Amazon Prime Streaming with Commercials

[GenXguy]

+1

After hearing the "Prime Video with commercials" news, DW and I had a discussion about whether Prime (as a whole) is worth $140/year to us. The answer was no, it's not. We rarely watch stuff on PV, and with the advent of commercials, it will become essentially worthless to us. At that point, Prime becomes a $140/year 2-day shipping service, which is of marginal value given how infrequently we actually need (or care about) 2-day shipping.

Actually, it's more than 2 day shipping. You also don't have to meet any minimum order for free shipping with Prime. Since I never pay for Prime, I need to wait until I can order $35 worth of stuff. And that's just to get free shipping at all, not anything about 2 day shipping. So I have missed out on some deals since I don't want to order extra stuff I don't want just to meet the free shipping threshold. But I've never felt Prime was worth it, which is why I always cancel when the free trial ends.

I also had a free trial of Walmart+ recently. It allowed me to get free road hazzard warranty and lifetime balancing on some new tires. And it allowed free access to Paramount+ Essential and some ad-free Pluto TV stuff that isn't available for free, but I never even tested those streaming things out. I canceled W+ at the end of the trial.

 

[Chuckanut]

I have been cutting back on streaming services for months.

Prime may be on the chopping block. I am seriously thinking of limiting my streaming services to one at a time.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Besides free shipping, TNF is the only other service that I use from my Prime account. Therefore, I placed a note in my call file to cancel my Prime account at my next renewal in July, as I think I can come out way ahead paying for shipping periodically.

This is a good idea. Putting a tickler in my calendar in late July to consider cancelling Prime as my renewal is in August.

 

[Midpack]

We get free shipping on all our Amazon orders too by simply ordering $35 or more on each order (used to be $25) - without paying for Prime. When we need something that's less than $35, we just combine it with another legit order (IOW, we haven't just bought something we didn't need). And our orders deliver quickly, usually on or often before the date predicted at time of order.

I've always wondered why people pay for Prime if all they want is free shipping...

 

[Badger]

We got Prime for the free shipping and it comes in handy when there are times I don't want to spend my time and gas money to drive to a store for a $5-10 item that I can get the next day. The streaming videos were just a bonus for me. I don't like the new fee but it isn't a big deal. If I was to go to a movie once a quarter the fee would more than pay for the ad service. I don't stream Prime videos all that much so I will wait for a while before taking the offer to see if it is worth the extra charge.

 

[Aerides]

I'm going to wait and see. One or two commercials - particularly if placed at the beginning? Ok. But in the middle of a movie? ew....

They do say "limited" so I'm hoping it's less than with the freevee service.

And no there's an almost zero chanced I'd pay for this extra. I think it might backfire on them as some folks will no longer want to use the service, and cancel prime altogether - it's hardly kept its 2-day promise the past few years. Yes I know you can get same/next day on a lot of things, but they have a lot more that take longer now too.

 

[target2019]

$36 per year to avoid commercials doesn't interest me. I'll skip for now, and circle back at a later date to evaluate.

It seems that all of the streaming services are conspiring to consume more of our income and wealth.

 

[CaptTom]

I'm old enough to remember when cable first came out. The pitch was "10 dollars a month and you get all the OTA channels crystal clear, PLUS a bunch of ad-free programming."

How long did that last?

I think the problem here (and we see it in a few posts, above) is that for a lot of people, money is no object when it comes to entertainment. Historically has been cable companies who noticed this and charged stupidly high rates. Now with streaming, every company is going to that well.

I can't really blame them. But I do hope more people resist the temptation to just write it off, and send a message that there's a limit to what we'll pay for this garbage. But I doubt it.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I'm going to wait and see. One or two commercials - particularly if placed at the beginning? Ok. But in the middle of a movie? ew....

Exactly right about commercials in the middle of the movie. And nowadays they don't even bother putting them in at a logical lull in the plot, they just program them in at an elapsed time.

There already ARE commercials on Prime video prior to the content you selected to watch. They do give you an option to skip it, but only for the first show you are watching in that viewing session. That is, if you are watching consecutive episodes of a TV show, the first episode you're watching you can skip the commercial at the beginning, but before the next episode you cannot.

 

[rk911]

Prime Video cannot be cancelled, only Prime can be cancelled, so Amazon is exploiting this. In my case they don’t have enough programming to justify paying an additional $3.00. It may lead to people binging Prime Video content and paying the extra cost for one month.

The era of great streaming options with lots of ad-free content and a low price are coming to an end.

What do you mean "Prime Video cannot be canceled"? We are not Amazon Prime members but we do subscribe to Prime Video and I'm pretty sure we can cancel that at any time. We chose to pay the extra $3. Code that $3 as BTD.

 

[njhowie]

I'm guessing, but need to confirm, that Amazon digital rewards (from no-rush shipping) will be able to be used against the ad-free $2.99/month. If that's the case, we may go that route and just take no-rush shipping on more orders. No big deal. We order enough that it will be free.

Update: I have checked with Amazon support, and they say that the monthly ad-free fee will pull from digital reward credits first before the credit card - same as any other Prime Video subscription.

 

[MichaelB]

What do you mean "Prime Video cannot be canceled"? We are not Amazon Prime members but we do subscribe to Prime Video and I'm pretty sure we can cancel that at any time. We chose to pay the extra $3. Code that $3 as BTD.

My post was regarding those of us who subscribe to Amazon Prime and get Prime Video as an add-on. Of course, any subscriber of Prime Video only can cancel any time.

 

[GrayHare]

(sarcasm) Can't skip commercials? Can't time shift? The viewing device does not remember where you left off? The device takes awhile to get started or reboot? I think I'll invent something that can solve all that. I'll call it a VCR. (/sarcasm)

 

[Fermion]

One day some enterprising company is going to package all of these streaming channels in one bundle and deliver it to your house with wires.

 

[Badger]

I wonder if you will be able to Fast Forward through the commercials just like you can through the movies.
We were given a brand new never used TIVO a year ago. I don't know anything about it and it is still in the box but does this record so you can view later and delete commercials?

 

[njhowie]

I wonder if you will be able to Fast Forward through the commercials just like you can through the movies.
We were given a brand new never used TIVO a year ago. I don't know anything about it and it is still in the box but does this record so you can view later and delete commercials?

They disable the fast forward button on the remote during commercials. They already do it with freevee.

 

[rk911]

We get free shipping on all our Amazon orders too by simply ordering $35 or more on each order (used to be $25) - without paying for Prime. When we need something that's less than $35, we just combine it with another legit order (IOW, we haven't just bought something we didn't need). And our orders deliver quickly, usually on or often before the date predicted at time of order.

I've always wondered why people pay for Prime if all they want is free shipping...

+1. We do precisely the same with the same results.

 

[audreyh1]

My prime membership gets me 5% versus 3% cash rewards on my Amazon purchases in addition to the free shipping.

 

[rk911]

I wonder if you will be able to Fast Forward through the commercials just like you can through the movies.
We were given a brand new never used TIVO a year ago. I don't know anything about it and it is still in the box but does this record so you can view later and delete commercials?

Subscribers to Xfinity cable can FF thru commercials on most of the broadcast network channels CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC and maybe a few more. This only works if the program is recorded on your DVD. Most everything we watch on Xfinity is recorded.

 

[Dawg52]

What do you mean "Prime Video cannot be canceled"? We are not Amazon Prime members but we do subscribe to Prime Video and I'm pretty sure we can cancel that at any time. We chose to pay the extra $3. Code that $3 as BTD.

I used to be a Prime Video member only but I can't find that subscription option now. Any idea where that feature is located? I did find a $7.49 Prime option for 3 months of regular Prime and I may do that at some point. There are a couple of series I follow that I would like to see at some point. Reacher being one.

 

[audreyh1]

From what I can see Prime Video subscription is $8.99 a month. I guess that means I’m getting the rest of Prime - free quick shipping and cash rewards - for ~$31 a year.

 

[rk911]

From what I can see Prime Video subscription is $8.99 a month. I guess that means I’m getting the rest of Prime - free quick shipping and cash rewards - for ~$31 a year.

Yes, a subscription to just Prime Video is $8.99 p/m. That does NOT include free Prime delivery. How did I subscribe to PV? Pretty sure I sent an email question to Amazon and asked and they sent me a link. It may have been this link.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/offers

 

[Dawg52]

Yes, a subscription to just Prime Video is $8.99 p/m. That does NOT include free Prime delivery. How did I subscribe to PV? Pretty sure I sent an email question to Amazon and asked and they sent me a link. It may have been this link.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/offers

They're good at hiding stuff. I finally found the 3 month Prime deal I mentioned above and signed up for it. Three months with tax is $8.01/mo. I rotate streaming services and this will give me the 2 days shipping too. Will cancel when it's up.

 

[oscar1]

Wait! Sorry had to switch over to Prime Video to catch the Jets @ Browns (It’s over Browns 34-17)! So, quick glance and we had 143 orders in 2023. So $1.00 per order shipping to get it the next day in most cases is pretty awesome. So, the added $3/month takes our $.97 per package to $1.22 per package delivery (26% increase). That is significant but it’s probably not worth worrying about. I hate commercials and would pay to avoid them during my movies and favorite shows (which I rarely watch on Prime). Cleveland is winning after several commercials! Lol

 

[tulak]

My prime membership gets me 5% versus 3% cash rewards on my Amazon purchases in addition to the free shipping.

Exactly. It also gets me 5% off at Whole Foods, where I occasionally shop.

If I add it all up, it exceeds the cost of the prime membership.