Is Amazon Prime Really Worth it?

DF-1 said:
theres a website called walmart where you can find most of the things they sell in the stores, and even some things they don't sell there too!
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Yep, but, you not only get to pay for shipping, but you get to pay sales tax too. I go to walmart.com to use any walmart giftcards I have been given as gifts to buy giftcards for places I will actually do business at. It is the sites only value.
 
Gorankar said:
Yep, but, you not only get to pay for shipping, but you get to pay sales tax too. I go to walmart.com to use any walmart giftcards I have been given as gifts to buy giftcards for places I will actually do business at. It is the sites only value.
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Instead you can just commit tax fraud
 
Gorankar said:
Yep, but, you not only get to pay for shipping, but you get to pay sales tax too. I go to walmart.com to use any walmart giftcards I have been given as gifts to buy giftcards for places I will actually do business at. It is the sites only value.
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as on amazon...

 
I was a loyal prime user. But with the price increases and changes in shipping more stuff showing up late because they use USPS, I didn't renew. Then they raised the minimum order for free shipping and now it's all taxed. So i shop local and price match amazon when i need to especially at target i use my red card for 5%. And for bigger stuff my extra 5% pharmacy rewards cards too. And when they ran promotions for cheaper prime it only applies to NEW customers!
 
Uvaman2 said:
I think some people have an amazon problem. A lot of 'everyday' items are less at the store. My oil change (synthetic) is less at Walmart. I cant remember a single 'awesome' Amazon bargain cant even give a time frame, just can't remember one now.
Amazon has become like any other retailer at best. The only reason I might consider prime is 'cause of the shenanigans they are playing with none members. When I had the free trial prime video selection was terrible and so was the music I doubt its any better. They should just get it over with and close down amazon to members only, stop pulling the shenanigans.
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I don't know about that. There was a deal on 5qts of pennzoil synthetic oil for $15 shipped. I don't remember seeing synthetic priced so low for years. Just bought 2 windshield wiper blades for cheaper than the store too. There is quite a bit stuff that ends up being cheaper with Prime, compared to somewhere like Target, and then start browsing using the mobile app to double check pricing against the desktop amazon. I am finding quite a bit of Amazon pricing to be cheaper than our closest cheap place, Target. I will not set foot in the closest Walmart as its about a 25 minute drive and absolute madness in there. Its sort of like the people who drive 20 miles roundtrip to save $.05/gallon on gas. There is no real gain, and more like a loss when driving is factored in.

And then the free shipping on the cheap prices. I am in LA and a lot of stuff comes within 24 hours, even on the weekend (Sunday included).

My favorite item is Gatorade powder. Its hard to find the large containers in the store. Amazon sells them for half the price shipped. I am not surprised AMZN loses $5bil a year on shipping or whatever the loss was last year.
 
I just paid over a hundred dollars to rma a part back to evga because something went wrong and I did not want to have a thousand dollars tied up while they were waiting for the card to get to them after shipping the replacement card... if the card had been 500 dollars or less it was about sixty dollars to ship... mostly because they said it was policy to double box it... since the card is supposed to get there intact... I simply accepted the cost of getting a working card back. Every time I get stuff from newegg or amazon or who ever the shipping costs about twenty to fifty dollars unless it is freight because it is a large tv or something that that is too heavy to ship cheap. Not sure I'd trust amazon on sometimes but usually buying stuff from them and it showing up is one thing you can trust. Then again I usually buy videogames and random tech from them... and books for my phone. Pre-ordering games ce editions meant that when the game laucnhed it was actual in stock not oh we only got five copies not thirty we took orders for.

edit: oh the sales tax thing...
federal gov controls interstate commerce... meaning if congress say no sales tax then they are choosing to invest what would be a tax revenue into the people spending money by basically rebating the taxes back to the person so that they spend money which helps the economy... if a state taxes you from buying from a retailer in your own state... you are basically making an electronic phone call to the retailer... as to if you have to pay sales tax to your state for a biz using state controlled public utilities... then you might want to remember you pay the federal irs one set of taxes and the state you claim residence in another set of taxes..
 
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Gorankar said:
Yep, but, you not only get to pay for shipping, but you get to pay sales tax too. I go to walmart.com to use any walmart giftcards I have been given as gifts to buy giftcards for places I will actually do business at. It is the sites only value.
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That's temporary. If they're going to hundreds of physical stores, you can be fairly certain that one will be in your state and you will pay sales tax. That's why Amazon is now for sales tax on internet stores. As for free shipping, you have the exact same minimum order as Amazon and if you pick it up in the store, then it's free for any order
 
I hate that in order to borrow from the Kindle library you need a Kindle device. I like to read and I have a perfectly capable iPad.

Bet a lot of members get screwed on this benefit since there is little other reason to get a Kindle.
 
Totally worth it. Free delivery on a Sunday if I order on Saturday afternoon!
 
Staples said:
I hate that in order to borrow from the Kindle library you need a Kindle device. I like to read and I have a perfectly capable iPad.

Bet a lot of members get screwed on this benefit since there is little other reason to get a Kindle.
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You can read Kindle off your PC (I bet Mac, too).

You can read Kindle content and transform to other formats with this as well if its DRM free:
calibre - E-book management

And "people talk, you hear things" about DRM removal.
 
Reading on a Kindle is infinitely better than reading on a PC or tablet.
 
jpm100 said:
You can read Kindle off your PC (I bet Mac, too).

You can read Kindle content and transform to other formats with this as well if its DRM free:
calibre - E-book management.
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I purchase and read many Kindle books. They have reading apps for Windows, iOS, Android, etc.

As a Prime member, you get to borrow books from what is called their Lending Library. The problem is, the only way to access the Lending Library is though a Kindle device.
 
Use it all the time, the 2 day shipping or cheap 1 day shipping is easily worth it. Prime Photos could be better/easier to use, but it stores my RAW photos for free, which makes it a nice addition as a photo archive/backup. I barely touch Prime TV, but I guess it adds a couple dollars of value.
 
I spent $18k on Prime merch last year, all personal.

Yup. It's worth it.
 
HisSvt76 said:
I was a loyal prime user. But with the price increases and changes in shipping more stuff showing up late because they use USPS, I didn't renew. Then they raised the minimum order for free shipping and now it's all taxed. So i shop local and price match amazon when i need to especially at target i use my red card for 5%. And for bigger stuff my extra 5% pharmacy rewards cards too. And when they ran promotions for cheaper prime it only applies to NEW customers!
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This. Amazon has lost its main competitive advantage because they have to collect taxes and their prices are not always the lowest given that most of the local stores will price match.
Being able pick up an item at a local store at an equal or lower price makes we question the benefit of prime shipping.
 
for me it is

stream music
stream TV shows
stream movies
free shipping on Prime eligible items
Outstanding customer service
 
Very much worth it. I order a lot of stuff (birthdays, Christmas, baby stuff, sale stuff, video games, movies). Prime is well worth it for shipping alone. I could wait the 2 weeks for it to get to my door, but 2 days? I'd rather do that. Why not?

The other benefits are just extra cool stuff.
 
i use the CCC addon for chrome and check price trends, also I set price notifications for items I don't need now but see large fluctuations that I can wait for.
 
jstenuf said:
This. Amazon has lost its main competitive advantage because they have to collect taxes and their prices are not always the lowest given that most of the local stores will price match.
Being able pick up an item at a local store at an equal or lower price makes we question the benefit of prime shipping.
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Selection. Amazon has a far, far, far better selection and variety than all of the local stores around me combined, and obviously far more than any single store. Car parts, computer parts, gadgets, gadget accessories, musical instruments and accessories, cooking utensils, etc etc. I can't buy a decent motherboard locally. Guitar amps are cheaper at Amazon. Buying home theater speakers or receiver at Best Buy is laughable. The selection of brake pads at my local Autozone is pretty anemic and overpriced, and I'm lucky if they have strut mounts in stock at all. I couldn't find a decent inexpensive case for my dad's Droid Turbo locally, and I couldn't find a decent inexpensive case or screen protector for my Nexus 7 either. Replacement spray head for my steam cleaner? 12v inline toggle switch? The exact size of hanging picture frame I want? All easy to find on Amazon and at low prices... I couldn't find any of them locally, despite going to multiple stores.

Convenience, price, selection.. Amazon is awesome, and their customer service is phenomenal.
 
Ur_Mom said:
Very much worth it. I order a lot of stuff (birthdays, Christmas, baby stuff, sale stuff, video games, movies). Prime is well worth it for shipping alone. I could wait the 2 weeks for it to get to my door, but 2 days? I'd rather do that. Why not?

The other benefits are just extra cool stuff.
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Yeah, but it's pretty replaceable IME. Just this week, I wanted some binder clips and I was going to order on Amazon. The problem is that unless you pay a lot more, you can only get them as an add on for prime. Well thanks Amazon, but Staples is on 10 minutes from here and there prices are lower than the non add-on clips.

I'm just going to keep coming back to Prime is essentially what non-prime was a few years ago. Honestly, I can probably get stuff price matched at best buy with free shipping on orders of $35 instead of $50, neermind the ability to pick it up at a store 10 or 15 minutes away. All of this from an avowed Best Buy hater. Amazon just as Amazin these day.
 
kumquat said:
Selection. Amazon has a far, far, far better selection and variety than all of the local stores around me combined, and obviously far more than any single store. Car parts, computer parts, gadgets, gadget accessories, musical instruments and accessories, cooking utensils, etc etc. I can't buy a decent motherboard locally. Guitar amps are cheaper at Amazon. Buying home theater speakers or receiver at Best Buy is laughable. The selection of brake pads at my local Autozone is pretty anemic and overpriced, and I'm lucky if they have strut mounts in stock at all. I couldn't find a decent inexpensive case for my dad's Droid Turbo locally, and I couldn't find a decent inexpensive case or screen protector for my Nexus 7 either. Replacement spray head for my steam cleaner? 12v inline toggle switch? The exact size of hanging picture frame I want? All easy to find on Amazon and at low prices... I couldn't find any of them locally, despite going to multiple stores.

Convenience, price, selection.. Amazon is awesome, and their customer service is phenomenal.
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I am glad to hear it works for you. It does not work for me.
 
Hi All

As has been mentioned it depends on the individual/family. For us who have cut the cord, Prime videos alone are worth the cost.
 
if prime keeps missing their shipping estimates I may have to finally give up and cancel... it's not much cheaper than buying things locally most of the time and amazon collects tax here in FL so not worth it to me

don't care about streaming or photo services
 
I have prime in Canada but we dont get anything but the shipping and photo backup. No amazon prime video or music.
 
FLECOM said:
if prime keeps missing their shipping estimates I may have to finally give up and cancel... it's not much cheaper than buying things locally most of the time and amazon collects tax here in FL so not worth it to me

don't care about streaming or photo services
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Why don't you call and complain? Or chat and complain. I mean, it's their stated promise, so they should upkeep it.
 
Amazon is still my go to etailer but their prices have gone up significantly in the past few years. If I didn't get prime for $49 a year I probably wouldn't bother.
 
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