Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Amazon Will Start Charging Prime Members for US Grocery Orders of Less Than $150

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 82 posts

Re: Amazon Will Start Charging Prime Members for US Grocery Orders of Less Than $150

#11

Post by klipklop »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #9
ulfw wrote: post #5

At this point Prime seems to be targeting families only. As a single person I'm not sure of the value I'm getting with all the things I don't want (TV shows etc) and the high minimums ($150 for groceries is too much for one).

I canceled my Prime subscription last year after the headline benefit, two-day shipping, had turned into "well, we'll try for two-day shipping, but we achieve it 0% of the time, and there's no recourse".

Yeah this is going to lead to me cancelling as well. Amazon takes up to 6 days now for “prime” shipping.

Amazon is a garbage company that you can’t count on the items not being fakes/knockoffs.

Re: Amazon Will Start Charging Prime Members for US Grocery Orders of Less Than $150

#12

Post by User23 »

klipklop wrote: post #11
thaumasiotes wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I canceled my Prime subscription last year after the headline benefit, two-day shipping, had turned into "well, we'll try for two-day shipping, but we achieve it 0% of the time, and there's no recourse".

Yeah this is going to lead to me cancelling as well. Amazon takes up to 6 days now for “prime” shipping. Amazon is a garbage company that you can’t count on the items not being fakes/knockoffs.

That’s what alibaba is for: you can count on the items being fakes/knockoffs.

Re: Amazon Will Start Charging Prime Members for US Grocery Orders of Less Than $150

#13

Post by hezralig »

klipklop wrote: post #11
thaumasiotes wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I canceled my Prime subscription last year after the headline benefit, two-day shipping, had turned into "well, we'll try for two-day shipping, but we achieve it 0% of the time, and there's no recourse".

Yeah this is going to lead to me cancelling as well. Amazon takes up to 6 days now for “prime” shipping. Amazon is a garbage company that you can’t count on the items not being fakes/knockoffs.

I typically find the same items on Taobao and Alibaba for a fraction of the price. I've been returning some items as they accept returns if you "find a better price elsewhere."

There were some weenies who said this was abuse of the service, however, the option to return an item because you found a better price elsewhere is literally not a terms of service violation, it is a prefilled option.

I have been a member for over a decade and probably return half of my purchases because they are low quality and over priced dropshipped goods. Paired with the now aspirational two-day delivery in my coastal metro, I couldn't be happier shifting my purchases back to Costco and other domestic alternatives.

Re: Amazon Will Start Charging Prime Members for US Grocery Orders of Less Than $150

#16

Post by amf12 »

SamoyedFurFluff wrote: post #10

Not sure how they think they’ll compete with instacart at those prices. It’s literally cheaper to use instacart/fresh direct even with the delivery fees

They must have done some analysis which says that a lot of people buy more than $150 at a time, or frequently and a bit below 150 that they could buy more than not. Anything less than that might not be profitable for them.

Re: Amazon Will Start Charging Prime Members for US Grocery Orders of Less Than $150

#18

Post by amf12 »

paulpauper wrote: post #3

This is a recurring pattern of tech companies: offer a service at a loss, and then after capturing the market, raise prices or penalize for inactivity. People complain about Facebook harvesting user info, but in fakebook's defense, it is still $0 to use without any obvious degradation of the service or penalties for inactivity (people who use Yahoo , Hotmail, Dropbox, etc. sure learned how much it can suck having all…

> offer a service at a loss, and then after capturing the market, raise prices or penalize for inactivity

I mean, as much as I dislike it, it makes sense business wise. Let users try it, find it useful and then make money out of it. People who love the product will continue, who don't use it much will move to competitors who might be making a loss any way, or stop altogether.

Do you expect them to make a loss forever or try to be profitable in the first month when users wouldn't even know if it makes sense lifestyle wise?

FWIW, I don't see the benefit of Amazon Prime anymore and might discontinue it when my membership comes for renewal.

Re: Amazon Will Start Charging Prime Members for US Grocery Orders of Less Than $150

#19

Post by larrymyers »

donohoe wrote: post #17

Seriously? As the cost of Prime goes up the more I wonder why I use it... Once I'm not using Prime, my reliance on Amazon for free shipping evaporates and then I no longer am using Amazon exclusively for general purchases.

I did not renew my Prime membership this year after Amazon raised the annual price again. We have too many streaming services in our house as it is, and we don't order enough from Amazon to take advantage of the free shipping.

I've also found Amazon's prices getting less competitive, especially for things you'd usually buy at placed like Target (drive up pickup is amazing). Combined with the endless search results that are likely counterfeit and full of fake 5 star reviews, it's just too much work to buy things from Amazon for too little benefit.

As a consequence I've found myself ordering more from retailers directly, without any real downgrade in shipping.

Re: Amazon Will Start Charging Prime Members for US Grocery Orders of Less Than $150

#20

Post by ClumsyPilot »

User23 wrote: post #12
klipklop wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah this is going to lead to me cancelling as well. Amazon takes up to 6 days now for “prime” shipping. Amazon is a garbage company that you can’t count on the items not being fakes/knockoffs.

That’s what alibaba is for: you can count on the items being fakes/knockoffs.

aliexpress sellers actually answer messages, customise orders, i had great service and even a refund once!
Post reply on HN