Amazon Prime worth it?

I hear you Keith but it did go up quite a bit in the last few years. Above $300 is still impressive.

 

Amazon was on quite a roll. It seems that their zeal has gotten the better of them of late.

 

Very true!

 

I just bought a nexus 10 tablet from a third party seller on Amazon, it arrives with a massive usb block that conects to an English plug then to a usa plug.

the seller is from iL, i sent it back as that's all they had in stock, waiting on a refund I'm out the shipping cost i would think. bogus.

 

(Sorry for the off-topic, everyone!!)

I do think that Amazon and Starbucks are very similar in the creative/innovative/effective ways that they create incentives to encourage and reward customer loyalty. Starbucks doesn't quite have anything like Amazon Prime, but I think they're both doing really smart things in this area. Coincidence that they're both Seattle-based companies?

Craig.

 

Yes, I don't think your Amazon Prime subscription covers shipping for third party Marketplace sellers.

Craig.

 

The Star Dash has been a good idea from Starbucks' perspective. They keep making it more and more challenging, which means you need to get more and more stars in the short period of time to "win". My wife and I both have gold cards, and one of us usually gets selected to participate in the Star Dash. I got selected in the one over the holidays and got my 30 bonus stars. That was easy since I bought both of our drinks and/or food. We both got selected for the current one, and I decided to sit it out. She'll probably quality for the 40 bonus stars.

Seattle has a good thing going right now. Amazon, Starbucks, and the Seahawks. Not bad.

 

Someone may start a new thread, but I just read that Amazon has raised Prime to $99.

 

Yep, got the email too. Going up NEXT YEAR, 2015.

 

I received an email from Amazon a few hours ago that begins with the following paragraph:

Renewal dates may vary, but sounds like we're all getting the same sort of email.

Craig.

 

Yep, and we knew it was coming months ago.

 

I'll likely drop Prime when my 2015 renewal comes up, then. I almost never utilize the free videos. I don't own a kindle. And most of my orders are over $35 anyway, so I'll still get free shipping -- just slower shipping.

I guess the other thing that's bugged me about Prime since Amazon started collecting sales tax is that Amazon collects tax on the Prime membership. Given that all I'm using it for is the free 2-day shipping, Amazon is, in effect, collecting sales tax on shipping charges. I don't have to pay sales tax when I ship stuff via UPS, USPS, FedEx, or any other carrier so I don't know why I have to pay sales tax on my Prime annual membership. Maybe Amazon will wise up and split Prime into Prime-shipping only and Prime+streaming/kindle and then only collect sales tax on the latter memberships.

 

Yeah, Im using my Prime less and less after I got hit with taxes. I will probably cancel too by 2015. I cant justify paying 25% extra for the same service.

 

This is interesting...while my e mail said 2015, my account information says 2014 !?!?!? I think my account info. is likely the one to believe.

 

I think you will renew this year at $79 and next year at $99

 

No, my account says August 2014.

" On August 10, 2014, you will be charged $99 for another year of Prime. "

 

I renewed in January, so either way, I'm good until 2015. I'll probably stick with the service. I kind of wonder if the price bump has anything to do with their new exclusive Prime shows.

 

I'll renew it. Yes, it sucks that they're raising the prices, but I would probably end up spending more than that on shipping in just the first few months, not to mention all the orders I would throw something extra into just so I could meet the Super Saver shipping.

 

Haven't been hit with taxes here yet, but it will be coming everywhere. We're not buying as much stuff either so it will be adios next January 18 for us too.

 

I checked and this is what mine says:

I searched Amazon and found a FAQ page that clearly explains identifies the cutoff/transition date:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200966690

Craig.

 

$1.67/month more with the price increase.

IMHO, if that's not a trivial price increase, relative to the benefit you're getting from Prime, then you probably shouldn't be paying for Prime in the first place.

I never enjoy price increases, but as they go, this one isn't that annoying...

 

This poll (which was of a very limited number of Prime users, so I take the results with a grain of salt), more than half of the Prime subscribers who will be faced with $99.99 renewals after April 17th will soon be canceling their Prime subscriptions.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57620297-93/amazon-prime-at-$99-poll-says-its-a-turnoff-for-many/

I don't believe that will really happen.

I suspect they'll lose up to 20% of their Prime subscribers, but if that happens they'll still gain 5% more Prime subscription income than they did a year ago, and they'll have 20% fewer customers getting free 2-day shipping, so they'll still come out way ahead. And if they naturally grow with more Prime subscribers at $99.99 over time, as those who canceled reconsider, etc., they'll continue to make more money than they would have if they had kept the service at $79.99.

How long have they kept the price at $79.99? Nine years (since 2005)? If so, considering how much USPS and other delivery service rates have increased during that time, they're well overdue for a price increase, in my opinion.

Craig.

 

It's less about the price increase and more about the declining utility of having Prime service. I really don't understand Prime customers that have no use for the included streaming video. For those people it's a much less attractive service these days.

 

Much obliged. I knew if I took a nap, this whole thing would get worked out.

 

Well, I use it a lot but though the price increase isn't that much, its just enough that I just went over and told them not to renew it. Mine expires in June 2014 and it was going to charge me $99 for another year. I think they are going to lose more subscribers than they think. I read on another post many people conveying my sentiments...it was a mistake for them to combine streaming services with shipping. Many people are saying they don't care about that or the lending library. They need to stick to the basics....2 day shipping has nothing to so with streaming services, and I think most of us were already getting that through other means. Many companies make this mistake over and over again....great core business and then they are never happy with that...they expand into other things and arrogantly assume their customers will accept the ballooning up of services, along with the fees, and then five years later they are scratching their heads wondering what went wrong. A lot of people on the other forum are also complaining that now with paying sales tax, plus Prime increase, they are going back to brick and mortar purchases because the price advantage is gone. Very dumb play on Amazons part. If I were them, I would have waited until people got used to paying sales tax first, keeping Prime reasonable as an added value for now, and then perhaps raising it later. For me, I like the convenience, I will continue to use their service and will just pay extra for the two day shipping if I am in a hurry for something. $79 I didnt have to think about...$99 is just enough many people will think about it and I think most of them will cancel.