Amazon Prime going to $99 but stock makes up for it

[Lsbcal]

I just got a notice that on May 28 my Amazon Prime will go up to $99 (from $79).

Taking some of the sting out of it, one of my ETF's has 1.7% in Amazon and Amazon stock is up today by 2.4% (as of 8:30am PST). The general market is down so I figure I made a little in Amazon. For me the math is:

Net change = -$20 + $60 (from stock) = $40

Maybe they should have raised Prime to $150?

If you owned $100,000 of Total Stock Market, then your Amazon stock pushed up its value by $15 by my calculations.

This points out a general situation that for many of us (including pensioners) stocks buffer us from some of the rising prices.

 

[braumeister]

I look at things the same way. My little bit of Costco stock goes up enough to pay for my membership.

 

[dvalley]

I'm no longer an Amazon stock owner (not directly anyway, unfortunately). However, I've been an Amazon customer since 2000 and do 90% of my shopping there, in fact, almost one or two items a week. I've also been a Prime member since they first introduced it. It was a pretty good deal for $76.

$99 is border line getting into the 'hmm do I really need the 2 day shipping?' category. I'll still keep it but anymore and I'll probably drop it. Personally I think they should offer two options for their Prime expedited shipping $76 for a 3-day shipping and $130 for a 1-day shipping. When I order something I'm ok waiting for it for 3 or perhaps even 4 days before but usually not OK with the standard shipping which could take over a week and a half depending on what it is and where it's shipping from.

May be I should drop the Prime membership so I'm not so trigger happy buying stuff and 'getting my Prime membership's worth'

 

[hlfo718]

I will discontinue the memeber when comes for renewal in a couple of months. I used to like prime because I can buy a couple of things and get free shipping. Now I need to spend at least $35. I rather save the $99 since I will get free shipping anyway if I spend $35, albeit not 2 day shipping.

 

[ducky911]

I love my amazon prime. Twenty more dollars, oh well, I think I will stick with it.

 

[FIREd]

At $99, it's still worth it for me. I get at least a couple of packages from AMZ every week. Some of them are really bulky and/or heavy (like my cats' dry food) and paying for the actual shipping costs would become prohibitive very quickly.

 

[REWahoo]

Here's how to continue to get Prime for $79 - at least for a while.

For new memberships the price is still $79 until mid-April.

If you are an existing member, until the price goes up you can purchase an Amazon Prime Membership Gift Card for $79 and specify the future delivery date of the gift. Our membership just renewed and I'm purchasing a Prime gift card for DW, with a delivery date the day after our membership expires next February.

Hey, 20 bucks is 20 bucks...

 

[W2R]

Thanks, REWahoo.

Oooh, they are so smart to price it at $99. I was afraid they would up it to $150 and then I would have had to think about it. But $99 is pretty reasonable, even for those of us who don't use their streaming video.

Mostly I use Prime for the free two day shipping. I do use the Kindle library but not very much, since usually the books I want are not offered. I saw one yesterday that I plan to borrow, though.

At $99, it's still worth it for me. I get at least a couple of packages from AMZ every week. Some of them are really bulky and/or heavy (like my cats' dry food) and paying for the actual shipping costs would become prohibitive very quickly.

Same here. It is amazing how much my Amazon purchases have increased since started Amazon Prime. I probably order five times as much as I used to order from Amazon.

 

[Lsbcal]

Here's how to continue to get Prime for $79 - at least for a while.

For new memberships the price is still $79 until mid-April.

If you are an existing member, until the price goes up you can purchase an Amazon Prime Membership Gift Card for $79 and specify the future delivery date of the gift. Our membership just renewed and I'm purchasing a Prime gift card for DW, with a delivery date the day after our membership expires next February.

Hey, 20 bucks is 20 bucks...

Interesting idea there ReWahoo.

Our account is linked to Chase and I'd just as soon keep it the same. So could I let the Prime expire May 28, and use a gift card purchased with another credit card from DW to get Prime for another year say at the start of June?

 

[REWahoo]

So could I let the Prime expire May 28, and use a gift card purchased with another credit card from DW to get Prime for another year say at the start of June?

You got it...

 

[pb4uski]

I just checked and my annual membership renews today by coincidence so I'll get the next year for $79. I'll probably still renew at $99 but I'll assess that a year from now based on my usage over the next year.

 

[Sarah in SC]

My student Prime membership (free the first year) is going up to $39 when it renews later this year, and then in 2015 to $49. I don't think it includes the streaming stuff, as I don't use that.

 

[rbmrtn]

I have never seen the benefit of amazon prime. I bundle things up to get over the minimum for free shipping, most things I order are delivered in 3-5 days anyway. I'm not in that big of a rush for it.

 

[REWahoo]

I have never seen the benefit of amazon prime.

Since we 'cut the cord' and get our TV programming via OTA antenna and streaming, Amazon Prime has a double benefit for us. Amazon Instant Video plus the two day delivery at no additional charge makes it well worth it in our situation.

 

[aja8888]

I Joined Prime just before Christmas with the 30 day free trial. I managed to get free and two day shipping on almost all our Christmas gifts this year!. I became a full member early January and added three family members for free. (That's a good deal).

So now DW, DD, Dstep-daughter and I are using it for shipping, movies, Kindle, etc.

Next year I am renewing at $99.

Personally, I hate shopping in brick and mortar stores so Prime will serve me well. I ordered two new toilets, three bar stools and several other home goods for our newer home this Spring so far. And *sometimes* Amazon fails to charge us sales tax also (Texas residents are required to pay, I believe).

 

[dvalley]

My purchases significantly increased after I got their Prime membership about 3yrs ago - which is why they offered it in the first place to increase their sales. On the other hand for me it just became way too easy to spend my money on things I don't really need. For me, and I'm sure others too, the act of pulling out your wallet and handing over even a credit card for the purchases keeps the spending habits in check. I'm in the technology field and I see that in the not too far future carrying a wallet will be like carrying a landline these days. I buy my Starbucks on my iPhone, my online purchases are all done electronically with pre-saved cards, bills pays and even my Chase rewards points are connected to my Amazon account. I feel we're slowly becoming desensitized to the amount of money we spend because of the way we pay for things. When I see an item for $75 online its value seems less than if I were to pull out $75 from my wallet. I just looked at the last 2 weeks worth of things I bought on Amazon. I bet I wouldn't miss any of them if I didn't have them. Anyway, that's just my own observation.

So I think the price increase just gives me the impetus to sit it out for a while after my current Prime membership expires and see if I really need the Prime service going forward.

 

[bUU]

We had been paying $79 a year for year. This past Christmas, we actually started using Prime Instant Video - $20 a year for that "new" benefit (new to me) seems well worth it.

 

[ERD50]

I have never seen the benefit of amazon prime. I bundle things up to get over the minimum for free shipping, most things I order are delivered in 3-5 days anyway. I'm not in that big of a rush for it.

Considering the general 'delayed gratification' attitude that most of us FIRE/LBYM types have, I'm surprised as well - although some say they find the Instant Video worthwhile, that certainly changes the value proposition.

I almost never have been in such a rush that I couldn't accept the free shipping option, and bundle a few things that I need and keep in reserve for that occasion. And if I did want/need it fast, paying shipping charges once or twice a year would still be less than $99 in most cases.

The only time I can recall paying shipping was recently - DD called and needed a new toner cartridge at college. I had bought a 3 pack (we have 4 of these printers in the family now, Brother HL-2270DW), so I thought I'd mail one of ours to her (I didn't think she would need one until she returned for break). Turned out that I could now buy a single, for less each than the three pack, and shipping was less than mailing one of ours. Done.

After all that, we recalled the 'continue on low toner' option, set that, and I think she is still running on the first cart now.


It's also encouraging that when you send to a different address - amazon runs you through some added security checks.

-ERD50

 

[REWahoo]

Here's a way to lock in your next renewal for $79.

http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57620296-285/how-to-lock-in-another-year-of-amazon-prime-at-$79/?ttag=fbwp

See post #7 above.

 

[Dimsumkid]

See post #7 above.

Oops! Sorry, I did a quick scan (too quick) and missed your post.

 

[W2R]

Considering the general 'delayed gratification' attitude that most of us FIRE/LBYM types have, I'm surprised as well - although some say they find the Instant Video worthwhile, that certainly changes the value proposition.

I almost never have been in such a rush that I couldn't accept the free shipping option, and bundle a few things that I need and keep in reserve for that occasion. And if I did want/need it fast, paying shipping charges once or twice a year would still be less than $99 in most cases.

I don't use the video downstreaming, as I mentioned above, and I really do have to agree that if I was still in full LBYM mode I would drop Amazon Prime like a hot potato.

But honestly I am trying to relax those frugality efforts, and I find that one of the best ways to increase my spending and to get a lot of fun out of it, is by maintaining Amazon Prime.

I just love those packages on my doorstep! It's like Christmas whenever one arrives. Yesterday I got my new purse, and Saturday, two new pairs of shoes... what more does a woman want? I'm going out in style today, look out world...

(Just kidding about the style - - these are "comfortable" shoes and a very practical appearing purse, but it still is fun to order things on Amazon).

 

[Katsmeow]

Considering the general 'delayed gratification' attitude that most of us FIRE/LBYM types have, I'm surprised as well - although some say they find the Instant Video worthwhile, that certainly changes the value proposition.

For optional purchases that you can just do whenever, I can agree that getting something a few days earlier may not be that important. The point though is that if you can get something in 2 days, then it expands the number of things you would buy from Amazon that ordinarily you don't want to wait 2 days for. The kinds of things that you would get in the car and drive to the store now to buy. With 2 day shipping an awful lot of those are things I'll order from Amazon to avoid the hassle of driving to the store (30 to 45 minutes for us).

I don't have a big problem with the increase to $99. I do wish they offered an option to pay more to have next day shipping included or gave a discount on next day shipping.

I basically agree with this article:

Amazon Prime price increase: It's still inexpensive.

I do sometimes use the streaming. There are some films that are free with Amazon prime that you can't get on Netflix.

 

[jcretire77]

I like being able to have 40lb of cat sand delivered to my front door I've only had Prime for a couple of months, but am an avid Kindle user so enjoy borrowing from the loaners. Plus we've streamed a few movies. $8.25 / month not bad.

 

[FIREd]

Amazon is basically my universal big box store. When I lived in the suburbs, I could jump in the car and quickly drive to Walmart, Lowes, Staples, or Petsmart, to get what I needed when I needed it. I can't do that anymore because there are no such stores within reasonable distance from where I live. So if I run out of printer ink, I order some on Amazon but I don't want to wait a week to get it. I also order a lot of household items from Amazon. I don't have much room to stock up on those items, so I depend on quick delivery to restock. There is not much reward from delayed gratification when the cats are running out of food...

 

[ziggy29]

Here's how to continue to get Prime for $79 - at least for a while.

For new memberships the price is still $79 until mid-April.

If you are an existing member, until the price goes up you can purchase an Amazon Prime Membership Gift Card for $79 and specify the future delivery date of the gift. Our membership just renewed and I'm purchasing a Prime gift card for DW, with a delivery date the day after our membership expires next February.

Hey, 20 bucks is 20 bucks...

Cool. Ours expires on August 19, so I guess we'll be going that route as well.