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Old 05-16-18, 12:08 PM  
LynnO
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There are actually a few ways to get free ebooks. The Kindle First program where each month, you can choose from one of the books that will be published by one of Amazon's publishing arms. I don't bother with these books anymore because they are poorly edited, which makes all the world of difference to me in whether a lot of books are worthwhile. So many of these Kindle First books- the voice of all the characters is exactly the same, so, you can't usually tell who is doing or saying what. As always with Amazon, this benefits them because this puts these books at the top of their for pay best seller list.

They also have 2 lending libraries. (not sure if they actually have the first anymore) but you can check out one book at a time from a huge list, some of them traditionally published and some reprints, and some current books. I think you have to have a Kindle and Prime for this.

They also have a new Prime feature where you can select up to like 10 books and magazines at a time. They cycle the magazines monthly, so this is a nice perk. There are some decent books on the list too, but it is extremely limited.
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Old 05-16-18, 01:50 PM  
desderata
 
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I have a kindle, but find almost all the low cost or free book selection to be very limited, poorly written and just amateurish. There have been a couple that were written by authors who have been published by actual publishing houses, but not most.
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Old 05-16-18, 03:55 PM  
superfit41
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Yes, I will keep it. I order from Amazon quite often. DH and I also watch Amazon Prime videos. Once in a while I read the free books, but most of them aren't books that I would prefer to read.
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Old 05-16-18, 04:21 PM  
cherimac
 
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Originally Posted by desderata View Post
I have a kindle, but find almost all the low cost or free book selection to be very limited, poorly written and just amateurish. There have been a couple that were written by authors who have been published by actual publishing houses, but not most.
Same here.
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Old 05-16-18, 04:55 PM  
KateTT
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Originally Posted by FitBoop View Post
Amazon is increasing Prime membership to $119 per year. That is a big increase from $99. I buy a lot from Amazon, but most orders are over the $25 minimum, so I don’t think it’s worth it to pay $119. I also don’t care if things take more than 2 days for shipping.

I don’t think the Prime movies is good, and always end up purchasing whatever I want to watch. I don’t use the Prime music or reading much, and like movies, I end up purchasing the books and music I want. I don’t use the photos storage either. So for me, Prime isn’t worth it.

I plan to cancel my Prime membership.

Will you stay with Amazon Prime or cancel?
That's only 20 bucks and well worth it to me. I do a lot of shopping on Amazon and Prime has paid for itself just in shipping fees alone. The 2-day shipping is nice but the FREE is even nicer!
Plus there's all the music and video.
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Old 05-16-18, 05:05 PM  
macska
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So keep it. I buy so many things from cat litter to my underwear on it. I use it so many times, totally worth it for me.
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Old 05-16-18, 06:37 PM  
beyond.omega
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I have to admit, I don't understand those of you who are keeping Prime just for the free shipping. Amazon has free shipping on everything under Prime for anyone if you cart total is over $25 for qualified items. I can almost always hit that minimum with two items or less.

I also don't quite understand "buying everything" on Amazon. I do extensive price comparisons and while Amazon is often the cheapest, it just as often is not. This wasn't always true, but Amazon prices have creeped up over the years. Many brick-and-mortar retailers ship with reasonable minimums that are easy to meet, and are often cheaper than Amazon. It used to be paying more was worth one-stop-shopping, but of you are shopping from your desk, clicking "Buy" at two different sites is as easy as clicking it at one.

Not judging - I just don't understand paying $120/year (or $99) for something available for free.
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Old 05-16-18, 11:58 PM  
Leonana
 
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Originally Posted by beyond.omega View Post
I have to admit, I don't understand those of you who are keeping Prime just for the free shipping. Amazon has free shipping on everything under Prime for anyone if you cart total is over $25 for qualified items. I can almost always hit that minimum with two items or less.

I also don't quite understand "buying everything" on Amazon. I do extensive price comparisons and while Amazon is often the cheapest, it just as often is not. This wasn't always true, but Amazon prices have creeped up over the years. Many brick-and-mortar retailers ship with reasonable minimums that are easy to meet, and are often cheaper than Amazon. It used to be paying more was worth one-stop-shopping, but of you are shopping from your desk, clicking "Buy" at two different sites is as easy as clicking it at one.

Not judging - I just don't understand paying $120/year (or $99) for something available for free.
I agree. So many times Walmart and Target have the item cheaper, and Walgreens too if it's on sale. Also, you can get free shipping for any amount if it's sent to the store. Those stores are pretty close to me and I usually have to buy something else there anyway, so pick up is pretty convenient. I also don't have to worry about it being stolen.
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Old 05-17-18, 12:35 AM  
beyond.omega
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I agree. So many times Walmart and Target have the item cheaper, and Walgreens too if it's on sale. Also, you can get free shipping for any amount if it's sent to the store. Those stores are pretty close to me and I usually have to buy something else there anyway, so pick up is pretty convenient. I also don't have to worry about it being stolen.
Good point about shipping to the store. I live in a rural area so shipping to the store isn't an option for me (and others who do too). But by the same token ordering multiple items at once to stock up/get them at once is natural too, so shipping minimums aren't an issue for me.

Not only that, but recently I made a purchase from Bed Bath and Beyond, and I called them to see if I could get it shipped to the store for free pickup - fully prepared to make the 100 mile round trip (I was planning a trip into town for a while). In that case the item was over their shipping minimum, but the coupon made the price drop below. The service rep went ahead and arranged to ship it free to me anyway. (Yay BB&B!) This same item was available on Amazon for the same price, but with the coupon, it was cheaper at BB&B.
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Old 05-17-18, 01:01 AM  
FitBoop
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Originally Posted by beyond.omega View Post
I have to admit, I don't understand those of you who are keeping Prime just for the free shipping. Amazon has free shipping on everything under Prime for anyone if you cart total is over $25 for qualified items. I can almost always hit that minimum with two items or less.

I also don't quite understand "buying everything" on Amazon. I do extensive price comparisons and while Amazon is often the cheapest, it just as often is not. This wasn't always true, but Amazon prices have creeped up over the years. Many brick-and-mortar retailers ship with reasonable minimums that are easy to meet, and are often cheaper than Amazon. It used to be paying more was worth one-stop-shopping, but of you are shopping from your desk, clicking "Buy" at two different sites is as easy as clicking it at one.

Not judging - I just don't understand paying $120/year (or $99) for something available for free.
I agree. The free shipping is not worth paying $119 for, since it is easy to rack up $25 and get free shipping anyway. There is competition, including Jet.com, which has much better prices than Amazon on many items. Amazon does not have the lowest prices on many household items and beauty items, so I have bought a number of things on Jet.com and elsewhere.

It seems to me that Amazon tempts people to get Prime and then makes you pay extra for things like music and movies, if you want a better selection.

Having had Prime for a few years, I see how it can change one’s shopping habits to the point where you order everything there. It seems greedy to me for Amazon to be raising the price of Prime so much.

All that said, I heard yesterday that Whole Foods will start offering specials to Prime members. I am curious about that. When Amazon acquired Whole Foods, they said the prices would improve, but I haven’t seen that.
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