Amazon Prime price increase to $139 soon.

[Muse]

Ten orders with Amazon and nine have been third party. They arrived on or before their due date. The one Amazon order was a next day item that arrive in 2-3 days.

I'm really not sure why they are increasing their prices right now....inflation hitting their operating cost?

They've been increasing the price around every 3 years. Last increase was in 2018.

 

[Leymenaide]

The plastic bags cut down on the number of boxes, which is good in my book. Unfortunately I don't think my recycling provider accepts Amazon bags so they just go in the trash.

Some people make a living from paper boxes. My wife runs a business that makes a very nice profit from the black sludge left over from box making. They spin it into gold. Paper boxes are easily recycled while 93% of plastic ends up in landfills. Her products are 100% American Made and ship around the world.

Order often
request boxes
complain about plastic use.

 

[Muse]

I'll probably stick with it. Items I get in plastic bags are fine in plastic bags. Amazon has done pretty well packing other things better as needed, or when orders are combine they toss them in a box with val pak. Anything busted (very rare) gets returned.

I've been getting a fair amount of stuff from Amazon in paper envelopes lately. It IS more eco-conscious. Plastic bags too, of course... and boxes.

 

[Meghan54]

I did that for years and years and one day 18 months ago accepted the 30 day free Prime trial and didn't cancel. It was during the pandemic when I wasn't going in the stores, so it made more sense to stick with it. Started ordering a shit ton of stuff off Amazon. That's faded to a relative trickle and figure I should consider cancelling what with the $20 price jump (17% I guess). It is kind of a drag always upping the total to the minimum $25 to get the free shipping. It's just a lot of juggling and clicking. I don't remember paying Amazon to ship me anything.
Unless I'm mistaken, if you get the automatic renewal (which is quite a bit cheaper than monthly) you have to call them to cancel Prime.

You are mistaken. It does not take a call to Amazon to cancel Prime....just go to your Prime Membership page on Amazon and along the top of the page, on the right, is a box that says Manage Membership, which includes canceling it.

 

[Brainonska511]

I get 5% cash back using the Amazon card, it's the default payment method. Is that dependent on my Prime membership? I'm kind of new to Prime, only been on it for ~18 months.

Yes. 5% back only when you have prime. If you don't have prime, it's 3% back.

 

[Brainonska511]

Always tempting to cancel it but the extra 3% back at Whole Foods pays for at least half of the prime fee over a year vs my usual 2% Fidelity card. I have also mostly been using Amazon lately for super cheap things I can’t find elsewhere … getting my cart to $25 for those orders would be a waste of money as would paying for shipping. Like it or not it’s still worth it due to the Chase 5% card. They have had a handful of decent shows too but the streaming service is generally one of the weakest.

If you shop at whole foods, it could be worth it: the extra cash back, the additional discounts you can get at WFs.

Since I just go to a non-Whole Foods store, I just use an AmEx Blue Cash Preferred for groceries, since it's 6% back, and only has a $95 fee. The cash I get back on the card exceeds the annual fee and the amount of cash back I'd lose for the no annual fee card.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

I've never had prime, most stuff I order comes within a few days. /shrug

 

[dainthomas]

I'm really not sure why they are increasing their prices right now....inflation hitting their operating cost?

Nearly all the price increases you see are due to corporations increasing their profits. I would bet anything this is the reason.

 

[Pohemi]

The plastic bags cut down on the number of boxes, which is good in my book. Unfortunately I don't think my recycling provider accepts Amazon bags so they just go in the trash.

...now if they ship a new printer in one we've got a problem!.

I received a $500 GPU in a thin plastic bag (not even bubble padding inside of it). I also received a new (retail) router valued at $300 in the same manner. This shit happens, despite it not happening to everyone who uses it.

The plastic bags were intended to save materials/boxes, but they've become FAR overused. People in the packing and shipping docks at the warehouses are told/shown by their automated systems what packaging and containers to use for which items, so this can't be laid just on the inept employees. It's how Amazon is telling them to prepare and ship these goods.

I've considered that they base that data on the dimensions and weight of items...not their fragility, value, etc.

I'm really not sure why they are increasing their prices right now....inflation hitting their operating cost?

It's hitting their record profits they JUST posted.

disclaimer: despite all my frustration and anger with Amazon over some of these issues...I haven't ditched them completely yet. I'm getting closer, but I'm in the boat with @BoomerD ...limited mobility and/or options for local stores.

 

[repoman0]

If you shop at whole foods, it could be worth it: the extra cash back, the additional discounts you can get at WFs.

Since I just go to a non-Whole Foods store, I just use an AmEx Blue Cash Preferred for groceries, since it's 6% back, and only has a $95 fee. The cash I get back on the card exceeds the annual fee and the amount of cash back I'd lose for the no annual fee card.

I’m a Wegmans man myself but the Whole Foods is walkable for me and I have to admit that the produce, meat and local coffee are all excellent. Wegmans is no slouch for quality either but Whole Foods takes it. You pay for it for sure.

 

[Brainonska511]

I’m a Wegmans man myself but the Whole Foods is walkable for me and I have to admit that the produce, meat and local coffee are all excellent. Wegmans is no slouch for quality either but Whole Foods takes it. You pay for it for sure.

I like Wegmans, but not enough to drive to the closest one in Medford. I tend to just hit the local Shaw's: 5 minutes away and not that expensive if you use the online coupons and only buy the sale items; and their selection isn't too shabby either.

 

[repoman0]

I like Wegmans, but not enough to drive to the closest one in Medford. I tend to just hit the local Shaw's: 5 minutes away and not that expensive if you use the online coupons and only buy the sale items; and their selection isn't too shabby either.

That’s my Wegman’s, neighbor

 

[Pohemi]

...but Whole Foods takes it. You pay for it for sure.

Hell Whole. Whole Paycheck. Whole Reamer.

These were a few of the nicknames that employees used in the location I worked in @ 19yo. The employees shopped there for some items, but only due to employee discounts etc...they didn't pay us enough to actually shop there.

They did have nice produce, meat, and seafood though, for sure.

 

[lxskllr]

Wegmans is fantastic. Have any of you in the home range noticed a reduction in "specialty" products? Around here, a lot of the interesting stuff I used to buy is gone, and there's more "national brand" crap on the shelves. Dunno if it's my location, supply chain, or what. Seems to have started before covid going on memory.

 

[Pohemi]

Wegmans is fantastic. Have any of you in the home range noticed a reduction in "specialty" products? Around here, a lot of the interesting stuff I used to buy is gone, and there's more "national brand" crap on the shelves. Dunno if it's my location, supply chain, or what. Seems to have started before covid going on memory.

I've noticed it here as well, in relative BFE and in both regional chain and national chain stores (like Kroger stores, etc.) Companies trying to push more of their own branded items, higher margins for them obviously.

 

[repoman0]

Hell Whole. Whole Paycheck. Whole Reamer.

These were a few of the nicknames that employees used in the location I worked in @ 19yo. The employees shopped there for some items, but only due to employee discounts etc...they didn't pay us enough to actually shop there.

They did have nice produce, meat, and seafood though, for sure.

It is unfortunate that a company like Amazon won’t pay its own employees enough to buy the stuff they are selling. Seems to be changing luckily though certainly not voluntarily through the kindness of their hearts.

I worked at a grocery store as well age 15-17 (Giant) and it sucked. It’s loud, chaotic and exhausting .. certainly felt like I worked harder then than I do now.

 

[Pohemi]

It is unfortunate that a company like Amazon won’t pay its own employees enough to buy the stuff they are selling. Seems to be changing luckily though certainly not voluntarily through the kindness of their hearts.

FWIW, this was long before Amazon bought them up. I'm sure it's not a lot different now, but at least there's been more public support for higher wages in the past 2 decades. Nobody was arguing for that in 1997 when Federal min wage was still $4.90/hr, lol.

 

[ultimatebob]

If I got Prime, I would lose the excuse I have to buy random packages of Japanese gum. You gotta get that order to $25 to qualify for free shipping!

 

[BoomerD]

Nearly all the price increases you see are due to corporations increasing their profits. I would bet anything this is the reason.

Those Blue Origin rockets aren't gonna pay for themselves...

 

[nakedfrog]

And there's the giant yacht that they're having to dismantle a bridge to get out to sea...

 

[ultimatebob]

And there's the giant yacht that they're having to dismantle a bridge to get out to sea...

They also paid something like 200 million dollars for the IP rights for the Lord Of The Rings novels. Not sure what they're up to there, but it's obviously going to be expensive.

 

[Pohemi]

They also paid something like 200 million dollars for the IP rights for the Lord Of The Rings novels. Not sure what they're up to there, but it's obviously going to be expensive.

$1b budget for the series is what I read. Putting GoT to shame for production value, heh.

 

[nakedfrog]

$1b budget for the series is what I read. Putting GoT to shame for production value, heh.

Yeah, I'm curious to see how the series will turn out. Wheel of Time is decent enough, IMO.

 

[SKORPI0]

I've been paying $5.99/month for Amazon Prime using my older sister's EBT/Link card. Just didn't want to pay the monthly $12.99 or the yearly fee.
Not sure how much more I'll end up paying. So far I've enjoyed and like the benefits - same day/next day shipping , plus the movies they stream.

 

[MrSquished]

Yeah, I'm curious to see how the series will turn out. Wheel of Time is decent enough, IMO.

I thought wheel of Time was ok. Enough to want to see more. I'll resubscribe when the second season of that comes out and also when I can binge LOTR.