Amazon Prime increasing annual fee to $119

Hmm, my renewal is May 25. I didn’t get an email so I called amazon to ask the price. I was told that my subscription expires next week and the renewal price was $119. I was on the fence about whether to renew since I don’t order that much and only occasionally watch the videos. This settles it for me...I will not renew. Just don’t feel it is worth it for me.
 
Got my renewal for Nov 2018 @ $120/year.

Going to renew it - Amazon Prime has changed the way I shop and has value for me >> $10/month. I compare the service that Amazon provides with other "subscription" plans - say Comcast basic tier cable service which is $360/year ($30/month) - and is crap.

Go Bezos.
 
"Here's how to get an $800 value out of your $119 Amazon Prime account"​

​

Amazon is rolling out its Whole Foods discount to its Prime members today, part of the benefits that one analysis said makes the service worth almost $800 per year.

​
That's a big value, given that Prime membership currently costs $119 annually. Yet households want to feel they're getting their money's worth, especially since Amazon (AMZN) boosted the annual price from $99 earlier this month. ​
Click to expand...

​


​

 
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I see that Amazon has just picked up "The Expanse" after SciFi killed its 4th season. If it is part of prime, that will be a big plus. Right now Seasons 1 and 2 are part of prime. Season 3 costs $$s.


I need to check which books are free on Audible. I didn't know about that.


I do wish they would allow separate accounts for various viewers in the household.
 
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I see people keep confusing the 2-day free shipping through Prime vs. their free-shipping on orders over $25 which in my case it usually is anyway.
 
A suggestion for pacient Amazon shoppers looking for the lowest price....try camelcamelcamel.com.

Item prices vary substantially over time for both Amazon and third party sellers.

I have had great success checking the price history of an item I'm interested in but not in a hurry for and them entering that as a target price.

In most cases, that low price occurs again and Camelcamelcamel notifies you. Make the purchase quickly because sometimes the low price lasts only a day.
 
Yeah, I know, this thread is pretty long in the tooth but...

But the latest $20 price hike, effective June 16 for everyone including renewing members, got me to thinking: Is Amazon Prime worth $119 a year?

Truth be told, my relationship with Prime had mellowed. I wasn't ordering as much from Jeff Bezos's baby, and I felt it might even be time to (gasp!) cancel my Amazon Prime membership. I was wrong. After logging on to Amazon.com and reviewing the perks, I realized the bounty I had let go fallow. Have a look at the best benefits of Amazon Prime.
Click to expand...
https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/spending/T062-S001-best-amazon-prime-benefits/index.html (Yeah, I, too, hate slideshow-type articles... so click on "View as one page.")
 
At $119, Amazon Prime is good value, still.
- ordering, shipping, delivery is very good
- selection of products is outstanding
- Prime Video adds an additional network to our roku interface
- 3 family members on one card
 
pb4uski said:
Great tip... do all slideshow-type articles include this feature? I often don't bother with them because they annoy me.
Click to expand...

No, they do not and it is easy to miss when they do.

I have yet to understand the reasoning behind such irritating behavior -- I once got to the 3rd slide before giving up.
 
RonBoyd said:
No, they do not and it is easy to miss when they do.

I have yet to understand the reasoning behind such irritating behavior -- I once got to the 3rd slide before giving up.
Click to expand...
These drive me nuts too.
 
Slideshows are the worst! Obviously, they are made so that as much advertising as possible can be shoved onto one's screen. They are a huge waste of time and I avoid them.

On to Prime, Of all the reasons listed in the Kiplinger article only about four really apply to me. And only two are what I consider important - free two day shipping and the video offerings. Alas, even on video, along with music, books, etc I often find that what I want is still behind a payment wall. Alexa? I am not that impressed.

The worst thing about Prime is that it is a huge incentive NOT to price shop.

OTOH, it does save me time and gas when I only need to purchase one thing compared to buying it at a store I don't normally visit. And there is that 5% back on their CC for Prime members compared to 3% back for the non Prime folks. Keep in mind that in the past my Discover Card has offered 5% back from time to time on Amazon purchases and will do so again in the 4th quarter of this year.

Overall, I am tilting towards cancelling Prime.
 
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Which Roger said:
+1. Nobody is cooler than Bosch!
Click to expand...


This was posted rather a long time ago but, nevertheless, I feel compelled to point out that Harry Pearce of MI-5 is way cooler than Bosch :)

On the subject of Amazon Prime, I have ordered one thing through them so far this year, which ended up being returned, and nothing at all in 2017. I don't think that Prime would represent a particularly good value for me. I don't buy that much at all, and the few things that I do purchase are either cheaper, or more convenient to obtain, elsewhere. I do purchase a big bag of bulk oatmeal from my local Whole Foods about once a month, so I suppose that indirectly represents an Amazon purchase, of sorts.

I'm not really sure how my fellow E-R.orgers are finding so much to buy, but don't let me stop you - it's indirectly helping my portfolio :D
 
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Looked at Walmart a little more, many things cheaper than Amazon, some not. But with no annual or monthly fee, it looks like I can get 2-day shipping for orders > $25.

I rarely if ever need faster than standard shipping (and for the rare times I might, I could pay for it and it would be far less than the Prime annual fee). But if it's included by Walmart, with the same or better prices than Amazon, it's an easy choice.

I'm going to start noting the regular/routine/staples type stuff that DW buys, and put it on the wish list at Walmart if the prices look good. That way, I should always have enough for the $25 limit.

Heck, I see Walmart has the deodorant and soap I use online. One time DW bought the wrong kind (similar packaging for like 5 versions of deodorant, it's crazy! Gotta read the fine print), and when I go to the store, it takes me a while to find it on the shelf, I have to double check that it's the exact product I want, and they may be out of it.

If I have it on my wish list, I know I'm getting the right thing, and easy to verify the price matches my previous purchase, which I have no clue of when I'm at the store. Sure, it's a small thing, but why not make life easier?

-ERD50
 
ERD50 said:
Heck, I see Walmart has the deodorant and soap I use online. One time DW bought the wrong kind (similar packaging for like 5 versions of deodorant, it's crazy! Gotta read the fine print), and when I go to the store, it takes me a while to find it on the shelf, I have to double check that it's the exact product I want, and they may be out of it.

If I have it on my wish list, I know I'm getting the right thing, and easy to verify the price matches my previous purchase, which I have no clue of when I'm at the store. Sure, it's a small thing, but why not make life easier?
-ERD50
Click to expand...

Yeah, can't tell you how many times I bought deodorant when I wanted anti-antiperspirant.....fine print, indeed! I just need to slow down a notch or two...
 
ERD50 said:
Looked at Walmart a little more, many things cheaper than Amazon, some not. But with no annual or monthly fee, it looks like I can get 2-day shipping for orders > $25.

I rarely if ever need faster than standard shipping (and for the rare times I might, I could pay for it and it would be far less than the Prime annual fee). But if it's included by Walmart, with the same or better prices than Amazon, it's an easy choice.

I'm going to start noting the regular/routine/staples type stuff that DW buys, and put it on the wish list at Walmart if the prices look good. That way, I should always have enough for the $25 limit.

Heck, I see Walmart has the deodorant and soap I use online. One time DW bought the wrong kind (similar packaging for like 5 versions of deodorant, it's crazy! Gotta read the fine print), and when I go to the store, it takes me a while to find it on the shelf, I have to double check that it's the exact product I want, and they may be out of it.

If I have it on my wish list, I know I'm getting the right thing, and easy to verify the price matches my previous purchase, which I have no clue of when I'm at the store. Sure, it's a small thing, but why not make life easier?

-ERD50
Click to expand...

I cancelled Amazon Prime in February and have been shopping Walmart.com.

The Prime fee is somewhat like baggage fees that the major airlines are charging. Southwest runs ads ‘ bags fly for free”. Expect Walmart to advertise the “no membership fee” soon. They probably will wait until they have a bit more scale in eCommerce.
 
free2020 said:
Expect Walmart to advertise the “no membership fee” soon. They probably will wait until they have a bit more scale in eCommerce.
Click to expand...

I saw this^ 2 days ago! (I can't remember where I saw their ad...but it made me do a double-take and then chuckle.) They are definitely going after Amazon's business.

omni
 
omni550 said:
I saw this^ 2 days ago! (I can't remember where I saw their ad...but it made me do a double-take and then chuckle.) They are definitely going after Amazon's business.

omni
Click to expand...

Currently Walmart cannot compete at Amazon's scale and do 2 day deliveries - they do not have the capacity or the distribution logistics in place for it. Amazon has warehouses that are state of the art, not to mention 25 Boeing 767 in its "Prime Air" fleet - and growing.

But Walmart is building to match Amazon's capabilities - and once they do, they will have a "Walmart Prime". Amazon has 100M prime members which helps fund 2 day deliveries (among other prime benefits) - this is too large a pot of money for Walmart to ignore if it wants to compete with Amazon.
 
free2020 said:
I cancelled Amazon Prime in February and have been shopping Walmart.com.

The Prime fee is somewhat like baggage fees that the major airlines are charging. Southwest runs ads ‘ bags fly for free”. Expect Walmart to advertise the “no membership fee” soon. They probably will wait until they have a bit more scale in eCommerce.
Click to expand...

omni550 said:
I saw this^ 2 days ago! (I can't remember where I saw their ad...but it made me do a double-take and then chuckle.) They are definitely going after Amazon's business.

omni
Click to expand...

I’d say more like keeping the business they have. From an article in Fortune Magazine:

Amazon’s market cap nearly doubles that of Walmart, which is the largest retailer in the U.S., boasting revenue of $482 billion for fiscal 2016, compared with Amazon’s $136 billion.
 
It would be fun to see WalMart (or any other company!) take on Amazon with similar services, faster delivery, and so on. I would especially enjoy seeing what Amazon might come up with to keep their customers, if faced with some serious competition.
 
Go-NoGo said:
Currently Walmart cannot compete at Amazon's scale and do 2 day deliveries - they do not have the capacity or the distribution logistics in place for it. Amazon has warehouses that are state of the art, not to mention 25 Boeing 767 in its "Prime Air" fleet - and growing.

But Walmart is building to match Amazon's capabilities - and once they do, they will have a "Walmart Prime". Amazon has 100M prime members which helps fund 2 day deliveries (among other prime benefits) - this is too large a pot of money for Walmart to ignore if it wants to compete with Amazon.
Click to expand...

There is quite a bit of competition both ways. Walmart has plenty of catching up to do with Amazon on eRevenues. But Amazon makes little to no money from eRetail. Most of their money comes from AWS. So they have to catch up to the cost advantages of Walmart. I'd argue that Walmart has a well entrenched distribution network, which it has leveraged to dominate brick and mortar retail. Only that it was plumbed for physical stores.They have to re-plumb it for eCommerce. Walmart covers more zip codes and the non-urban presence is a huge moat. Amazon is well entrenched on the ordering side. Walmart is far behind. And on and on.

What Walmart going after Amazon does is that it will make the problem of making money even harder. Can you imagine Amazon again raising Prime membership rates next year and the year after while Walmart chooses not to go down the membership route?
 
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There are other ways to get free shipping.

I just ordered a hard-drive from newegg, and because I have an amex card I get free shopRunner shipping (2 day shipping). Even when I don't use my Amex card. :)
 
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