Amazon Prime -- Anyone use it?

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 9:11 pm

Jeff V wrote:They don't sit on anything with Prime. More often than not, I have my stuff the next day...even when I order the evening before!

Yeah, I know that. I was griping that they DO sit on it when you use free shipping.

Smoove_B wrote:I gave up shopping locally. More often than not, I can find it cheaper and waste less of my own time and gas driving around looking for things.

The situation for me is usually either one of two extremes. Either I want it right this instant (in which case even Amazon Prime can't help me), or I don't actually need it that soon (even if I may want it right now), in which case I can wait until the free shipping gets it to me.

I just can't bring myself to spend the equivalent of 3-4 hardcover books just to upgrade my shipping when I'm used to getting it for free.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 9:30 pm

Sith Lord wrote:I just can't bring myself to spend the equivalent of 3-4 hardcover books just to upgrade my shipping when I'm used to getting it for free.

If you're just ordering books from Amazon, your scope is very limited. Books are typically the least-urgent thing I ever buy from them.

Lnorigb · Post by **Lnorigb** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 10:02 pm

Jeff V wrote:
Sith Lord wrote:I just can't bring myself to spend the equivalent of 3-4 hardcover books just to upgrade my shipping when I'm used to getting it for free.
If you're just ordering books from Amazon, your scope is very limited. Books are typically the least-urgent thing I ever buy from them.

which leads me to a question. what do OOers order mostly from amazon?

90% it's mp3s & kindle books for us.
followed by toiletries/make-up for me
and gifts via Wishlists

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 10:38 pm

Last 6 months:

8 books
2 Nike+ Sensor cases
100-spindle DVD+R (ordered twice)
25 spindle DVD+R Lightscribe
Avery labels
Serfas cycling glove
SRAM 10-speed chain
2 boardgames
Inkjet cartridges (ordered three times)
Cherry/Passion Tic-tacs (4 dozen)
Neoprene sports band (Ipod Nano)
Nike+ Kit
Ascics running shoes
Genova tuna (2 dozen)
Shure Earphones
Baby food

Tscott · Post by **Tscott** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 10:43 pm

Movies/TV Shows/Music
Books
Misc

in that order.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 10:52 pm

I've said it before (maybe even in this thread), but the real trick about Prime is cost-sharing. You can have up to (I think) five accounts under one Prime membership, but they all have to be family. The trick is that the verification they use is that they have to know your birthday, I think. You send them an invite, specify that they're your aunt, cousin, something. They get the invite, verify that they're that relative, and put in your birthday. Bam, they're on the Prime account. Split the cost four ways, and it's only $20 per year.

The other benefit of Prime for guaranteed near-instant gratification is the $4 overnight delivery on anything. It's $4 per item, so it's really only for emergencies, but it's there.

Where Prime gets really valuable is for us last minute Christmas shoppers. With the free shipping around the holidays, you better believe you're probably going to hit the far edge of the shipping window. With Prime, I can pretty much order things two days before Christmas Eve and get them in time.

xwraith · Post by **xwraith** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 12:46 am

Yeah, I'm planning on ordering and having Christmas presents shipped home so I don't have to haul everything several hundred miles this year...

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 6:03 am

Jeff V wrote:
Sith Lord wrote:I just can't bring myself to spend the equivalent of 3-4 hardcover books just to upgrade my shipping when I'm used to getting it for free.
If you're just ordering books from Amazon, your scope is very limited. Books are typically the least-urgent thing I ever buy from them.

No, it's just the first thing I thought of that x3-4 = $80. I also buy movies and (on the rare occasion that I buy one) computer games from Amazon.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 8:22 am

At Xmas, I buy toys (although the number of nieces and nephews needing anything but cash is dwindling by the year). Better still...I have the shipped to the parents homes so I never even have to wrap the damn things. I've also bought appliances and electronics from them before. Pretty much, my first place to check for anything is Amazon; if their price is comparable to others, the Prime shipping wins them them business.

telcta · Post by **telcta** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 9:27 am

I mainly buy gifts but sometimes I pick up DVDs and computer related hardware for myself.

I went into my account history to see my first purchase. Any guess when that was?

Spoiler:

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 9:39 am

That's odd - Amazon only shows my orders back as far as 1999. I'm certain I was buying stuff from them back in 97 if not 96. I suppose I must have created a new account at some point back then or something. Can't imagine why.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 9:41 am

Last 6 months:
Card game
Cuff links
Dress shirt
Thermal shirt
Dress shirt
Dress shirt
Flash card reader
Zune adapter
Watch case back opener
Zojirushi lunch jar
Vapor Performance Long Sleeve T-Shirt (x4)
Matar Paneer 15-Ounce Cans (Pack of 12) (subscription)
T shirt

Thinking about it, I haven't bought clothes in a walk-in store for a long time.

The wife has ordered a bunch of books.

Crabbs · Post by **Crabbs** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:20 am

Chaz wrote:I've said it before (maybe even in this thread), but the real trick about Prime is cost-sharing. You can have up to (I think) five accounts under one Prime membership, but they all have to be family. The trick is that the verification they use is that they have to know your birthday, I think. You send them an invite, specify that they're your aunt, cousin, something. They get the invite, verify that they're that relative, and put in your birthday. Bam, they're on the Prime account. Split the cost four ways, and it's only $20 per year.

Doesn't the shipping address need to be the same though? I thought it was same household, not family.

If I want to add my brothers to this they'd have to sign in with my account though obviously then....

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 11:01 am

LawBeefaroni wrote:Last 6 months:
Card game
Cuff links
Dress shirt
Thermal shirt
Dress shirt
Dress shirt
Flash card reader
Zune adapter
Watch case back opener
Zojirushi lunch jar
Vapor Performance Long Sleeve T-Shirt (x4)
Matar Paneer 15-Ounce Cans (Pack of 12) (subscription)
T shirt

Thinking about it, I haven't bought clothes in a walk-in store for a long time.

The wife has ordered a bunch of books.

I'm always leary about buying clothes online. I have to try on my clothes before buying. Just because it says Large doesn't mean it's going to fit.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 11:08 am

naednek wrote: I'm always leary about buying clothes online. I have to try on my clothes before buying. Just because it says Large doesn't mean it's going to fit.

I've got most of the sizing down from buying on there for years. In some cases (like the Vapor shirts) I buy one to see how the sizing is and then load up once I've figured it out. Prime is great for that.

Dress shirts are usually more specific. But even with them I err large and if they're too large they just become casual shirts instead of work shirts.

You do have to be willing to get some give aways once in a while.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 11:14 am

Crabbs wrote:
Chaz wrote:I've said it before (maybe even in this thread), but the real trick about Prime is cost-sharing. You can have up to (I think) five accounts under one Prime membership, but they all have to be family. The trick is that the verification they use is that they have to know your birthday, I think. You send them an invite, specify that they're your aunt, cousin, something. They get the invite, verify that they're that relative, and put in your birthday. Bam, they're on the Prime account. Split the cost four ways, and it's only $20 per year.
Doesn't the shipping address need to be the same though? I thought it was same household, not family.

If I want to add my brothers to this they'd have to sign in with my account though obviously then....

Nope, it should be perfectly fine with all the accounts using different shipping/billing addresses. Unless they've recently changed something.

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 11:15 am

Chaz wrote:
Crabbs wrote:
Chaz wrote:I've said it before (maybe even in this thread), but the real trick about Prime is cost-sharing. You can have up to (I think) five accounts under one Prime membership, but they all have to be family. The trick is that the verification they use is that they have to know your birthday, I think. You send them an invite, specify that they're your aunt, cousin, something. They get the invite, verify that they're that relative, and put in your birthday. Bam, they're on the Prime account. Split the cost four ways, and it's only $20 per year.
Doesn't the shipping address need to be the same though? I thought it was same household, not family.

If I want to add my brothers to this they'd have to sign in with my account though obviously then....
Nope, it should be perfectly fine with all the accounts using different shipping/billing addresses. Unless they've recently changed something.

It is perfectly fine with the accounts using different shipping/billing addresses. My brother and I share a Prime account, and we haven't lived in the same house in years.

Lee · Post by **Lee** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 11:15 am

I buy clothes online all the time. I am always an XL in shirts, and pants I can usually narrow down. But shoes? Never.

Until last night. I can't find Five Fingers locally in my size but have tried on a larger size. So I went with blind hope and just went and ordered online what I think is the correct size. Praying they fit.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sat Jan 19, 2013 1:15 am

I still love my Prime, but as of today I started having to pay sales tax on Amazon purchases.

Not unfair, but damn, damn, damn.

ska5fe · Post by **ska5fe** » Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:32 pm

The sales tax sucks, but definitely isn't Amazon's fault. They likely fought it as best they could.

To my own shame, I didn't become a Prime member until I became an Amazon employee just a few months ago (it's not a benefit, though, employees have to pay for it).

Boudreaux · Post by **Boudreaux** » Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:57 pm

Blackhawk wrote:I still love my Prime, but as of today I started having to pay sales tax on Amazon purchases.

Not unfair, but damn, damn, damn.

We noticed that during our Christmas shopping. We typically do a lot of shopping online and have everything sent to my parents' house in Kansas. This time, everything we had sent there was suddenly a few dollars more expensive thanks to sales tax. Anything we had shipped to us, no tax. Made for an interesting decision process, as anything we shipped to us to save money had to be packed and transported with us when we left to visit.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Feb 26, 2013 11:52 am

Amazon just added all 7 seasons of The Shield to their video streaming service -- free for Prime members.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Tue Feb 26, 2013 12:44 pm

I just signed up for Prime last year, and will agree that it REALLY shines around Christmas time, at least for us.

Also, since I bought our daughter a Kindle for her birthday last year, Prime members can borrow one title a month for free, so that is a nice little bonus. I think I might have used the video service once since being a member. Not really much there that I can't find on Netflix, at least the last time I looked.

I find it hard to justify, because I rarely need stuff THAT quickly, and I can always easily get to the $25 min for free shipping, but it is certainly a "nice to have", considering how much we buy from the big A.

Hamlet3145 · Post by **Hamlet3145** » Tue Feb 26, 2013 12:58 pm

Smoove_B wrote:Amazon just added all 7 seasons of The Shield to their video streaming service -- free for Prime members.

Awesome. I've never seen it.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Tue Feb 26, 2013 1:05 pm

Hamlet3145 wrote:
Smoove_B wrote:Amazon just added all 7 seasons of The Shield to their video streaming service -- free for Prime members.
Awesome. I've never seen it.

Buckle up, you're in for a ride.

Mandeville · Post by **Mandeville** » Tue Feb 26, 2013 1:48 pm

Amazon Prime is streaming on Wii! So when I missed Downton Abby because I was watching a Super Bowl, I just paid a couple bucks later that week and kept up. that was great. Amazon also has Fringe (Netflix doesn't) and it's free.

I'm thinking about buying Star Wars, the Clone Wars...for my nine year old

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Tue Feb 26, 2013 3:14 pm

Now if they would just add Portlandia.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Tue Feb 26, 2013 3:54 pm

Enough wrote:Now if they would just add Portlandia.

You don't have Netflix streaming? If you did, your search (for seasons 1-2) would be over!

Lassr · Post by **Lassr** » Tue Feb 26, 2013 4:37 pm

I use Amazon Prime through a family member. I get the free shipping but not the free movies or kindle book. I pay him $20/year or buy a few lunches since he can add up to 4 people to his account.

I have thought about getting it for myself for the movies but I never see anything on the movie list that I'm interested in or haven't already seen.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Tue Feb 26, 2013 4:54 pm

Damn, I didn't realize that the streaming and book lending was cut off if you were on someone else's membership. I cancelled the one direct on my account when the renewal came up and hopped onto my fiancee's. The video thing is easy to deal with, because I'll just switch the sign ins on the PS3 and my ipad to her account, but she doesn't have a Kindle, and I bet I can't switch mine to her account without clearing out the books I bought.

Annoying.

Koz · Post by **Koz** » Tue Feb 26, 2013 7:22 pm

Yeah I'm in the same boat (I mooch off my dad's subscription). I've been tempted to upgrade to the full thing but not sure if I really spend $80 a year on shipping.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Wed Feb 27, 2013 6:22 am

Koz wrote:Yeah I'm in the same boat (I mooch off my dad's subscription). I've been tempted to upgrade to the full thing but not sure if I really spend $80 a year on shipping.

I think if you buy 8 - 10 items a year, you probably do. That's how we justified it.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Wed Feb 27, 2013 9:34 am

Yeah I'm in the same boat (I mooch off my dad's subscription). I've been tempted to upgrade to the full thing but not sure if I really spend $80 a year on shipping.

The trick to Prime is that you don't have to currently be paying $80 a year on shipping to justify it. Once shipping is free, the cost of buying many things online is cheaper than buying them in the store. So now you're saving money on stuff you would have normally bought locally to avoid shipping charges.

Hamlet3145 · Post by **Hamlet3145** » Wed Feb 27, 2013 9:54 am

Also just noticed that the first three seasons of Justified are up on Prime Video now too.

Honestly, Amazon Prime has replaced my need to ever go to Walmart. Example: I decided yesterday that I needed a new shower mat. Amazon had one the same price as Walmart, but with no tax and I don't have to burn gas (or even worse set foot in Walmart) to get it. I also use an Amazon.com visa to pay for everything I buy there so I get 3% back each month. (And, yes, I always pay off the card so I'm never charged interest).

And I use my faculty .edu email address to get Prime for the student price.

Jaymon · Post by **Jaymon** » Wed Feb 27, 2013 10:05 am

Grand_Director wrote:Amazon Prime is streaming on Wii! So when I missed Downton Abby because I was watching a Super Bowl, I just paid a couple bucks later that week and kept up. that was great. Amazon also has Fringe (Netflix doesn't) and it's free.

I'm thinking about buying Star Wars, the Clone Wars...for my nine year old

Hmm, I need to check if it also streams to the DS system as well as the wii. if so, then I am going to drop netflix

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Feb 27, 2013 10:16 am

Hamlet3145 wrote:Also just noticed that the first three seasons of Justified are up on Prime Video now too.

Well, the 4th season is available too, but you have to pay. I mentioned it in the actual Justified! thread, but it probably would have made more sense to include it here.

DOS=HIGH · Post by **DOS=HIGH** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 9:51 pm

Just noticed the 1932 movie Freaks is now available on Instant Prime. It is a must watch.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 2:02 am

Apparently Primers are so profitable that it could be a lot cheaper:

Bullish analysts at Morningstar teamed with Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) to dig into what is known about Amazon to come up with some reasonable estimates of the numbers behind Prime. The results are startling.

Amazon started its fiscal 2012 with a little fewer than 7 million Prime members and ended with nearly 10 million, largely thanks to the free Prime promotion that comes with the purchase of the company’s bestselling Kindle Fire. That increase alone represents a huge coup for Amazon, an awesome display of locking in customer loyalty. As the report points out, those millions of people spending $79 each are all incurring a major “switching cost” — in other words, since they’ve shelled out so much to enjoy special privileges for shopping at Amazon, they’re less likely to shop elsewhere.
...
At the same time, CIRP’s market research found those Prime members annually spent more than twice as much on average ($1,224) than non-Prime customers ($505). Adding in the $79 membership fee, Prime members bring nearly $800 more in sales per customer to Amazon. After subtracting all the additional costs of doing business with Prime customers — mainly greater expenses for sales, shipping and video streaming — Morningstar analyst R.J. Hottovy found that Prime members accounted for $78 more in profit before interest and taxes per customer than non-Prime customers. That’s almost exactly the cost of a Prime membership.

To put that figure in context: Amazon’s average operating income last year per each of its 182 million total customers came to less than $10. In other words, every Prime member is about eight times as valuable to Amazon as a non-Prime member. Put yet another way: More than one-third of Amazon’s profits before interest and taxes came from fewer than four percent of the people who buy stuff on Amazon.
...
If Prime members are anywhere near as valuable a catch as the Morningstar report’s figures make them out to be, Amazon should be trying to make that price as low as possible. Or as CIRP’s Levin says: “They should be able to give Prime away for free.”

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 7:59 am

Umm, if one of your early points is that Prime members are more loyal because of the cost of signing up, then it really doesn't make a lot of sense to end it by saying "they should be lowering the cost as much as possible, free if possible."

I'm sure they could lower the price of Prime, but if they're making a bunch of money on it, why bother annoying the people who have paid the higher cost in the past year? Of course, since Amazon is super smart, what they'd probably do is offer an Amazon gift card for the difference in price to everyone who paid within, say, the last six months. That would probably take care of any ill-will for a fairly low total cost.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:17 am

Chaz wrote:Umm, if one of your early points is that Prime members are more loyal because of the cost of signing up, then it really doesn't make a lot of sense to end it by saying "they should be lowering the cost as much as possible, free if possible."

I'm sure they could lower the price of Prime, but if they're making a bunch of money on it, why bother annoying the people who have paid the higher cost in the past year? Of course, since Amazon is super smart, what they'd probably do is offer an Amazon gift card for the difference in price to everyone who paid within, say, the last six months. That would probably take care of any ill-will for a fairly low total cost.

Right and I'd even go further and say the whole analysis is flawed. Just because you give it away does not mean you end up with more loyal customers overall. These were loyal customers *to begin with*. They were willing to spend $79 a year to get better service from you. Just because they were given a free prime membership does not mean they will suddenly drop $800 a year on product. People who are in a position to spend that much money and/or were going to do it anyway will clearly see saving money on free 2-day shipping as a big perk along with the video services, etc.