Idaho. Unless we buy in large volume, free shipping is not available from most other vendors for what we usually purchase.

 

[2531usmc]

Prime is entirely worth it for us. Prices are good, we save on shipping and get prime video. Not even a question.

Maybe it’s just me, but it seemed like Amazon used to have vendors competing for price and you could choose the lowest price. But now, it seems like the the highest price is the same price for all similar items

 

[hunt1up]

I was just watching a documentary on Netflix called "Buy Now" about how much we consume as a result of Amazon and similar sites. I'm very guilty of it, and it has made me put more thought into purchases. For me it's not an all or nothing, as there are conveniences or speciality items that I may not be able to get locally. It's also not just about $ for me, it is about how much time I may save doing something more meaningful rather than going to the store.

I was curious about how many households in the US have a Prime membership, and it was something crazy around 82% (if I remember my Google search correctly).

We watched that documentary as well. Once me and my wife watched it we had the kids watch it. It's pretty gross. I use Amazon a little but my wife uses it a TON. Every day there's some random package on our porch. Drives me nuts.

I think Amazon is a net negative for our society. Sure it's handy. But at what cost? The loss of countless local jobs? The reduction in local sales tax revenue? So what, we can get more Chinese made garbage dropped on our door in 2 minutes? It might be good at a personal level but at a societal level it's a cancer.

Civilizations came and went for millennia without Jeff Bezos. America and modern society came to be without the help of Jeff Bezos. The whole thing is gross.

Off my soapbox now. When I get home I'll be bringing in a few Amazon packages.

 

[NMJM]

I’m actually amazed people still pay for Prime. It’s clearly just a money maker for Amazon or they wouldn’t do it.

How is it different than any other service or product offered by any business? Every product/service is a money maker or the business would not provide it.