Will you keep Amazon Prime at $119?

[beyond.omega]

Originally Posted by FitBoop

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.

Yeah, one nice thing about Amazon is being able to buy anything. I haven't been able to make jet.com or thrive.com work for me in that sense. But then again, between luckyvitamin.com, iherb.com and target.com, I've done fine without Amazon Prime. Then I get the occasional thing from Walmart or Amazon (non-Prime) and I'm set.

I went to Whole Foods about a month ago when I took a trip into town, and was pleasantly surprised by the low prices on produce. They seemed to make it up on a slightly higher than expected mark-up on shelf items (a tried and true business model for non-profit food co-ops). But then I also went to New Seasons (a local chain similar to WF) and saw similar low prices, and a much greater selection of organic produce (both stores carry both conventional and organic) as well as overall better selection. I suppose it would be worth a try if I was already a Prime member to see if it was worth it (and also if I actually lived near WF obviously). But honestly I'm not sure that would make up the cost I wouldn't mind paying 10% more somewhere else for quality produce.

[FitBoop]

That’s interesting. I was just at Whole Foods yesterday, and produce was not lower that it was before Amazon owned it. The produce did not have low prices and I passed over some items due to them being so expensive. Maybe it depends on the location of the WF, but it’s expensive here.

[geojill]

Originally Posted by KateTT

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.

I agree. Yes, it’s easy to get the free shipping by adding something else to the cart, but I’m all about the free two day shipping. Shipping periods aside, I also feel that things I order with prime ship out faster than things that aren’t on prime. That’s happened the few times I order things that aren’t flagged for prime.

I hate to shop and am not going to spend my time at different places to find what I want, and I’m not going to check around for the cheapest price. I like a bargain, but at this time in my life my husband and I are so busy that we are willing to pay a bit more for convenience. We now use Blue Apron to reduce meal planning and grocery store trips, and we just hired someone to maintain our yard so we can start relaxing and doing things together on our day off. We don’t have a ton of extra money but have arranged our budget to allow for this so we’re not spending all of our time off from work cleaning, doing housework, and running errands.

I buy so much on Amazon that it’s worth it to me.

[wishiwasinhawaii]

Originally Posted by beyond.omega

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.

Completely agree. Amazon has trained people into thinking they can only get items from them, which isn't true when there are still so many other options out there. It really is an ingenious strategy on their part though.

I also still enjoy shopping in actual stores because it gets me out of the house and getting some form of exercise. There are some items (mostly clothing) I prefer to buy in person because I like to be able to feel the fabric and try them on. I live in an urban area though so I have what I need nearby and can get it immediately, as long as I don't mind driving 5 minutes. I might have a different opinion if I lived elsewhere, but for me, Prime just doesn't justify the cost.

[JackieB]

I live 40 miles north of the MSP metro and at 15-20 miles from any Target or Walmart. Amazon Prime is worth it to me. I'd feel differently if shopping were accessible.

[beyond.omega]

Originally Posted by JackieB

I live 40 miles north of the MSP metro and at 15-20 miles from any Target or Walmart. Amazon Prime is worth it to me. I'd feel differently if shopping were accessible.

I live 70 miles from the nearest downtown metro, and Target is 50 miles away from me. I have to do most shopping online for the things I need. I even still order from Amazon. My point is there are a lot of online options that are cheaper and just as convenient (since it is online), including free Amazon.

BTW, Target.com has free shipping over $35, free returns on opened beauty items where they pay return shipping, and 365 day returns where they pay return shipping on other unused returns. Target.com also has a subscription option for household supplies which have free shipping on the subscription item no minimum.

[desderata]

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.

I agree about Amazon's prices going up over the years. Interestingly, I've often found that the price for an Amazon Prime item is higher than the price for the same item on another website, and the difference is about equal to the cost of shipping. I've started to use brick and mortar's free shipping to the store if the item isn't in stock locally and gotten better deals than on Amazon. Where I live it's no big deal to drive to these stores.

And this is my weakness - something about the Prime "free" shipping inspires me to buy more. Free shipping plus one click is too tempting for me - I ended up buying stuff on impulse more than on a calculated decision. I turned off one click and that's helped, but when I discontinue Prime I expect to buy fewer things altogether. I'm at the point where if it's too much trouble for me to go to the store and buy something, I clearly don't need it. I want to reduce consumption and "things" all around.

[Sue B]

I have until the end of October to decide but right now I'm leaning toward keeping. The 2-day shipping is nice and I've gotten a couple of same-day items through Prime Now. I also use a couple of the Dash buttons to send things directly to my parents, I have a ton of photos and videos on Prime Photos and I'm still a Viner so I feel a little bit obligated On the downside, I've given up trying to get Prime Music to work on my phone, and I rarely watch the videos although they do come up with better workouts than Netflix (not sure they even have any workouts anymore).

[prettyinpink]

Originally Posted by beyond.omega

Yeah, one nice thing about Amazon is being able to buy anything. I haven't been able to make jet.com or thrive.com work for me in that sense. But then again, between luckyvitamin.com, iherb.com and target.com, I've done fine without Amazon Prime. Then I get the occasional thing from Walmart or Amazon (non-Prime) and I'm set.

.

I’m surprised to see luckyvitamin mentioned.
A couple of years ago I had a horrible experience with them charging, never shipping, and never responding to emails, and I found hundreds of reviews online with the same experience. To anyone else I would recommend to investigate via BBB, consumer affairs, etc. before ordering from them.

My Prime is in the grace period so I will not have to pay the increase til next year. At $99 it has been worth it to me and I will keep it, and then see. I get enough movies and tv with them to make me happy, and do not subscribe to Netflix anymore or to any other streaming music services. I am disappointed with the way the music service is going with additional charges for newer stuff but for my purposes it is still enough. I used to use Subscribe and Save a lot more, but their offerings of things I use are fewer and not as often a savings, so I am back to using local big box stores for more of those things. For most things I purchase, though, Amazon is often the lowest or equal price, and with a large family we do purchase a lot of books, making two day shipping a very nice thing. Also I have always had exemplary customer service from Amazon, an excellent track record over twenty years, which seems to be hit or miss sometimes with online retailers.

[beyond.omega]

Originally Posted by prettyinpink

I’m surprised to see luckyvitamin mentioned.
A couple of years ago I had a horrible experience with them charging, never shipping, and never responding to emails, and I found hundreds of reviews online with the same experience. To anyone else I would recommend to investigate via BBB, consumer affairs, etc. before ordering from them.

My Prime is in the grace period so I will not have to pay the increase til next year. At $99 it has been worth it to me and I will keep it, and then see. I get enough movies and tv with them to make me happy, and do not subscribe to Netflix anymore or to any other streaming music services. I am disappointed with the way the music service is going with additional charges for newer stuff but for my purposes it is still enough. I used to use Subscribe and Save a lot more, but their offerings of things I use are fewer and not as often a savings, so I am back to using local big box stores for more of those things. For most things I purchase, though, Amazon is often the lowest or equal price, and with a large family we do purchase a lot of books, making two day shipping a very nice thing. Also I have always had exemplary customer service from Amazon, an excellent track record over twenty years, which seems to be hit or miss sometimes with online retailers.

I have had only excellent experiences with luckyvitamin. Great selection, great prices, great service. Once I received an order that was missing something, and they shipped it out right away. I have been using luckyvitamin.com for years on average every other month, and I am very pleased with doing business with them. The only complaint I have is it takes me forever and a day to received orders shipped Ground, but that is because of location and FedEx ship times, not their service. I highly recommend Luckyvitamin.com, based on my own direct experience of them.

I have no complaints about Amazon - I still order from them. My point in my original post was Prime membership made no sense to me if you only want it for free shipping. Prime for shipping plus their other services makes some sense if you like those other services.