Yet another "I Love Amazon Prime" thread....

[slayer202]

A college student would generally be considered to be a member of their parents' household, though they would have a different address for most of the year. Also, people often want to order stuff and have it delivered to a different address. Instead of restricting their customers, Amazon made the Prime policies customer-friendly. Like any customer-friendly policy, people abuse it. Because it's possible to abuse the policy, people assume it's permissible and ethical. The result is usually that companies change their policies to be more restrictive and less customer-friendly.

damn, amazon really is the best. I really would feel bad taking advantage of that, I can't see how they can afford offering prime at all

 

[mugs]

damn, amazon really is the best. I really would feel bad taking advantage of that, I can't see how they can afford offering prime at all

I'm guessing they have a deal with each of the shipping companies that allows them to break even regardless of how much you buy.

 

[Aikouka]

I'm guessing they have a deal with each of the shipping companies that allows them to break even regardless of how much you buy.

Or people get it and simply don't order expensive items (shipping-wise) or don't buy nearly enough to cover the $80/year cost. Sometimes you figure you'll make up the cost easily, but who knows what you'll buy or how the year will even pan out for you.

 

[mugs]

Or people get it and simply don't order expensive items (shipping-wise) or don't buy nearly enough to cover the $80/year cost. Sometimes you figure you'll make up the cost easily, but who knows what you'll buy or how the year will even pan out for you.

Maybe. Or maybe they figure they'll cover the shipping cost if you buy more stuff. Prior to Prime I had about a dozen orders per year from Amzon. Last year I had about 90 orders totaling probably over $3k.

 

[boomhower]

I love Prime, well worth the money. The only shopping I have close by is Walmart so it saves me quite a bit of time and gas.

 

[nageov3t]

Maybe. Or maybe they figure they'll cover the shipping cost if you buy more stuff. Prior to Prime I had about a dozen orders per year from Amzon. Last year I had about 90 orders totaling probably over $3k.

it's definitely something that factors into my buying decision and nearly always gives amazon an edge over someplace like Newegg (though I think NE's support is tons better)

 

[jlee]

oh..didnt know that.

i was like who the hell is willing to pay that much $ to ship stuff under $25 when u can just add filler to get free ship

Because $15 in filler for a $10 item will add up after a while - and two days is a lot better than two weeks.

 

[Meghan54]

I've got a 10# package being delivered today.....overnight AND Saturday delivery for $3.99. Can't beat that at all.

Yes, I've been using my Prime acct. at Amazon a lot lately. It's just too easy and convenient.

 

[Hacp]

Whats the big fuss? I just wait until my wishlist is 25 bucks, then get free super saver shipping. I spend like 200 bucks max a year at amazon. Not worth 80 bucks or 15 bucks if you abuse the policy. I can wait 5 days, I am patient.

 

[lokiju]

So I can't get a refrigerator shipped free?

I've got an elliptical and 46" LCD delivered for free but it was a freight service.

And even at that they don't ship from their main hubs, it comes from local hubs that have freight items and got to me in two days anyway.

I signed up for a 30 day free trial of Prime and forgot that the 30 days was up and it charged my card the $80 for the full year and I have to say I'm not disappointed that it happened like that.

I use it all the time.

I'll be at a store and use my Amazon app to scan the bar-code of something I'm looking at buying just to see if it's cheaper on Amazon and it pretty much always is and there's not tax so I'll just hit the oh so convenient "one click ship" and get that same item two days later for usually a large discount of what it was in a B&M store.

Really the only things I buy at stores now are food items and stuff from Costco.

 

[Meghan54]

Whats the big fuss? I just wait until my wishlist is 25 bucks, then get free super saver shipping. I spend like 200 bucks max a year at amazon. Not worth 80 bucks or 15 bucks if you abuse the policy. I can wait 5 days, I am patient.

Well, I too used the super saver before I got Prime and I definitely noticed that the packages arrive now in much better condition.

It's the old.....priority overnight? Front of the plane, if you please.

Super saver ground? See if you can cram it in on that truck over there, Bubba. Here's a broom stick to help ya.

Then, two day is free. So, no "It may ship from Amazon in 2-4 days, then travel around 5 days to you."

Instead, it's it ships that day, typically within an hour or two of ordering, and it gets here with a guarantee of delivery time.....something Super Saver does NOT have.

And lokiju, that's a lot like how we shop now. Find an item...check Amazon. Order from Amazon. Doesn't matter how expensive or cheap. No waiting for my cart to add up to $25. Just click and it's here in two days, max.

 

[Terzo]

Prime is certainly tempting, but it's a matter of wants vs needs. I have yet to order something from Amazon and need it delivered within two days. I want that, but I can wait for the week or two for my items to be delivered. It may be frustrating at times, but for the price I can live with it.

What it would be nice for is the ability to order items under $25 and still receive free shipping. When I buy from Amazon I'll usually spend 25+ (either through computer items or multiple books) and receive the FSSS. However, there have been a few times when I've only seen one item I wanted that costs less than $25. If I had prime I would've ordered, but I figure I can wait and eventually I'll want something else with it and can get the items with FSSS.

One question I have with prime, it doesn't apply to the Amazon market place does it? I've bought a decent amount of used stuff through market place sellers and it would be nice to get free shipping on them. A $2 CD is great but it is annoying to spend more than that on the shipping, even if a total of $5 is still a great price.

 

[mfenn]

damn, amazon really is the best. I really would feel bad taking advantage of that, I can't see how they can afford offering prime at all

Easy, the amount needed for them to break even on shipping is already built into the price of the product.

 

[Meghan54]

Part of how Amazon affords it is the contracts they've negotiated with UPS and FedEx. Their shipping rates are vastly lower than what you see on the respective shipper's web sites for consumers.

That's due to Amazon guaranteeing a certain amount of shipping per month/quarter/etc.

My wife's company, for example, has shipping contracts with various shippers, incl. UPS and FedEx. Employees are able to ship personal items via the contract....a nice benefit. We sold a quite nice Orange Peeler Stingray bicycle and shipped it to Texas last year from here in GA via her work.

The box it was in was definitely what would be categorized as oversized and it weighed in at 50#. Our cost was under $35 and no box size penalty or concern.

Amazon, on the other hand, gets even better rates due to their volume.

And, as mentioned, shipping is factored in. Add to that the price of Prime, at $79, and I don't think Amazon loses anything. You have to consider that even most that sign up for Prime probably don't utilize it to their benefit, so Amazon profits.

Really, to get a true cost/benefit from subscribing to Prime, you have to buy quite a bit from Amazon.....and that's what we've done since we got Prime. Why let it go to waste?

 

[shortylickens]

Part of how Amazon affords it is the contracts they've negotiated with UPS and FedEx. Their shipping rates are vastly lower than what you see on the respective shipper's web sites for consumers.

That's due to Amazon guaranteeing a certain amount of shipping per month/quarter/etc.

My wife's company, for example, has shipping contracts with various shippers, incl. UPS and FedEx. Employees are able to ship personal items via the contract....a nice benefit. We sold a quite nice Orange Peeler Stingray bicycle and shipped it to Texas last year from here in GA via her work.

The box it was in was definitely what would be categorized as oversized and it weighed in at 50#. Our cost was under $35 and no box size penalty or concern.

Amazon, on the other hand, gets even better rates due to their volume.

And, as mentioned, shipping is factored in. Add to that the price of Prime, at $79, and I don't think Amazon loses anything. You have to consider that even most that sign up for Prime probably don't utilize it to their benefit, so Amazon profits.

Really, to get a true cost/benefit from subscribing to Prime, you have to buy quite a bit from Amazon.....and that's what we've done since we got Prime. Why let it go to waste?

I have.
Had plenty of large heavy items sent that so far would have cost me hundreds of dollars in shipping. If you purchase a lot of big things it pays for itself the first time.
Also, free 2nd day shipping on tiny items is a good deal. More often than not, shipping something in a small box with next day or 2nd day rates is usually a rip off. The post office is normally a much better deal. But with prime its free or dirt cheap.

 

[fatpat268]

Prime is certainly tempting, but it's a matter of wants vs needs. I have yet to order something from Amazon and need it delivered within two days. I want that, but I can wait for the week or two for my items to be delivered. It may be frustrating at times, but for the price I can live with it.

What it would be nice for is the ability to order items under $25 and still receive free shipping. When I buy from Amazon I'll usually spend 25+ (either through computer items or multiple books) and receive the FSSS. However, there have been a few times when I've only seen one item I wanted that costs less than $25. If I had prime I would've ordered, but I figure I can wait and eventually I'll want something else with it and can get the items with FSSS.

One question I have with prime, it doesn't apply to the Amazon market place does it? I've bought a decent amount of used stuff through market place sellers and it would be nice to get free shipping on them. A $2 CD is great but it is annoying to spend more than that on the shipping, even if a total of $5 is still a great price.

Well buying almost everything except for food (which you can buy at amazon), shelter, transportation, and utilities are about wants. I find prime to be a huge convenience, and it's absolutely great to order something and have it two days later. I used to order a decent amount of computer parts on Newegg, but I've pretty much shifted all my orders to amazon. Why? Prices are usually pretty similar, and I'll get the stuff much quicker.

Do I need stuff quicker? No, but I absolutely hate waiting over the weekend for stuff that you paid for.

Also, to answer your question, some sellers on the marketplace have a deal with amazon to ship via prime. Very few do this, but they are out there.

 

[nickbits]

I thought I was satisfied with super saver shipping, then I tried prime. I will never go back.

 

[nageov3t]

sometimes it's a matter of really quick versus super quick.

I'll just about always price check an itunes album versus an amazon album... with free shipping, if the amazon cd is equal to or cheaper than the itunes download, in 99% of cases I'll get it on amazon to have the physical disk. I probably wouldn't in many cases, though, if it were a matter of waiting a week+ and/or waiting until I had enough in my cart to qualify for free shipping.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Most of the time recently I find amazon has better prices then you add prime shipping it's not even close. It's nice knowing whatever you buy will be there in 2 days. If I'm buying hundreds of dollars in stuff I like to ship prime 2 day and have it at my house on a day I know I'll be there. Worth every penny of the $79.


And Fuck you scamming ass bitches using your buddies prime account. It's assholes like you who are gonna ruin it for everyone.

 

[nageov3t]

Most of the time recently I find amazon has better prices then you add prime shipping it's not even close. It's nice knowing whatever you buy will be there in 2 days. If I'm buying hundreds of dollars in stuff I like to ship prime 2 day and have it at my house on a day I know I'll be there. Worth every penny of the $79.


And Fuck you scamming ass bitches using your buddies prime account. It's assholes like you who are gonna ruin it for everyone.

it surprises me that there's nothing setup to automatically limit prime accounts to only ship to 1 address.... or require the same billing address for every account under the prime account or something.

 

[shortylickens]

Most of the time recently I find amazon has better prices then you add prime shipping it's not even close. It's nice knowing whatever you buy will be there in 2 days. If I'm buying hundreds of dollars in stuff I like to ship prime 2 day and have it at my house on a day I know I'll be there. Worth every penny of the $79.


And Fuck you scamming ass bitches using your buddies prime account. It's assholes like you who are gonna ruin it for everyone.

If it wasnt profitable for Amazon, they wouldnt have it. The fact its been going on for years means they arent losing money.

 

[sjwaste]

it surprises me that there's nothing setup to automatically limit prime accounts to only ship to 1 address.... or require the same billing address for every account under the prime account or something.

It's because Amazon wants you to be able to use your Prime account to drop ship gifts and the like. Part of why people get it is for Christmas shopping, birthday gifts, etc. You need to be able to 3rd party ship.

Now, the same billing address - that would work, unless you want your kids at college to be able to use it.

Basically, Amazon is very, very customer-friendly. If you've ever called them, you'd know just how far they're willing to go to make a customer happy. It opens itself up to abuse, and that does suck. It's just going to result in higher prices for everyone.

Having said that, it's not like Prime is excessively cheap. There is definitely a correlation between prime membership and an increase in orders/revenue per customer or they just wouldn't offer it. So they're probably willing to put up with the small percentage of people that game it because it's making them money.

I'll put it to you this way - I've been to Costco once this year. If anything gets cut next year, it's the $45 Costco membership, not the $80 Prime.

 

[Riverhound777]

Most of the time recently I find amazon has better prices then you add prime shipping it's not even close. It's nice knowing whatever you buy will be there in 2 days. If I'm buying hundreds of dollars in stuff I like to ship prime 2 day and have it at my house on a day I know I'll be there. Worth every penny of the $79.


And Fuck you scamming ass bitches using your buddies prime account. It's assholes like you who are gonna ruin it for everyone.

I think you are looking at it the wrong way. It's a lot like illegally downloading video games, most of those people would not be buying the game if they couldn't get it free, but they might buy it later or another game because they liked it. As for amazon prime, I pay for it and split the cost with my brother and sister, who live in different houses. I think it's worth it to amazon because they wouldn't be buying it otherwise, but since they have it, they are much more likely to buy things from amazon.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

If it wasnt profitable for Amazon, they wouldnt have it. The fact its been going on for years means they arent losing money.

They price matched themselves up to months after your original purchase for years before canceling that policy.