Amazon Prime on sale today only

[calmloki]

If on the fence, today's offer of a year of Prime for $72 vs. the current $99 might be of interest.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/prime/pip...ref=Transparentprime&ref_=pe_878460_131733540

 

[steelyman]

Thanks for the heads-up! I'm getting used to a new Roku and using a 3-mo trial of Hulu Plus.

I'd intended to cycle through the free offers to see how the services (Hulu, Amazon, Netflix) are, but this may change things.

 

[ERD50]

Thanks. I've taken advantage of the free trial a couple times, but have always canceled it just before it goes into 'paid' mode.

It's nice, but for me, it's not something I really care to pay for. They might get me at $20 (they could un-bundle their Instant Video at that price), but that's about all it's worth to me. Definitely a personal decision, some value the included Instant Video. But many things are not 'Prime Eligible', so that lessens the value. If I pay for it, I want it to apply to (almost) everything.

I find the normal shipping times are fine for me almost all the time. I can plan ahead for most things. For the occasional thing I may need faster, I can pay expedited shipping charges several times each year before hitting a $79/$99 level, and I doubt I'm even tempted to choose faster shipping more than once or twice a year.

But if you want it, $79 is better than $99!

-ERD50

 

[calmloki]

Amazon streaming video is pretty darn close to Netflix or Hulu for us (we have all three) and only $0.26/month more expensive. That makes the shipping a pretty good deal. The Amazon music streaming is fantastic!

 

[ERD50]

Amazon streaming video is pretty darn close to Netflix or Hulu for us (we have all three) and only $0.26/month more expensive. That makes the shipping a pretty good deal. The Amazon music streaming is fantastic!

Sounds like a good deal for you then. DW is hooked on some of the Netflix that is only available on DVD, so a streaming only service isn't an option for us (assuming I want to remain as one of 'us'!). And from what I've seen, Amazon Prime doesn't add much over the available Netflix streaming.


I was curious, so I looked at our last seven purchases. By Item #:

1) Prime Eligible, but free standard shipping on orders > $35 for non-Prime customers.

2) $18.54 including normal shipping charges, $25.80 with Prime (so you pay twice for Prime).

3) Not Prime Eligible, free standard shipping from 3rd party with no restrictions.

4) Only Prime Eligible as a $25 add-on. But free standard shipping on orders > $35 for non-Prime customers.

5) Not Prime Eligible, free standard shipping from 3rd party with no restrictions.

6) Prime Eligible, but free standard shipping for non-Prime customers.

7) Prime Eligible, but free standard shipping on orders > $35 for non-Prime customers.

So that confirms that for me, I don't get much value from Prime. I keep a few staples and other non-time critical items in my 'wish list', so getting to $35 is rarely a real restriction for me. So of those 7 items, Prime would get me the (possibly) faster shipping on only 4 of them w/o paying added fees anyhow (item #2), and 2 were not Prime Eligible anyhow. And of the 4 that were Prime Eligible w/o added fees, 1 had a 'catch' ($25 add-on order only).

So with Prime only really offering value on about half of what I order, I find it underwhelming. If it applied to (almost) everything, w/o restriction, they might get me to bite, but probably still not at $99, or even $79.

-ERD50

 

[Sue J]

I'm thinking about jumping on this. Our sons both have Prime and love it. We tend to bundle our Amazon purchases so that we go over $35 and get the free shipping. Nothing we buy needs to get here in 2 days but it sure is fun when it does. If I didn't have to wait and bundle stuff, I'd make more purchases. I'm afraid DH would become an Amazon junkie.

Lately I'm not into movies much so I don't know if I'd use the streaming service much.

Thinking....

 

[Hermit]

Its only for new Prime members.

Prime is wonderful for me. Its a 40 minute drive to the nearest town in good weather. UPS delivers in two days. I order things more than once a week quite often. I save the fee in gas alone plus a lot of travel time.

 

[NoiseBoy]

Prime (streaming) newbie here; can I get Amazon streaming content onto my HDTV using my WII? I just checked the back of the WII and it has 2 USB ports, but I didn't see an Ethernet port. If I stream using WiFi, what is the video quality like?

Second question, in my downstairs workout room I listen to the cable music channels while I workout. How can I get Amazon streaming music downstairs with a basic stereo and dumb, not even HDTV?

I'm trying to cut the cable, so a 20% discount seems like a reasonable price to give a streaming service a tryout to me.

 

[rodi]

Amazon prime streaming requires a computer hooked into your tv, an amazon fire box, or chromecast. It does not work with Tivo (thought I can do amazon rentals through tivo... just not the free prime streaming.) That issue appears to be on the Amazon side of things rather than the tivo side of things.

I use chromecast to cast my PC or phone's browser or I watch on my PC's screen.

 

[growing_older]

Amazon Prime was a sweet way to send Christmas gifts all over the country. Too bad I cannot use this deal to extend my subscription.

 

[Focus]

Amazon prime streaming requires a computer hooked into your tv, an amazon fire box, or chromecast.

Or you can stream if you have a Smart HDTV or Blu-ray player that has Amazon Prime among its apps. I assume that's actually how most people do it.

 

[calmloki]

I'm thinking about jumping on this. Our sons both have Prime and love it. We tend to bundle our Amazon purchases so that we go over $35 and get the free shipping. Nothing we buy needs to get here in 2 days but it sure is fun when it does. If I didn't have to wait and bundle stuff, I'd make more purchases. I'm afraid DH would become an Amazon junkie.

Lately I'm not into movies much so I don't know if I'd use the streaming service much.

Thinking....

Dang - get some good payback out of those kiddly widdlies. If you just are interested in the shipping....

Share Your Amazon Prime Two-Day Shipping with Four People

 

[audreyh1]

Darn it! I couldn't use it since I'm already a Prime member, and besides my recent renewal already happened on Jan 3rd.

We've really been enjoying the Amazon original series "Mozart in the Jungle". It's hilarious.

We use airplay from one of our Apple devices to AppleTV to watch Amazon video content on our HDTV. It works very well once it's up and running. But sometimes I have to reset both the computer and the AppleTV box to get the airplay synced right. I probably should upgrade the Macbook Air to the latest OS - that may be part of the problem.

We've used the prime shipping heavily for the past 10 years. It was really handy when we were RVing full-time with short stays at many locations. We use Amazon a lot for staples and other household items now, so we order a LOT all year long.

 

[Sue J]

Dang - get some good payback out of those kiddly widdlies. If you just are interested in the shipping....

Share Your Amazon Prime Two-Day Shipping with Four People

Didn't know about that. Our sons have ordered stuff for us if we needed it fast and then we paid them back for the cost. In general we like to keep our households separate ....although there's that one who is always willing to take groceries or paper products if I've overstocked

DH and I just looked at the movie selections from Amazon on our BluRay player. DH loved The Grand Budapest Hotel and found many other Wes Anderson movies so he'd like to try this Prime offer.

Done!

 

[Alan]

Amazon prime streaming requires a computer hooked into your tv, an amazon fire box, or chromecast. It does not work with Tivo (thought I can do amazon rentals through tivo... just not the free prime streaming.) That issue appears to be on the Amazon side of things rather than the tivo side of things.

I use chromecast to cast my PC or phone's browser or I watch on my PC's screen.

Or you can stream if you have a Smart HDTV or Blu-ray player that has Amazon Prime among its apps. I assume that's actually how most people do it.

I have a standard Roku box on my TV and DW has a Roku stick and both support Amazon Prime movie and TV shows streaming. It's good because Netflix and Prime have different stuff available.

 

[calmloki]

Darn it! I couldn't use it since I'm already a Prime member, and besides my recent renewal already happened on Jan 3rd.

We've really been enjoying the Amazon original series "Mozart in the Jungle". It's hilarious.

We use airplay from one of our Apple devices to AppleTV to watch Amazon video content. It works very well once it's up and running. But sometimes I have to reset both the computer and the AppleTV box to get the airplay synced right. I probably should upgrade the Macbook Air to the latest OS - that may be part of the problem.

We've used the prime shipping heavily for the past 10 years. It was really handy when we were RVing full-time with short stays at many locations. We use Amazon a lot for staples and other household items now, so we order a LOT all year long.

We also re-upped in January, so no benefit to us; and a big plus one on "Mozart in the Jungle". In fact we had garage sale purchased a cool little gourd with a metal lip and decorative rim last year - just a neat little odd thing... So we are watching Mozart and the conductor explains how to prepare mate, and was shown carrying a little gourd and a thermos, which led me to the wiki on yerba mate, which made us realize we have a mate gourd, though no bombilla. The whole mate kit is available on Amazon, but it really doesn't sound that appealing as a beverage. Anyway - very fun series that we binge watched - rarely do that..

 

[calmloki]

....
Second question, in my downstairs workout room I listen to the cable music channels while I workout. How can I get Amazon streaming music downstairs with a basic stereo and dumb, not even HDTV?.....

If all you want is the Amazon music streaming to come out of your downstairs basic stereo you can use the Amazon app for Android or Iphone and plug from your headphone jack into the speakers. We are doing that with several sets of strategically located decent computer speakers, her Iphone and an old Samsung Tab.

 

[imoldernu]

My son and I share Netflix and Prime. Don't know why no one mentions this.
Can I Share My Netflix Account? | Zoe Chaves

 

[clifp]

If any of you existing prime customer want to take advantage of the renewal for $72 there is modestly tricky way of doing it explained nicely in this link

I just used it and it worked fine.