Posted on 04/24/2016 2:45:45 PM PDT by goldstategop
If you’re a regular shopper on Amazon and want the shopping benefits of Prime, it makes more sense to go with the full-year plan instead of the month-to-month option. Yes, you’ve got to pay $99 all at once for that membership, but that ends up significantly less expensive than the $131.88 you’d spend over the course of the year.
Depending on what you buy, and how quickly you need it, you may want to consider ditching Prime altogether. Amazon recently made it more difficult for non-Prime members to qualify for free shipping, raising the minimum order to qualify for free shipping on most (non-book) purchases to $49. Book purchases only need to hit the $25 mark to qualify.
So if you’re regularly making purchases that pass the free-shipping threshold and don’t mind waiting a few extra days for delivery, then maybe the money you’re spending Prime could be put to better use elsewhere.
(Excerpt) Read more at consumerist.com ...
Its the largest store in the world.
They have things you can’t get anywhere else and they’re the reason malls are going out of business.
What you need, you can get right on your doorstep and no need to drive, find a place to park and then shop.
I haven’t been to the mall in like a decade and I haven’t looked back - thanks to Amazon.
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The best thing about Amazon is the product reviews. Once you discard the nutjobs and idiots, there is more product info there than you can find anywhere else.
I haven’t been to a mall for years either. I’ve bought hundreds, maybe thousands, of items from Amazon and Ebay. Amazon recently built a distribution center in my state so now they charge me >5% tax on everything I buy plus shipping on anything over $50. That’s why I use Ebay now mostly, to get the shipping and tax savings. I’ve never found something on Amazon that I haven’t been able to find new at a Buy It Now price cheaper on Ebay. I seldom use the Ebay auctions. Being in a rural area I rely on cell service for Internet, which comes with data limits, so I don’t stream movies or TV shows.
I’ve contributed extensively to product reviews.
I actually use the products I review so I speak from experience.
Under $50? Be prepared to pay the standard shipping rate.
“What about the politics and morality of Amazon and its CEO Bezos?”
It absolutely IS important! Unfortunatley, the list of ethical suppliers seems rather limited. Sure, I go to Chik-Fil-A and Hobby Lobby every chance I get. But where do I go for the other 99% of the things I need?
That's my point: I typically don't have to pay shipping when buying from Ebay regardless of price. The Amazon prime membership will be worth it for many, but not for me.
Amazon is also predatory with regard to publishers. I try not to by anything on Amazon if possible, but sometimes it’s not.
As I post I forgot there are a few states they have to charge taxes.
I love Amazon Prime. I buy everything I can there. Clothes, TVs, computers, shoes, appliances, household products and etc. One thing nobody has mentioned is you don’t pay sales tax. Where I live if you average $100 a month, the tax savings pays for the membership. Clothes or shoes don’t fit, print out the prepaid label and send back free. I take care of some friends on mine and have the stuff delivered to their address. My grandkids live out of state. I would have their mom get them on Amazon and make a Christmas wish list (mom would email me with the link to each item). I would then pick out what I wanted to get them and have it shipped to their mom who would wrap them. For a small fee they will wrap and include a card with your message. I don’t know if they still do but ordering a large flat screen they had White Glove Delivery. Two guys unboxed it and took the box. Don’t forget the share with family members (very loose on the family thing) or friends. Add 4 of them and charge them, $20 and you all get a deal. They get the 2 day ship and tax free. Now 2 of them can even get the full Prime Deal.
Love it myself and it more than justifies the expense.
That’s what we do — collect enough items in the cart that are tagged as free shipping by Amazon totaling $49. (Not all items fall into that category.) We regularly get our pet food there, coffee K-cups on “subscribe and save”, vitamins, some electronics, linens, and varied other items.
I’m considering Prime, though, for streaming and the obvious shipping savings over time.
You will save 99 bucks in gas just not having to drive to stores to pick up small items like vitamins, socks, batteries
Not to mention less chance of getting hit by an illegal in the Walmart parking lot.
Hell, I bought a sectional couch for half what I would have paid at a chain furniture store, put it together in about an hour and it looks great.
More time to spend with the family instead of driving to the store a few times a week, the only thing we buy at a store anymore are groceries.
Unlimited selection on clothes, no longer limited to the inventory of your local outlet, same thing with tools and auto parts.
You get free streaming and can download content to a device like a Kindle or Ipad so you can watch on a plane trip.
Amazon Prime is an amazing value.
They even offered me a subscription to the Washington Post for a year for one dollar.
I told them to go to hell on that one.
The open questions feature is quite helpful as well for dealing with specific product applications and situations.
Savvy sellers pay attention to the questions and respond ASAP... can't get that in stores.
Feed back on problem resolution is a big plus. Reading about vendors solving problems or replacing items quickly provides added confidence. Conversely several bad reports kill the sale.
I post detailed reviews of purchased and used products. Have a bouncing 180K helpful rating and so get Amazon e-mails notifying me about product questions. Always answer as best and truthfully as I can, as I depend on others to do same.
Annual Prime membership pretty much paid for itself in first 1 1/2 months as I had a long wish list of items for spring along with some unexpected ones. Binged on the Prime video offerings due to unlimited data plan and so reacted like Toad to the motorcar discovery.
O.K...I admit I am technologically challenged to put it mildly. I am thinking about “cutting the cord” but the different choices make my head spin so I just don’t do anything.
My question...If I subscribe to Amazon Prime...that includes their streaming service as well as free shipping? I am also assuming that one has to have Wi-Fi for the streaming service to work?
“What about the politics and morality of Amazon and its CEO Bezos? Is that not important?”
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Not important at all.
If a company provides a product or service I want who cares what they believe.
I don’t care about the political preferences of my surgeon or airline pilot either.
.
Well you need a connection of some type to the internet.
That can be cable, DSL, satellite, or mobile phone.
One thing to consider is data caps. Streaming involves a lot of data.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/broadband-data-caps-pressure-cord-cutters-1461257846
I don’t loe their original programming. Amazon’s Man in the High Castle was okay, though. Also the Top Gear sucessor will be on Amazon. Netflix does nothing for shipping. Different strokes for different folks.
Loe=like
If it was always that way, I could live with it. My problem is that for years, they'd use Priority Mail for PO Boxes, and it was ALWAYS 2-3 days. I sold people on Amazon because it was so fast. About the same time they started including downloads, they switched to FedEx-Smartpost. Packages go to 6-8 places in PA and Ohio, with 2 days (rarely 1) at each stop before it gets to my PO. Since I'm in the East, there are lots of warehouses around. The packages leave the warehouse and are at FedEx in a day, all the rest of the time is within Fedex, plus they deliver their pallet to my post Office at 4:30pm, so I don't have time to get their the same day to pick it up. I keep thinking I'll complain to FedEx - when something is sent USPS it goes to Warrendale PA, and it ready to pick up at the PO the next morning.
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