Amazon purchase... Aaauugghhh!

[harley]

Too hard to figure out the dollar amounts. We do business ordering and personal ordering from the same Prime account. The business orders earn the Amazon points, and we spend them on the personal stuff. But last year I had 302 orders. 2016 only 96. And 242 in 2015. If I get bored maybe I'll take these csv reports and try to break them out between us and them.

 

[redduck]

My recent Amazon purchases have definitely been increasing:

Yes, for sure. Just look how much taller the 2017 blue pillar is than the ones you bought in other years.

 

[audreyh1]

Well I guess I'm going to have to go look!

Did buy some motorhome parts on Amazon last year - good deal. Quite a few things we used to order from other stores we now buy at Amazon, so I'm not too worried.

 

[FUEGO]

I spent $180 in 2017 and my kids used my account to order a few electronics items that they paid for with their money totalling $60.

We don't have prime since we don't order a ton of stuff from amazon, though I was surprised to see we have 10 orders this year. We usually have a few things we want to get and save those up to get the free shipping. Or find stuff that's an okay deal and buy it to make the $25 free shipping cutoff.

 

[Plantman]

I have purchased some things online but never anything from Amazon.

 

[DEC-1982]

I have heard that Amazon Prime members spend a lot more than non-Prime buyers. We don't use Prime, and don't mind waiting 5-8 days for free shipping.

 

[Winemaker]

Don't forget to report your purchases on your state tax return, so you can pay the obligatory sales tax owed to your state!

 

[Tom52]

Don't forget to report your purchases on your state tax return, so you can pay the obligatory sales tax owed to your state!

Sales tax is already added in on our Amazon purchases. My total spent on Amazon purchases in 2017 was $179.64. I can usually find items cheaper elsewhere on the net. I notice that being a Prime member is not worth much. Prices are jacked up to include "free shipping" on most items I buy.

 

[Dawg52]

I look outside of Amazon before buying and 75% of the time Amazon wins. I guess it depends on what you buy.

 

[Samething]

Just under $2400. Includes a $600 stereo receiver a $330 vacuum cleaner and some hurricane supplies. Not too bad.

 

[CindyBlue]

I just did it (and I've done it in previous years), and then I couldn't figure out what I did! OK, I re-created it.

It's a little odd, you have to follow a path that isn't obvious.

Go to "YOUR ACCOUNT", but DO NOT click on "YOUR ORDERS"!!!

Instead, scroll down to "Ordering and shopping preferences", and click on "Download order reports". From there you can select a time frame and it generates a report to download. Not obvious at all, IMO.


-ERD50

Edited to add: Never mind...I figured it out - $858 for me (grin!) Mostly books for me and hubby.
Thanks for this information! I got the report, but can't find a total...is there a way to get the spreadsheet (mac) to total it up for me or do I need to add it up by hand?

 

[Live And Learn]

DH and I each getting an "allowance" for friviolous spending every month. All non-household Amazon purchases come from that (as does all liquor incl beer and wine). Gas, beyond $40 / month which is needed for his commute and my grocery trips, also come from the allowance.

I just checked Amazon and we did fairly well spending less than $1k combined and some of that were household purchases (fridge filters, tarp repair kit ... ).

I usually keep stuff in my wish list for at least 2 weeks before I purchase it. Most items never get purchased.

I like the "allowance" method that DH and I have. It keeps us each in check and it gives us each an amount of "no questions asked" spending money. We get $260 each.

I do know what you mean about making it easy to spend. I don't have Prime but I have found myself "looking" for addition cr@p to buy to come to the minimum needed for free shipping. When that happens I shut down and walk away ... something that is trully needed usually comes up within a week or two.

 

[frayne]

Is there a place in your Amazon account that breaks spending out by month, year or do you have to total it all up ?

 

[CaptTom]

For those that have their card, is there a point (in dollars spent at Amazon) that their card is a better deal than some others? I need to get a new card but was leaning to the Citi double cash back card (2% on everything) because I don't travel enough to make the travel cards worth it. The other options being considered are the Amazon card and the Costco card.

5% cash back is better than any other card I have, except PenFed which only does that for gas. So for me, it's been the best deal available from the first dollar onward. Even if you're not a Prime member, I've heard they offer 3% back, which is still probably the best deal available.

Citi double cash (2% back on everything) is my card for routine purchases. It's hard (but maybe not impossible) to find a better deal without having to play games like rotating categories or points instead of dollars back, or paying an annual fee.

 

[SheitlQueen]

I don't buy a lot from Amazon. In 2017 I spent $113, an over half of that was spent on an Instant Pot when they had them on sale. The rest was for CD's and a book.

 

[fh2000]

2015 $1897
2016 $2938
2017 $3894

There is definitely a trend. On average, we buy about 100 items per year. Add $100 prime membership to each year. We use Amazon store card to get 5% back, so that pays for the membership.

 

[ChicagoGal]

Interesting. Not too bad overall, considering this includes a lot of Christmas and birthday gifts, 2 sizable college graduation gifts plus a TV in 2014 and a laptop in 2015. Plus a few miscellaneous things for work that were reimbursed. 406 items in total.

2006	$ 917.89
2007	$ 62.46
2008	$ 281.51
2009	$ 153.28
2010	$ 229.62
2011	$ 157.22
2012	$1,584.27
2013	$1,820.54
2014	$3,306.8
2015	$3,191.27
2016	$2,304.72
2017	$1,980.5
Grand Total	$15,990.08

And looking back through the list, there are very few things that I regret purchasing. Mostly workout stuff, because it never really gets used. But that's not an Amazon issue, that's a me issue

 

[l8_apex]

2017: $11,734.98 Oy. I'm not sure I wanted to know that.

 

[O2Bfree]

This is some good fodder for the Wall of Shame and Comedy topic on the MMM forum.

 

[foxfirev5]

WOW. I'm amazed at the expenses for purchases. No wonder I'm easily FI. My actual out of pocket are only about $50 per month for all my activities (Including beer). Of course I don't purchase airline tickets, hotels, food or marina expenses on Amazon.

 

[Bir48die]

You challenged me to go back. Didn't get a total but my first purchase was an MP3 player! Muwhahhaaaaa!

 

[FANOFJESUS]

Minor league here $500

 

[harley]

I have heard that Amazon Prime members spend a lot more than non-Prime buyers. We don't use Prime, and don't mind waiting 5-8 days for free shipping.

That only makes sense. Why would anyone sign up for Prime if they didn't buy a fair amount from Amazon? I guess a few people do it for Amazon Video, but I suspect the majority do it because that's where they shop.

 

[audreyh1]

I look outside of Amazon before buying and 75% of the time Amazon wins. I guess it depends on what you buy.

That’s about what we see. 75% or better.

 

[FUEGO]

That only makes sense. Why would anyone sign up for Prime if they didn't buy a fair amount from Amazon? I guess a few people do it for Amazon Video, but I suspect the majority do it because that's where they shop.

I would do it solely for the Video service if I ever run out of stuff on Netflix (hint: the queue is only growing, not shrinking as they produce new shows I like and old shows continue to produce new seasons).

I might value the prime delivery features and other discounts at $15-20/yr or so. It would be nice to not worry about meeting $25 minimum for shipping but not at a cost of $99 to me. I'd rather pay the extra $5-10 occasionally for shipping or to add random $hit I don't need to my cart to get free shipping (or more likely, consumables we'll use like toothbrush heads).