Posted on 04/28/2018 1:28:24 AM PDT by LibWhacker
Free two-day shipping may be enticing, but it doesn’t necessarily justify the higher price tag for an Amazon Prime membership.
Amazon AMZN, +3.60% raised the annual fee for its Prime membership program for the first time since 2014 — but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s less of a bargain for most consumers.
The online retailer announced that it will hike the annual fee for a Prime membership in the U.S. by 20% to $119. The change comes as Amazon revealed that it now has more than 100 million people globally who are members of the program. In January, Amazon raised the price of monthly memberships from $10.99 to $12.99 per month. The price change will go into effect starting May 11 for new members and starting June 16 for existing members when they renew.
Amazon said that it was upping the price of a Prime membership to offset the costs the program incurs, thanks to free shipping and digital content streaming. “Since we increased the U.S. annual price of Prime four years ago both the value of Prime and the cost to offer it have increased significantly,” an Amazon spokeswoman said in an email. “We still believe that Prime is disproportionately more valuable than the fee.”
But consumers who are considering Prime—and those who are already members—will need to closely evaluate whether the membership is still worth it at the higher price. Ultimately, that decision will come down to how much benefit each individual consumer derives from the program, whose perks range from free two-day shipping on Amazon purchases to free online photo storage and free audiobooks from Audible.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
We really like Prime, but there are many shows and movies that we’d like to watch that STILL require a fee. If they are going to raise the annual fee, then some of that content should be free to members. Our renewal is coming up soon. We might have to rethink that.
We rarely do b & m anymore, even for shoes and clothes. With b & m, you’re limited to whatever they happen to have on display at that moment. Retailers want a lot of money for shipping.
I will buy my better clothes from online retailers because I can always make the minimum to get free shipping, unfortunately.
But, everything else comes from amazon. I just ordered freakin hand towels, they have a better selection than stores.
So, yeah. We’ll suck it up and pay for Prime again. They’ve got us.
I tried the 30-day free trial of prime. I have no use for it, so I cancelled.
Buck Fezos.
I am going to rethink this, as well. Primary gripe is that too many two day deliveries are taking more than two days, somethings significantly more. Also, the free video offerings are not the best and we rarely use them or any other service other than the free delivery.
Just addressed this in our Budget. Sending a message to Amazon as to why EBT/Madicare is just $5.99 per month and our price increased. Depending on the answer we will see if we continue. Does save on shipping over an entire year, but not if we are to belong to a “special caste” of Customers.https://www.amazon.com/l/16256994011?
I consider it a bargain at that price based on how much we use it (some months $1000+ just in household stuff) and prime now is great when children sick or workload is heavy
Probably shouldn’t put it in print but I’d probably pay 60 a month or more for he conveniences but we are in one of those periods where time is way more valuable than money to us
Yeah, the free shipping has definitely lost it’s luster. Usually it’s “three day shipping”.
And I never find a movie I want to watch that is Prime. The good ones are all pay.
Exactly. Me too. I refuse to ever use Amazon for anything.
Each individual needs to decide for themselves.
Personally Amazon has become my goto place to shop (and not just on line). It is not often I “need” same day service but when I do Amazon delivers.
Recently I checked and discovered I bought a little over $8,000 worth of items from them over ten years.
Perhaps the one thing I like the best is there no hassle return policy. One email with complaint and a replacement is immediately sent out. Better than any brick and mortar store I have ever tried to return something to.
Nothing but greed.
It is totally worth it for me. I save a ton on shipping and now with prime almost everything I get is either free same day delivery or next day delivery.
I'd also have to reconsider. I don't use their music streaming or audio book services and their TV streaming just sucks, content-wise. Netflix and Xfinity On Demand are far better.
I do order a lot of stuff from Amazon but I'd have to do the math to see if I'd even use $119 in shipping costs to justify it.
[[ “Since I consider Bezos evil incarnate, I am helping the world by not contributing to his company.” ]]
We purchased a $700 Nikon digital camera through one of Amazon’s third parties, and it turned out to be a gray market ticket with costly issues. The camera store refused to refund or repair the camera, and Amazon would not back it up either, so while we still purchase a few small items through them, they lost a good customer overall.
And I really do not like how Amazon “Prime shames” a person if they do not scoop it up.
I don’t like Amazons politics but I am addicted to it’s service. I have three or four deliveries each week so it is worth it to me!!!
Called Amazon to cancel my Prime Membership yesterday as a result of the $20 increase. They did refund the unused portion of my membership. Our purchases on Amazon have significantly slowed and we are not at all impressed with Prime movie selection. eBay shipping is almost as good as Amazon where I live and many of the items delivered from Amazon have been damaged requiring return.
I made over 250 purchases from Amazon last year. So, for me, it’s a good deal, even at $120 per year. I even buy cat food from Amazon, because I can get it for 20-25% less than the brick and mortar pet stores.
We split our account with our children who live in different states. The only problem is that you cannot stream to different locations at the same time.
Not going to renew.
I used to buy something from Amazon a couple of times a month. Now I find better deals elsewhere.
Specialty sites have better information and options.
The fake product reviews are a joke now and their search is so polluted with sponsored results that it it is also useless.
I have prime video but never watch it preferring Netflix and Hulu.
I will never save $120.00 in shipping over the course of a year.
The higher price just primes the pump at Amazon.
Good idea from smart marketer...
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