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Is Amazon Prime worth it?

Is Prime Worth it?

  • Yes

    Votes: 70 77.8%

  • No

    Votes: 20 22.2%
  • Total voters
    90
And not a single person among you even mentioned that FOR BAZILLIONS OF YEARS…. Amazon has been providing me and every other non-Prime member Free Shipping, so long as you lump your purchase for a total of $35 or more (not hard to do).

True, it's not fast 2-day shipping. But I get my items delivered in under a week in most cases (as long as all the items are already In Stock). And I agree, the Prime Day is not compelling enough since it focuses on discounts of Amazon-branded product like Echos and Kindles, which I have zero desire to own. I'm on the Apple ecosystem anyways (like duh, no wonder I'm posting on MR), not the Echo ecosystem.
 
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theapplehead said:
I have a simple question to ask that I have been debating for some time now. Is Amazon Prime worth having? I have always felt having their free shipping on orders would be very useful;however, I have gone back and forth on this and cannot decide one way or another, so I could really use some advice from users who do have the service. Do you find yourselves using Prime frequently enough to make it worth having? Also, is their movie streaming service any good? How often do they upload new movies to their platform? If there are any other notable perks to having Prime that are worth mentioning, please describe them so I can better know what exactly I’ll be getting and if I would use those services. Thanks for your help!

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Like many have said, Prime is for those who will use Amazon for their requirements, and then it shines. If you use Amazon infrequently, Prime may just be an additional cost with ill-recovered value.
 
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For me, the fact that Prime Video has both "Catastrophe" and "Parks and Recreation," make Prime just about worth it, with the Prime Music giving my Echo devices a little extra audio taking up the rest.
 
Solomani said:
And not a single person among you even mentioned that FOR BAZILLIONS OF YEARS…. Amazon has been providing me and every other non-Prime member Free Shipping, so long as you lump your purchase for a total of $35 or more (not hard to do).

True, it's not fast 2-day shipping. But I get my items delivered in under a week in most cases (as long as all the items are already In Stock). And I agree, the Prime Day is not compelling enough since it focuses on discounts of Amazon-branded product like Echos and Kindles, which I have zero desire to own. I'm on the Apple ecosystem anyways (like duh, no wonder I'm posting on MR), not the Echo ecosystem.
Click to expand...

non prime member here

even standard delivery usually is very fast, around 3 business days or even less

which makes sense as amazon (or sellers on amazon) would not want to keep an already sold article in the warehouse any longer than necessary

from that perspective, as a prime member you pay amazon to keep their storage costs down, which seems kind of ironic
 
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After a seven-year run with it, I finally ditched it. I overlooked the somewhat "splurgy" nature of the ~$135 (with tax). Prime Music, shipping and a tiny bit of Prime Video is what I used. I just looked at my credit card bill and just said it wasn't worth it anymore. Plus, I will admit I'm a bit turned off by Amazon in general nowadays anyway, can't really nail down the reason, just not feeling Amazon anymore....maybe it's just fatigue.
 
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LessO2 said:
After a seven-year run with it, I finally ditched it. I overlooked the somewhat "splurgy" nature of the ~$135 (with tax). Prime Music, shipping and a tiny bit of Prime Video is what I used. I just looked at my credit card bill and just said it wasn't worth it anymore. Plus, I will admit I'm a bit turned off by Amazon in general nowadays anyway, can't really nail down the reason, just not feeling Amazon anymore....maybe it's just fatigue.
Click to expand...
 
I’ve been a Prime member for many years but finally dropped my membership a couple of months ago in frustration over their continual failure to meet shipping promises in rural areas. They routinely fail to meet their “guaranteed” arrival dates in winter but I’ve let them get away with it because Vermont winters are challenging. But when they missed several times, twice of those in one month, during the summer I decided I’d had enough.

As for Prime Day, I opted to accept their 1 week trial of Prime for $2 in order to make purchases on Prime Day. I haven’t decided whether I will continue on a month-by-month basis (for $13 a month) until the weather gats bad again or just cancel tomorrow before my week runs out. What I will NOT do is give them $120 up front.

It seems every time they raise the price of Prime, the shipping quality goes down. I don’t use the other frills so if shipping is a fail, Prime is a fail.

One added benefit during the couple of months I’ve been Prime-free has been all those little impulse purchases I’m not making any more. They really add up over time. If I have to wait until I’ve accumulated $25 or $35 worth of stuff to get free shipping, I might well decide I no longer need half that stuff.
 
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For me, yes it's worth it. Simply because I don't want to worry about comparing shipping costs to get the best deal. And in my experience the Prime-Eligible products are generally better quality (less risky) than the non-Prime stuff. Just click the Prime Only button, order, and it's done. No mess, no stress.
 
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I love it. Shipping alone is worth it for me, but I actually watch Prime Video a lot. They have a good selection.
 
I take back what I said about Amazon Prime Video. I completely forgot that they are bankrolling season 4 of The Expanse. I'm absolutely dying to see that.
 
shinji said:
The Man in the High Castle is great, too. My favorite show on Prime Video.
Click to expand...

Yup. I binged this recently in less than a week and am looking forward to the final season. Do you know when it's coming? I'm also looking forward to The Boys and will watch Good Omens soon. There seems to be quite a number of great original shows.

I got Prime on a whim a while back when they had it free for 30 days. I ended up keeping it because it's so useful:

Free shipping
Prime reading for books and graphic novels
Prime Music if one doesn't have a sub elsewhere
Prime Video

Just these 4 things make it worth the minimal cost (to me) and I don't even use the Prime Music feature. Plus there's always random deals for Prime members. It's a keeper for sure.
 
I've had amazon prime for a year now and I love it specially the next day free delivery. I don't use prime video much because I have cable in my home but when I go to appointments and go for long walks I use amazon music. I enjoy the discounts for prime members and early shopping for certain items.
 
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I've had it for years but am increasingly thinking $120/month isn't worth it. The only benefit I actually use is the fast free shipping. While the speed is nice, I could find other ways to get what I need. Prime Video is rarely worthwhile to me, as much of what I click on isn't actually available as part of Prime and would require a separate purchase. The biggest advantage of Prime Day seems to be the effect it has on other retailers. This year, for example, I didn't buy anything from Amazon on Prime Day, but did take advantage of competitive sales elsewhere, none of which required a Prime membership. In short, I'm not getting enough benefit.

There's also the fact that Amazon is getting too much power, which has a horrible effect on local retail and even some major retailers and the economy generally. They also are terribly wasteful, shipping small orders in very large boxes and often separate from other orders placed at the same time. In short, I don't particularly like them even when I use them.
 
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theapplehead said:
I have a simple question to ask that I have been debating for some time now. Is Amazon Prime worth having? I have always felt having their free shipping on orders would be very useful;however, I have gone back and forth on this and cannot decide one way or another, so I could really use some advice from users who do have the service. Do you find yourselves using Prime frequently enough to make it worth having? Also, is their movie streaming service any good? How often do they upload new movies to their platform? If there are any other notable perks to having Prime that are worth mentioning, please describe them so I can better know what exactly I’ll be getting and if I would use those services. Thanks for your help!

Cheers!
Click to expand...

I don't understand questions like this. Only YOU can decide if something is worth it or not. Especially whether or not to get a streaming service and most likely you have made up your mind before you even posted the question, so what's the point of asking? No one can convince you a service is good if you don't like the programming.
 
Mixed feelings here, especially as another forum member put it, in rural areas they sometimes don't make the 2 day delivery even in summer --and I properly chalk that up to Amazon rather than the courier because I can see when they shipped it.

Amazon should wise up and throw in a rewards-type credit when they miss unless there's been a tornado at one of their shipping hubs. it should be similar to letting you opt for a later delivery (which one can do) and take a credit to reduce cost of future purchase of ebooks or music downloads or whatever.

It's not like they don't know when they don't make that 2-day dropoff promise. A blizzard is one thing, just somehow missing it by a day is another, and seems too frequent.

Anyway it's starting to cost them that credit more on my account lately because I just opt for it when I check out. . To me the difference between two and three days is a shrug but if my membership says 2 days and they don't make it, then I expect a credit and right now I have to opt for it. Just another annoyance.​

So.. every time they jack the annual cost of I reconsider my membership. I might be at about the point I figure I can accumulate orders and get to free shipping, and live without the other perks. I rarely use their video streaming or rental, or not often enough to offset another rate jack anyway.

Finally, for me there's not a lot of difference between Prime Pantry (which is not a 2-day delivery anyway) and Walmart's 2-day delivery options, as I maintain a deep pantry and update stock only periodically, not all sort of "omg i'm almost out of.. whatever." It is handier for me to order staple goods online in winter than to drive over the mountain just for nonperishable items, but I try to have restocked most of that stuff by November anyway. If I space out something in the pantry category I can always add it onto the Instacart list since I use them pretty often now for delivery of perishable goods and generally have them shop that out at a food warehouse so the price hit to me is tolerable.

Bottom line, Amazon teeters at the edge of the cliff for me.
 
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theapplehead said:
I have a simple question to ask that I have been debating for some time now. Is Amazon Prime worth having? I have always felt having their free shipping on orders would be very useful;however, I have gone back and forth on this and cannot decide one way or another, so I could really use some advice from users who do have the service. Do you find yourselves using Prime frequently enough to make it worth having? Also, is their movie streaming service any good? How often do they upload new movies to their platform? If there are any other notable perks to having Prime that are worth mentioning, please describe them so I can better know what exactly I’ll be getting and if I would use those services. Thanks for your help!

Cheers!
Click to expand...

It is definitely worth it, we've had it for several years now. It has so many perks, you have free shipping (obviously), prime deals, amazon prime videos (like netflix) where you can catch shows/movies that are not on Netflix. We order a lot of stuff through Amazon, even if I see it in stores, I'll price check Amazon and most of the time it's cheaper so I just order it instead. Shipping is fast, 2 days, sometimes even next day depending on where you live.
 
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I'm on a trial year, about 11 months in. I found it was better before but now they seem to be working on their shipping. I ordered $40 worth on Sunday night and with Prime's two day free shipping it's supposed to arrive on Wednesday - basically the same as if I was not prime.

Prime video has gotten better since my membership began with loads more content. Like someone else said, if you use it for everything it's great - including streaming and their storage platforms. I'm leaning toward cancelling next month with the shipping being the same.
 
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We are fully into the Prime ecosystem so to speak -- between Prime Now twice a month when we need groceries but don't want to go out, Prime Music, Prime Photos, Prime shipping (most items around here are free next day or same day and we place 100+ orders a year, and above all else, Prime Video.

Does Prime Video beat Netflix? It totally depends on what you watch, of course. They have a fantastic kids library, between PBS shows like Daniel Tiger or Wild Kratts (they have a much larger free library than the PBS Kids app), and a lot of really excellent Amazon original specials or series (the Gruffalo/Room On the Broom, Pete the Cat, If You Give A Mouse a Cookie, Bug Diaries, Stinky and Dirty, and on and on...). For adults they offer very convenient tie-ins with other premium services, too. For example, I paid for HBO through Prime for two months to watch VEEP and it was seamless with the rest of my Prime library and easy to cancel and re-sign up whenever you need it. We have Netflix too, but honestly, Prime is 90% of our streaming at this point.

So is it worth it? Yes. We don't even think about it. It's easily worth $300+ for our usage of shipping, photo storage, and streaming video.
 
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