Cost of Amazon Prime going up?
 

I have to say it's still worth it at $100. Probably even $120. I just hope prices aren't going up for instant video crap because I could honestly care less about their offerings.

It indicated in the article that the price was rising due to the increased price of shipping. So it probably has little to nothing to do with instant video.

They really love to change the terms and conditions on Prime. I get the student discounted version but I dunno if I'd want to go $100 or $120 for it. The video is worth nothing to me. One day delivery prices keep changing as well.

Even at $120 it is so worth it to us. With all of the online Christmas shopping we do and the 4 kids birthdays along with the other miscellaneous purchases throughout the year it is really a no brainer.

My wife and I are both bad about ordering things as we want them, sometimes we've both ordered the same day but they come in different shipments. It's definitely worth the 100 to do it again.

My boardgames alone would be pricey to ship, so it's got great value to me. Plus, I do actually find a few streaming videos that are great for class.

Probably still worth it, but I'm sure I'd be a more frugal shopper without it.

I imagine there will be a huge run on Amazon Prime subscriptions now before the price increases. I still don't know if it is worth it for me even at $79, because I very rarely use anything other than Super Saver shipping.

It's paid off pretty well for us as my wife routinely orders books and has especially been useful for Christmas shipping. We also have a Kindle and it's been invaluable to rent movies to entertain the kids on drives over to Charlotte. Going up to $100 does make it a rather steep proposition, though, especially since Amazon is collecting state sales taxes. Our membership renewed this month, however, so we have a year to see what happens.

Interesting as I remember reading an article a few months back arguing why Amazon should be dropping their price for Prime to achieve their quest for world domination. I'll have to go back and try to find it.

Apparently they lose a lot of money on the Prime service, but rely on the idea that people will spend more if they have it.

It has always been a sweet deal at $79 but I think I use it more than most here (or it appears that way). Buy some products online quite a bit from them and love the 2 day shipping. Also, since dumping cable years ago, I use the Instant Watch quite a bit. And lastly, I take advantage of the Amazon Kindle Lending Library. There have been quite a few tech and fictional books that I just borrow instead of owning (it allows you to borrow 1 book a month but you can check it out as long as you want). So overall it has saved me a lot of money over the course of a year.

Maybe that's the point? Get people signed up who had been on the fence and have them start using it more and realize the benefits. You don't hear very much about people who have signed up and quit because it wasn't worth it.

I know others shop on impulse but we use it for things we actually need so it's been a great value to us. If I were to just go on there and browse for a DVD to grab that I wouldn't otherwise buy, yeah I'd end up spending more in the long run. But the other day we needed new cat food bowls and I went on Amazon, spent less than I would have at Petco, and saved myself from going 30 blocks or two subway rides out of my way after work (both directions).

One fun thing about living in King fo Prussia, north of Philadelphia for a year was that Amazonn's free two-day shipping was one day shipping because of how close the shipping center was. That was awesome. Instant gratification.

They better keep it reasonably cheap or simply put I'd cancel it and order most stuff from elsewhere, most places do free shipping now with reasonable promptness and I have to admit I tend to err to amazon presently simply because of Prime ...

(its kinda scary going through the back order list and seeing quite how much stuff I buy from there, especially impulse stuff)

Not saying this would happen with you, but I heard a lot of the same from local friends back when Amazon started being required to charge tax to ship to NY addresses.

Fast forward and we're all buying as much, if not more, from Amazon because price/service still doesn't get beat.

And that's the thing in the end. Amazon's price is usually far better than anyone else's. And with Prime, you can basically buy household items for cheaper at the store and get it in 2 days... you can't really replicate that.

We dropped Prime this year as our orders fell off substantially.

What we founf shocked us. (Amazon built a fulfillment center in Spartanburg, SC a yar or so back) Even when we select the free shipping on orders over $25 (the basic shipping) we get 90% of our stuff next day.

In fact because Im anal about details.
38 orders.
33 next day
4 - 2 days1
1-13 days.

Wont be going back to prime here. Not worth it

$35 barrier on standard free shipping now, correct?

My issue originally was that I used to buy random crap I didn't need to get over that level, which was a huge waste of money. I'd be doing it even more to get over $35.

My wife gets diapers, formula, other baby supplies, etc...has it all set up on auto ship so there is no hassle, it literally just shows up. Well worth the cost.

I'm still in at a $100 and more than likely a $120. I live 80 miles from any real shopping areas and more like a 3 hour drive to a major city (Des Moines or The Twin Cities) with the only major retailer within 20 miles a Walmart. So any shopping trip is going to take anywhere from $20 to $50 just in gas.

When you figure no sales tax, gas to drive 80 miles +, time to make shopping trips, and Amazon's (probably already) lower price or at least equal to anything I can find and I come out way ahead even at the new higher price.

I also use the Kindle library and watch some video through the Prime service.

With Amazon Deal, HBO Finally Lets Shows Loose on the Net | Business | WIRED

All of the old HBO stuff is going up on prime.

That's a big score for Amazon.

old, yes. no new series, right? i know details havent been entirely released...

yeah, nothing that is sold in syndication and nothing that is currently airing. Content looks to be at least 3 years old, although it may have all of Eastbound and Down(must watch) and that just recently ended.

Wow, you mean I can now watch Arli$$...

I didn't think it would go up this fast but the HBO stuff is there now.

Amazon Posts First Wave of Streaming HBO Content - Television - Boston.com

Just under a month after Amazon Prime revealed it would begin streaming full seasons of HBO shows, the first wave has hit the virtual airwaves.

All seasons of shows like “The Sopranos,” “The Wire,” “Deadwood,” “Rome,” and “Six Feet Under” are now available, along with select seasons of current series “True Blood,” “Boardwalk Empire,” and “Treme.”

What? No "Not Necessarily the News"?

Shameless plug here:

Amazon Prime is 1/2 off for college students. More info by clicking the link below (as well as netting me $10 if you sign up)!

Amazon Student

The price increase just might be worth it now:

Amazon Prime Music

Is anyone really surprised here ? Most see-through strategy ever: Add more content, make it all-or-nothing in terms of using the features, raise price.

The student version here in germany does not include all features btw, dunno how it is in the US.

The marketing/sales strategy of "value proposition" usually wins out in a non-terrible economy.

What better....
"We need to raise your price because shipping is expensive. Oh btw....here's a bunch of other services you may or may not want but we'll include them at no cost."

or....
"Since you enjoy shopping with us & getting 'free' 2 day shipping, you might be interested in our other a-la-carte offerings such as streaming video, music, and books at small incremental pricepoints."

Prime was already worth it for me even at the raised price. I watch a ton of Prime videos so for me it's like Netflix with free shipping thrown in. But this music thing is nice too.

This. Prime was worth it for the free shipping alone at $99 a year. Add to that Prime videos, including "The Americans" and "Orphan Black", adding in older HBO shows, and NOW PrimeMusic, including stuff that I was looking at buying but hadn't, like HAIM's new album and older albums from LCD Soundsystem and Daft Punk. Awesome!

Not to mention that they recently added a bunch of HBO shows to their streaming service. I started rewatching The Sopranos. They also have The Wire, Deadwood, Band of Brothers, Six Feet Under, Oz, etc. A serious leg up versus Netflix as far as television shows goes.

I personally don't see it as a competition. I use both and feel like each one offers some great stuff at a good price.

I saw this years ago. Maybe they were just testing it out in select situations, but I was given options for credits toward MP3s in the past.

For anyone who doesn't know, Amazon has a cool new thing called Amazon Smile.

http://smile.amazon.com/

Pick a charity (there are thousands) and they'll give 0.5% of the sale to it. I think you have to go through that smile.amazon.com link everytime you purchase though.

I would encourage you to support the Air Warrior Courage Foundation.

It's a charity sponsored by a group that I've been associated with for years. Here is the info on the group. Thanks

AWCF About Us

Amazon tends to remind me that I'm not looking at the Smile version of the product and asks me if I want that instead.

Just used that last week when I ordered something that I didn't need right away.

Anyone getting screwed on late deliveries lately? Supposed to get something today and it's looking like tomorrow. Also had stuff come late last week. May have been holiday confusing.

The stuff I had come during December was on time.

We've had this a couple of times and have called each time. They usually tack on a free month of Prime for you.

I actually had something come 2 days early, ordered Sunday, arrived Monday instead of Wednesday. The original delivery vehicle broke down, so they defaulted to deliver it ASAP.

+1

Definitely make sure you contact customer service (I usually just use the chat). They will give you a free month of prime added on if they miss a guaranteed delivery date. They will do it multiple times too.

For cheaper bulkier items if you try to "return" it they will frequently tell you to keep it since the return shipping isn't justified.

Amazon Prime on sale today only for $72.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/prime/pipe...ansparentprime

slickdeals says you can "gift" it to yourself to save $27 on the usual price:

1-Year Amazon Prime Membership $72 (New Members Only) 01-22-2015 - Slickdeals.net

Has anyone noticed some minor issues with Prime lately? I mean it's still great but I've noticed a lot more orders that will give me a "Guaranteed Delivery Date" and end up being delayed for some reason. I think it had happened once over the first 5 years I had Prime but have had it happen 4-5 times in the past few months.