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Amazon Prime To Cost $99 A Year

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Re: Amazon Prime To Cost $99 A Year

#31

Post by dnissley »

xur17 wrote: post #13
josefresco wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Prime these days is less about fast shipping and more about the bundled streaming/media services.

Amazon's streaming video is useless to me. It doesn't work on any of my devices (android, linux, or chromecast), while Netflix does. I made 2 online movie rentals within the past few weeks, and both times I checked amazon, but then remembered that it doesn't work on my devices, and ended up getting it from Google Play. They're missing out on purchases, and getting people used to using other services - not a great way…

Yeah, I can't quite figure that out. Is their kindle business really so valuable that they are willing to cannibalize their media services?

Just doesn't seem to make sense to race for device adoption in a world where everybody else seems to be racing for broader platform adoption.

I guess I've never been all that impressed with their offering in this area though, especially video, so maybe they're simply recognizing that it isn't as valuable.

Re: Amazon Prime To Cost $99 A Year

#32

Post by untog »

gdulli wrote: post #22

I can't understand the idea of paying for shipping (whether it's annual or per-shipment) when there's an option to get it for free. If I decided I couldn't wait a few extra days to get the things I order, I feel I'd be crossing a line of giving in too much to consumerism. Taking away impulse buying is one of the better things about shopping online. And the streaming services combined don't match what I get with cable…

If I decided I couldn't wait a few extra days to get the things I order, I feel I'd be crossing a line of giving in too much to consumerism.

What about when, you know, you need something urgently? Last time I took a long trip I ordered a backup battery for my cellphone three days before I left. It was either use Amazon Prime or go to a store and pay twice as much.

Re: Amazon Prime To Cost $99 A Year

#33

Post by ludicast »

Still worth it to me. The quick free shipping is great and the streaming educational kid's tv is a godsend. Plus for a family there are considerably more packages coming down (tools, toys, etc.).

Seems like they crunched the numbers and realized that if $79 was worthwhile, $99 would be too. Those who wouldn't find $99 worthwhile probably wouldn't be using it anyway.

Still do think customers should be grandfathered when at all possible.

Re: Amazon Prime To Cost $99 A Year

#34

Post by darklajid »

puzzlingcaptcha wrote: post #20
silviorelli wrote: post #12

In Italy Prime costs just 9,99€. That's just a little more than a single shipment. http://www.amazon.it/gp/prime

Wow, that's great. In France and Germany it's 49€

In Germany it used to be less and was only just increased - due to the addition of the media services (Prime Instant Video or whatever it is called).

I'd guess that Italy doesn't offer access to that so far, so the price difference isn't thaaaaat big.

Re: Amazon Prime To Cost $99 A Year

#36

Post by moron4hire »

pidg wrote: post #16

In the UK, Amazon have just raised the cost of Prime from £49 to £79, and bundled in their (failing?) LoveFilm movie streaming service to excuse it. A lot of people I know (including me) are cancelling as a result - not due to the cost, but more the brazenness of it.

Probably not actually a lot of people. Most likely most people will continue their subscriptions. And if you haven't cancelled already, I'd be surprised if you actually did, even with what you said. It's just human nature. You'll put it off. You'll forget about your rage daycamping. And 6 months from now, when you accidentally look at your credit card statement, you'll say to yourself "I really should cancel Prime" and go back to playing Flappy Bird instead.

Re: Amazon Prime To Cost $99 A Year

#37

Post by schrodinger »

mhb wrote: post #29
codegeek wrote: post #23

For a heavy amazon user such as myself, not much difference. Still very happy to continue using amazon. The math is simple. We probably have 5-10 shipments on average a month coming in. Most of it is for our kids (newborn/1 year) and includes subscriptions for milk, diapers etc. Just recently, my wife added another subscription for stuff like toilet paper, napkins. Without amazon prime, you might end up paying $3-5 o…

I'm considering whether it's worth it. I thought that, for orders over $25, shipping was free anyway. With the amount of ordering you do, wouldn't there be little advantage to having Prime, especially if you tried to aggregate your items?

The free shipping isn't 2 day I don't think

Re: Amazon Prime To Cost $99 A Year

#38

Post by codegeek »

mhb wrote: post #29
codegeek wrote: post #23

For a heavy amazon user such as myself, not much difference. Still very happy to continue using amazon. The math is simple. We probably have 5-10 shipments on average a month coming in. Most of it is for our kids (newborn/1 year) and includes subscriptions for milk, diapers etc. Just recently, my wife added another subscription for stuff like toilet paper, napkins. Without amazon prime, you might end up paying $3-5 o…

I'm considering whether it's worth it. I thought that, for orders over $25, shipping was free anyway. With the amount of ordering you do, wouldn't there be little advantage to having Prime, especially if you tried to aggregate your items?

You will be surprised that my wife buys items worth $2.99 from amazon at times. Sometimes, it is not possible to bunch orders together because it is all "on demand". Because we have prime, we don't care about whether it is 1 item or 5 items in same shipment. So our orders could look like ($2.99, 1 item )on one day while it could be ($40+$6, 2 items) another day. Other than fixed subscriptions, our buying pattern is very random.

And Prime is not just about free shipping, but it is a lot more about "fast" shipping. I am not sure about non prime but I doubt that free shipping will be 2 day or less like Prime.

Re: Amazon Prime To Cost $99 A Year

#39

Post by lsaferite »

joesmo wrote: post #27

The quality of this service is hit and miss. Sometimes they use a reliable carrier like UPS, other times they send things via USPS so they can be stolen. With this price increase, and their inability (I've asked multiple times) to determine what carrier they will ship with and ship with a reliable carrier, this has become a liability now that I wish I had not renewed. It's amazing to me that Amazon would ship anythin…

I would dispute the unreliability of the USPS based on my own anecdotal evidence. (FedEx/UPS was always iffy based on the driver)

But, assuming USPS is totally unreliable and packages go missing a lot, have you ever had Amazon NOT either refund or replace the item?

I ask because I 'received' a package via UPS with a GoPro and when I got home it was not there. I reported to Amazon and they shipped one out overnight to replace the missing item. That's just one of multiple instances of Amazon having an amazing policy regarding shipping and returns.

Re: Amazon Prime To Cost $99 A Year

#40

Post by darklajid »

egeozcan wrote: post #18
darklajid wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. In DE those services were just unlocked (and the price increased for renewals accordingly). So far it was JUST for fast shipping. I subscribed for faster/cheaper shipping and canceled now, after a couple years. The streaming services are of no use to me. Most content in Germany is .. German (dubbed). I don't see a streaming client on Android or a way to stream from my XBMC. Inaccessible + expensive -> No…

Content being dubbed is the most annoying thing. Here's a relevant discussion (a mixture of English and German replies): http://www.amazon.de/forum/high-definition?cdThread=Tx3PQMDU... Apparently, there is some content which isn't dubbed but it's not enough to make it attractive.

Well, as I said: For me it is the combination of these things.

Even if the content would be awesome: I cannot access it. Unless I own a particular brand of TVs, a weird Amazon tablet, an iOS device (all negative and no interest in any of these things) - how am I supposed to get that stuff on my TV (which happens to BE a 'smart' TV with optional internet connectivity, but it's offline for a very good reason)?

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