topic Re: Amazon Prime in Community Chat

Amazon Prime

SeaMaiden — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 15:51:04 GMT

I hope what I am asking is clear....

I would like your feelings on joining Amazon Prime for 99 dollars a year. Do you find in order to benefit from it you have to order a lot... or do they make rules to conform to in order to get the 2 day free shipping hard to meet? I have heard pros and cons.

I order pretty regular... could order more. Just not sure where to draw the line between meeting the quota to get free REGULAR SHIPPING 5 TO 7 days ( $40.00 purchase minimum or so?) or paying for the PRIME and meeting the regulations for using that each time to get the free 2nd day air

What kind of things do not apply to the PRIME on orders you place? . How often do you come across things that you order that do not meet the regulations to use PRIME?

Re: Amazon Prime

brandiwine — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 15:54:05 GMT

For me Prime is fantastic. Very rarely does something not get here in 2 days, but I know that when I order. Now that they are delivering on the weekends, many times it's just 24 hours. We also use the Prime video and music. I love I can direct ship during the holidays for free. Amazon prices and selection are great.

Re: Amazon Prime

gwiz — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 15:56:25 GMT

I have had Prime for almost a year. So far I have not ordered anything that did not qualify for Prime shipping. I feel that if you order from them a lot it is worth it. I kind of feel that before I had Prime I was always juggling my orders to get them up to an amount that qualified to ship free. It was a nuisance.

Re: Amazon Prime

Krimpette — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 15:57:03 GMT

I'm a very satisfied Prime member. In fact, when I'm ordering, I always try and make sure to only select "Prime" vendors.

Re: Amazon Prime

NickNack — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 15:58:39 GMT

I love Prime and order from Amazon all the time. I rarely order anything that isn't Prime shipping. However, sometimes I don't actually get them in two days. That is very frustrating to me. Sometimes I order on Friday, and it arrives on Sunday though. I use Prime Video too.

Re: Amazon Prime

sydsgma1 — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 16:02:04 GMT

I have been a prime member since it first came out. Love it. I live in a big metro area son2 day shipping is never an issue. I have ordered in the morning and relieved the package by evening.

Re: Amazon Prime

CareBears — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 16:04:19 GMT

@SeaMaiden I hesitated to join Prime because of the cost, but I finally plunged and have never regretted it for an instant.

I choose to do alot of my shopping on line it is so much easier for me, I do not mind paying shipping charges if they are within reason and it is not an item that I can find locally, but with changes in lifestyle the last couple of years those shipping charges were adding up!

I ordered the Prime and think I saved on shipping charges the first 3 months. The only items I find not to be on Prime have been home decor, I recently purchased a new coffee table and was looking for a centerpiece and every one I found on Amazon was not with Prime. but you know that ahead of time.

I have found with Amazon that their prices tend to jump around quite a bit. If I find an item I want to purchase and I am not in an immediate time frame to receive it, I save it to my Wish List and watch it for a couple of weeks, they will even inform you of price changes under the item in your list. Of course some things I can find locally for cheaper but for convenience you cannot beat it!

Re: Amazon Prime

Kachina624 — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 16:04:41 GMT

@SeaMaiden Because I can't stand to browse in stores I usually place several Amazon orders per week. I buy a lot of relative inexpensive drug and cosmetic items but I also buy some large more expensive things. I recently bought a bakers rack which I first found on Overstock, then for $30. less on Amazon. Yesterday I found a 8 X10 rug I liked on Zulily. I entered their title for the item into Google and came up with the same rug $35. cheaper at Amazon + I was able to read a review and got free shipping on everything.

For me Prime is well worth the annual fee. Almost everything I ever order I can find available on Prime. I even order my dog food delivered on Prime. Best thing since sliced bread.

Re: Amazon Prime

SeaMaiden — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 16:08:22 GMT

@sydsgma1 @NickNack @Krimpette @gwiz @brandiwine @Kachina624 @CareBears

Thanks for the great reviews! I am on the free 30 day trial so I will see how that goes. I wonder when the next price increase will be from the $99? I imagine they would not want to go too high or it would scare people away.

Thanks again everyone who shared and who does share later... very interesting!

Re: Amazon Prime

jaxs mom — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 16:07:50 GMT

You only get 2 day shipping on items stocked by Amazon and that are labeled as Prime eligible. But that is a massive amount of items. I've had it for years. I use it a lot.

If you like the convenience of being able to order what you want without concern for a minium spending requirement then Prime is great. If you're one of those people that only orders once a month or less and has no issue hitting the minimum and doesn't want your stuff in two days, then it's probably not for you.

Re: Amazon Prime

OnlyShopsOnline — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 16:09:52 GMT

I LOVE Amazon Prime. LIfe is busy enough, and it really helps me cut down on errands. Sometimes I just need one simple thing. For instance, last week we needed one of those door stops that screw into the baseboards. They are usually 3 inches, but we needed one a little longer. I looked on Amazon and they had one. Got it in two days, free shipping. And, it saved me from having to run to Lowes and Home Depot to see if they possibly had what I wanted.

I've gotten to a point in my life where I hate running from store to store, wasting time and energy. I have very little of either!

I've had grocery items delivered on several occasions. And have found the prices on the things I have ordered to be very competitive.

Every once in a while, their price may be higher on something. But, if I can get it in two days, and it saves me from making a 10+ mile round trip, I'll order it anyway. It's truly a time saver for me and makes life so much easier.

And, I enjoy the Amazon Prime Video. There are other features, but I've really not checked them out.

Usually you can get a 30 day free trial....and there is no gimmick to that either. I tried it. You can cancel after two days, so that they don't renew it, and you still get the rest of the 30 days free.

Re: Amazon Prime

GCR18 — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 16:11:06 GMT

I have prime and only partake on the free shipping. I have run across items that didn't quality for prime. Now I filter to prime before I look at the items. I often price compare too because amazon is not always the low price vendor.

A recent example is I had to order my sister some toiletries. I wanted to use amazon because of the two day shipping. Well toiletries fall under amazon market and take five days. I went to Jet and they had the items cheaper and could deliver free in two days with a $35 purchase. I easily passed $35, so it was as a no brainer. I like Amazon, but if they don't have two day shipping and a low or comparable price I go elsewhere. Not sure if I'm getting my $99 worth.

Re: Amazon Prime

chickenbutt — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 16:12:06 GMT

The easy part is figuring out if it would be worthwhile to you. Just figure, from your order volume, how much you would have saved in shipping.

As for having trouble finding items that ARE Prime, I don't have a problem in that regard at all. In fact, sometimes I choose the 3rd party seller to save on sales tax. But probably 98% of the time I purchase, whether direct or third party, items that are marked as Prime.

Also part of the calculations would be if you would want the additional services you get when you have Prime. I watch some of the Amazon shows and also some shows/movies are available for Prime members so that you don't have to 'rent' or 'buy' them and pay a fee. Also some free music.

There are also other services that I don't even use (but it's still majorly worthwhile for me) like some 'book' stuff.

I have a couple hundred orders a year so, clearly, it's worth it for me just for that. Amazon's customer service is top notch and that is worth a lot to me.

Re: Amazon Prime

millieshops — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 16:15:10 GMT

I think whether it works depends upon what you like to buy, whether you really care about how fast delivery is, and what you watch and listen to from their Prime offerings.

For me, I realized early on that having Prime encouraged me to order more than I really needed - sort of like when shopping first showed up on the Internet and on TV!!!! I quit that the day I realized what I was doing, but having gone back to my personal discipline about shopping showed me I didn't need Prime at all for its shipping and I didn't care for very many of Amazon's free books and I'm not a huge TV watcher, so I quit Prime.

That was several years ago, and in the meantime, I have never spent as much for Amazon shipping in a year's time as joining Prime costs. But you've got to know how you shop as well as what's important to you from their media.

Re: Amazon Prime

Annabellethecat66 — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 16:19:08 GMT

I LOVE Amazon Prime. I use it all of the time and it has more than paid for itself. Christmas alone it was a GOD send!

I send my grandson costumes all of the time. Toys to my granddaughters and on and one.

I love this. I keep one credit card on hand there that is attached to nothing else. I find what I like. I just click and it's paid for and within 2 days it is received either by me or the person I've sent it to.

I also mail packages to my daughter in Denver from me. The cost of regular mail is prohibitive...very expensive.

Re: Amazon Prime

proudlyfromNJ — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 16:23:18 GMT

We get all our pet food, bird seed, litter,etc from Amazon. Not lugging around the store, to car and house. Just much easier for us. Any time we say we need to purchase something? We order on Amazon. Saves a trip to the store and searching it out. We love it.

Re: Amazon Prime

BabyYoda — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 16:31:19 GMT

I am a longtime prime member. I am very happy with the 1 and 2 day shipping. There is a Amazon warehouse not far away and sometimes I can get 1 day shipping. The post office delivers most of the packages and even on Sunday's. I just placed 3 orders arriving on different days. One is arriving today with free one day shipping coming from the warehouse near me.

I also wanted to point out their customer service is the best. Never failed me yet. We also watch their movies on our Ruku.

Re: Amazon Prime

magicmoodz — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 16:37:48 GMT

I don't order a lot from Amazon, but I am a Prime member.

I did recently order a coffeemaker at 11:30 am and received it by 5:00 pm that same day. We also enjoy free delivery when ordering dinner from local restaurants through Amazon Prime. Not nearly as much as Netflix, but we do stream some tv/movies free and I usually download the free monthly book (but never seem to read them 😕).

Re: Amazon Prime

tansy — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 16:37:49 GMT

I'm still on the fence whether Prime's worth it to me. For whatever reason, a number of items I order take three days to reach me. We watch a few shows on Prime but not many.

Re: Amazon Prime

Nomorebirthdays — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 16:44:00 GMT

Love it, I hate to shop. Well worth it for us. No gas cost, shop at 3 am if I feel like it. We don't use the music or movie services, we should take advantage of that. Living rural if we order Thursday or Friday we often don't get are stuff until Tuesday, that's OK for us.