Amazon Prime - is it worth it?

[Emba]

I have held out four years against paying for Amazon Prime, but I kind of think I want it now. Mostly for the convenience of quicker shipping, but we don’t have cable or dish tv, no Netflix, etc, so I’d probably use the movie part of it too.  I live in a rural area by a small city, so there are quite a few things I get off of Amazon or the internet in general that cant find locally, without a two hour trip to a bigger city.

curious about what other people’s’ experiences and thoughts, though.

 

[catz]

Honestly, we've been overly dependent during covid.

I just got done watching The Durrells in Corfu. 🥰  

Even with the slower shipping, it has definitely been worth it for us for that piece alone. 

[Not_a_Number]

We've had Prime for ages. We love it. Especially during the pandemic. 

[alisoncooks]

It's saved my bacon a few times. I rely on it these days. 

And right this moment, I'm watching Dr. Quinn on Prime, lol. 

[PeterPan]

Well I'm not one to talk, because I live near a warehouse and get things next day often. I'm not sure how your shipping would realistically be rurally. 

Yes, we use the prime movies, tv, etc., but I also use prime music a lot. So it's accumulated value. Also sometimes they run deals like $1 credits for taking slower shipping, which can add up.

Do you have to be a prime member to do subscribe and save? I buy recurring things that way, very handy.

[marbel]

Prime has become a utility for us. I'd actually like to start moving away from dependence on Amazon, but we do use it a lot for shipping and movies; I find the "standard" (not premium) music to be sufficient for my needs; one of my kids signed up for prime reading for a while and enjoyed the selection of books. For buying small electronics it can't be beat. 

 

[Pawz4me]

I never thought I wanted or needed Prime, but when oldest DS (now 25) was in college he signed up for a student Prime account, but somehow he did it using my account. So we had it for half price for a few years and I got hooked on it. Now I wouldn't want to be with out it. We don't use it for streaming very much--I'm not much of a TV watcher and DH and the boys prefer Netflix. But I do love being able to buy something, not have to even think about shipping cost, and know it's going to be here in around two days. Some of our deliveries do take longer than that, but the vast majority are here the next day.

[Bootsie]

It is worth it for our family.  I was slower to use it than DH was.  But, I have come to enjoy the convenience when a lightbulb goes out and I can go to the computer, while I am holding the bulb in my hand, and make sure that I order the correct replacement.  It is so much easier than writing it on a list, getting to the store and then trying to remember if it was a 40 W or a 60 W bulb.  For some items it is easier to get details, so as the weight of the item, the length of the item, or how many pieces there are than when I am looking at the store.  And I am finding it is much easier to order some items than hunt them down in a store--I have been to two grocery stores recently that do not carry wheat germ;  I stopped in Target yesterday (which I had not been into in a long time) because I need an odd assortment of items including file folder labels, black trouser socks, and wheat germ--none of which Target had.

We also use it quite a bit to send Christmas gifts and birthday gifts.  

[mmasc]

I love it, even when it’s not super fast. It’s easy, fast (usually), convenient, returns are simple, and 99% of tv shows/movies I watch are through Prime. I don’t think I can ever go back to not having it. 😬
 

eta: I forgot about shipping stuff to other people for free! LOVE that feature! I ship birthday presents, as well as stuff for grandmothers and my mom. Any random thing they need or can’t find locally,  I just look on Amazon and ship it directly to them. So easy!

Edited September 20, 2021 by mmasc

[Kassia]

44 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

I never thought I wanted or needed Prime, but when oldest DS (now 25) was in college he signed up for a student Prime account, but somehow he did it using my account. So we had it for half price for a few years and I got hooked on it. Now I wouldn't want to be with out it. We don't use it for streaming very much--I'm not much of a TV watcher and DH and the boys prefer Netflix. But I do love being able to buy something, not have to even think about shipping cost, and know it's going to be here in around two days. Some of our deliveries do take longer than that, but the vast majority are here the next day.

Same for us.  DH is very frugal and even he wants to keep Amazon Prime (dd is on her free student trial now and also used my account).  We don't use it for music, movies, books, etc. but we really like the no-minimum shipping for when we order for ourselves or for dd.  

[Kassia]

1 minute ago, mmasc said:

returns are simple,

That is one thing we have to be careful with - nowhere to do free returns in our area.

[mmasc]

1 minute ago, Kassia said:

That is one thing we have to be careful with - nowhere to do free returns in our area.

I’m VERY careful when purchasing clothes to only choose the ones marked as ‘Free Returns’. Most things I buy seem to have that feature, which I appreciate. 

[Corraleno]

I've had Prime since it first launched in 2007, and I just think of it as another utility, like wifi or electric or trash pick up. It works out to $10/month and I probably save that much just with the discount at Whole Foods, let alone what I save on shipping. 

[kbutton]

1 hour ago, mmasc said:

eta: I forgot about shipping stuff to other people for free! LOVE that feature! I ship birthday presents, as well as stuff for grandmothers and my mom. Any random thing they need or can’t find locally,  I just look on Amazon and ship it directly to them. So easy!

Yes, this is a big perk. We have zero family in town. Even if we're going to see them in person for Christmas, it's nice to have things shipped directly to wherever we're celebrating vs. having to worry about packing it all into the car. We have to get kind of creative about labeling though to be sure the right people open the package and not the intended recipient, lol! Sometimes labels say something like, "Name, other name don't open" or "Name's Gift" so that it can be set aside for the holiday. 

[gardenmom5]

I've had amazon for years.  I upgraded to an amazon cc - 5% back on amazon purchases. . . .  (i do smile.amazon - you can donate a fraction of a percent of your purchases to your favorite charity.  Mine goes to Khan Academy.)

I buy a lot.

a lot are fakes made in china - or "just" made in china without implying otherwise.

I've gotten great deals

I've had things I bought regularly, become unavailable

I recently had a couple items I ordered from walmart because they cost half as much.

returns are easy - you can take it to kohl's, whole foods, amazon counter - or ship it.  (not my favorite . . . . )

I mostly watch documentaries on amazon prime.

videos rotate so always new content, and things leaving.

eta: I originally signed up for a trail because I HATE shipping!    and I needed to ship gifts.   I've ordered stuff to come to my dd's house when I'm there at no extra charge.)

other family members can be on the account  (I don't see what 2ds or dh buy) - only the primary member can control the video.

Edited September 20, 2021 by gardenmom5

[bolt.]

Nowhere near worth it for me. There's not much I order that I can't wait for a week to receive. If I was ever in a big hurry, I could just pay for faster shipping on one or two things per year -- which would be much less. Paying monthly for fast shipping on 'everything' whether I order anything or not seems like nonsense to me.

[HS Mom in NC]

Soooo worth it.  I shop locally first and if they don't have it, I order from Amazon. Apparently most of the things we shop for, other than most regular groceries and household supplies, local businesses aren't interested in stocking.  We've been shopping with Amazon since they were a book store.

[rebcoola]

Totally worth it. Besides the free shipping. We use the TV and take advantage of the many free trials of premium channels to binge things.  We use the unlimited photo storage and prime reading.

[R828]

1 hour ago, bolt. said:

Nowhere near worth it for me. There's not much I order that I can't wait for a week to receive. If I was ever in a big hurry, I could just pay for faster shipping on one or two things per year -- which would be much less. Paying monthly for fast shipping on 'everything' whether I order anything or not seems like nonsense to me.

Same here! I'm pretty surprised how much of a minority we are on this! I see the value in Prime video and music but since we have netflix and spotify, we've never bothered to get prime and I've honestly never missed it. Most things I order from amazon are over $25 anyway and maybe I live close to a warehouse but even without prime, items arrive in 2 to 3 days. 

[dsmith]

I can't imagine not having Prime nowadays. We use Prime Video a lot, the music service not so much. Subscribe and Save has been awesome, but you have to watch out for sudden price increases. One tea I used to buy suddenly increased by $15 but luckily I caught it before it shipped. We have enough items on S & S that we get the 15% discount on most items. It's been useful for various items I need quickly for our business, and for health care items for my mil. Two weeks ago I was able to order all the things I needed to have in the house for her knee surgery in under 15 minutes. I would have had to stop at 4 different stores if I had gone out shopping. Physically that's a little difficult for me to manage lately. I also appreciate the free delivery from Whole Foods. I place an order in the morning and usually have it within 6 hours. During the height of the pandemic last year we were unable to have WF deliveries for a few months, and I really missed the convenience of it. An Amazon Fresh store is opening up early next year near us, so that will be another free delivery option. In some areas they have started charging for deliveries - hopefully that won't happen here. Another plus - I joined Amazon Preview and occasionally get paid in Amazon gift cards to watch upcoming movies and shows. It's not as frequent as it used to be, but one year I almost made back the cost of prime.

[Corraleno]

4 hours ago, gardenmom5 said:

 I upgraded to an amazon cc - 5% back on amazon purchases. . . .  (i do smile.amazon - you can donate a fraction of a percent of your purchases to your favorite charity.  Mine goes to Khan Academy.)

I have the credit card too, it's great to get an extra 5% off in addition to all the special Prime deals and discounts at Whole Foods, as well as getting 5% off everything I buy from Amazon (which is a LOT). My Amazon Smile donations go to a local animal rescue.

[bookbard]

I avoid Amazon for ethical reasons. That means using a Kobo instead of a Kindle and sourcing other things I need as locally as possible. It's something to consider. 

[Carrie12345]

I always want to reduce my dependency on Amazon... but it makes so much sense where we are! I could drive 50 minutes and spend a whole day hitting all the stores in one trip, but I find that hard to justify, and I think I’d end up buying more things “just in case” or “just because.”  And, with my family scattered around, drop shipping gifts makes life so much easier.

I still feel icky about it.

[historically accurate]

I don't like paying for anything, but they will pry my Amazon Prime from my cold dead hands. DH was a college student for several years, and we took the Amazon Student amount, but I will now pay full price. I ship a lot to my mom in Florida so she doesn't have to shop around during Covid, Subscribe & Save a ton of stuff - one of my DD's is prescribed a basketfull of supplements to use every morning and Amazon has the best prices on most of those, use Amazon Prime (we do 1 other streaming on a rotating basis - currently Discovery+), DH uses Amazon music extensively, and DD uses the photo storage. 

[HomeAgain]

We don't buy a whole lot, but I am glad I have Amazon Prime video.  There are several documentary type shows we watch on there.  Also glad for the music.

On the store side, it's fine.  I do a subscribe-and-save for our laundry detergent because I can't find it in stores.  I don't have a close box store or office supply store so I get the toner for my printer through them.  We try to patronize local establishments, but sometimes there just isn't one without an hour drive.

[teachermom2834]

I am totally hooked. We’ve had it for many years. I have gotten less and less interested in shipping in person (this started pre pandemic). Every place is so crowded it seems and I just don’t enjoy browsing or searching for things. I have found it is really hard to check out of any local grocery store with a full cart of items. It just takes forever and the lines are so long. 
 

I am moving as many things to subscribe and save as possible. It just makes grocery shopping easier and faster to have most non perishables arriving at my door and not part of the grocery outing. When I need something I like to just order it while I am thinking about it. 

We use some of the other features (like streaming) but that isn’t the real addiction. The real addiction is realizing I forgot to buy gum at the grocery store and ordering it and having it show up at my house two days later. 

 

[J-rap]

I have very mixed feelings.  We used to live in a very rural area with few stores and Amazon was great.  Well, it's still very handy and I still use them, but I'm feeling less comfortable about using them for ethical reasons.  I've been trying to use them less, and support local.   I don't think I save money on household items by using Amazon Prime.  Shipping might be free, but their prices seem to be higher to make up for the difference.  Books are cheaper, but I feel sad that they've taken away most of the business from local book stores.  It kind of feels like they're taking over the world sometimes!  I find that I don't often find free streaming shows that I like, so almost always end up paying a few dollars for a show.  Plus, all that packaging...

I know Amazon is very convenient and helpful for a lot of people, and this type of shopping is just the way of the world now.  I'm not sure what the answer is, but hopefully we'll get better at doing it well.

[Lady Florida.]

We've had Prime since 2008 - shortly after it began. At the time, a homeschool dad was singing its praises to everyone in our hs group. Like everyone else back then we got it for the shipping. Over the years we've enjoyed the other perks they kept adding, especially Prime Video and Prime Music (sometimes Prime Reading for me), but it's still all about the shipping for us. We order a lot. When the recent price increase was announced I did some quick math and determined it's still less than I'd spend on shipping.

A few years back there was a dust up over the fact that Prime members were being charged more for some items, so now Prime items have a disclaimer telling you that you can get the item cheaper elsewhere on Amazon (along with links to those sellers). When I look at those "cheaper" prices I find that the shipping on them either evens out or is so small as to not be worth it. I rarely buy anything that isn't Prime eligible. Other than pandemic shortages that can't be blamed on Amazon, we haven't had a problem with shipping times.

I love being able to ship to other people. Most of our family members are local but even so there are times when it's a gift occasion or I just want to give the person a little surprise but won't have a chance to go visit, so I send it from Amazon.

I periodically change where my Amazon Smile donations go but for the last few years I've had it set to the Down Syndrome Association of Central Florida - the organization dss and ddil joined after our granddaughter was born.

Do they still do free membership trials? If so @Emba do a trial membership. If not pay for one, two, or even three months and see how much you use it. I don't know that one month will give you a good baseline but by two or three months you should know. It's more cost effective to pay annually but if you aren't sure about the cost benefit, it's worth spending a few extra dollars on a monthly membership at first to try it out. If it turns out to be a good fit, buy the annual if you can pay that. If not just cancel. 

Edited September 20, 2021 by Lady Florida.

[Emba]

12 hours ago, R828 said:

 Most things I order from amazon are over $25 anyway and maybe I live close to a warehouse but even without prime, items arrive in 2 to 3 days. 

I wish! I ordered a gift from Amazon a good ten days before ds’s birthday. It’s set to Arrive  on the day, if I’m lucky. Even if two day shipping was there or four days it would be an improvement.

[Emba]

15 hours ago, Corraleno said:

I've had Prime since it first launched in 2007, and I just think of it as another utility, like wifi or electric or trash pick up. It works out to $10/month and I probably save that much just with the discount at Whole Foods, let alone what I save on shipping. 

Discount at Whole Foods is pretty irrelevant to me. We haven’t got one of those for 200 miles. 😆 but i did not know that was one of the things  Prime included.

[Emba]

14 hours ago, Homeschool Mom in AZ said:

Soooo worth it.  I shop locally first and if they don't have it, I order from Amazon. Apparently most of the things we shop for, other than most regular groceries and household supplies, local businesses aren't interested in stocking.  We've been shopping with Amazon since they were a book store.

I also try to look locally first before going to the Internet. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. If I have something very specific in mind, it’s often the latter.  I would love to patronize my local music store more, but almost everything I want they haven’t carried and with shipping/supply chain issues right now, are unable to special order with any certainty (would it arrive a month from now? Three months? Never? No one knows.) smaller things like strings have a very limited selection and they are unwilling to stock what seem like basic items I’ve requested.

[prairiewindmomma]

We save so much money using amazon prime.

Prior to the pandemic, I was trying to spread my dollars more evenly among brick and mortar retailers and I discovered a few things:

1. Some of my products are double the cost in brick and mortar stores compared to amazon. This is especially true with higher quality supplements, organic tampons, and other things that brick and mortar stores usually give little shelf space to.

2. There is a wide swath of stuff I can't buy locally but can buy online.

3. Even if I used amazon only for shipping birthday and Christmas presents cross-country, I would still come out ahead.  I spent $120 mailing two boxes at Christmastime last year.  Shipping rates are so insane that it totally makes sense for us financially to buy online and have it mailed by the seller, even if it isn't beautifully gift wrapped that way.

4. Prime video is good for a few things: movies from the 80s and 90s, their amazon-produced content, and a few popular shows they carry. It is not Netflix.

5. The free kindle book a month for prime members is hit or miss.

[TechWife]

We've been Prime members since it started. We like:

1 - free shipping

2 - if we choose Prime Day Delivery we get free audible, free kindle book or $1 credit depending on current promo

3 - First Reads - free Kindle book every month - most months there's one I'm willing to give a try, but these books aren't usually on my radar.

4 - Movies/TV - great for old movies, some tv shows - I wouldn't sign up for Prime just for this

5 - Whole Foods discount - there are a couple of things we occasionally get there from their bulk nut bins but we aren't frequent shoppers there.

 

 

[Lawyer&Mom]

We do 95% of all our shopping on Amazon, so yes, worth it.  It’s an awful company, but between the pandemic and my Autism, I don’t really see our shopping habits changing.  (I didn’t realize just how stressful stores are until I stopped!)

[HS Mom in NC]

Oh, and the Prime credit card (5%) easily covers a round trip flight across the country and accommodations for 3 for a week when we go see our families.  It beat all the credit card deals for flight points, and because it's savings, not points, we can use the saved money as we see fit. Also, it's also straight forward, unlike flight points.

Edited September 21, 2021 by Homeschool Mom in AZ
modifiers matter

[catz]

Oh we use prime credit card too and pay in full on our prime account monthly.  We just use the credits to pay back in Amazon so it's impossible to forget to use them, etc.

I forgot how handy it is when you have a college student.  We use Whole Foods delivery sometimes too.  College student gets groceries that way sometimes as well.

[Indigo Blue]

2 hours ago, Homeschool Mom in AZ said:

Oh, and the Prime credit card (5%) easily covers a round trip flight across the country and accommodations for 3 for a week when we go see our families.  It beat all the credit card deals for flight points, and because it's not savings, not points, we can use the saved money as we see fit. Also, it's also straight forward, unlike flight points.

Just got the card. Thanks!

[HS Mom in NC]

51 minutes ago, Indigo Blue said:

Just got the card. Thanks!

OOps!  It should've read savings instead of not savings, but I assume people picked up that it was an editing fail based on the context.

[dsmith]

Just an FYI relating to Amazon: Over the last few years we've ended up renting cars about 4 -5 times a year. I have an account with Budget and linked it with my Amazon account, so I get an Amazon gift card when we rent, and the rental is cheaper than their standard prices.

 

Link for those interested: https://www.budget.com/en/offers/partner-offers/amazon-benefits

Edited September 21, 2021 by dsmith
added link

[Indigo Blue]

1 hour ago, Homeschool Mom in AZ said:

OOps!  It should've read savings instead of not savings, but I assume people picked up that it was an editing fail based on the context.

Oh yes, I noticed that. It’s okay. I just saw your post and realized, well I do spend most of my dollars on Amazon or WF, and there is no annual fee. So, it’s a no brainer, really. It doesn’t give as much cash back on all “other” purchases, but 5% back on WF/Amazon  should help offset that. 

[LucyStoner]

I viewed it as a streaming subscription and the shipping is a bonus.  For a long time, we were gifted Prime each year.  Now we pay for it.  The renewal is in May and I am not entirely sure we will renew or not.  We have shifted most of our ordering to other merchants + I am not sure how much we are using the streaming.  We will evaluate before we renew.  

[rebcoola]

I am curious those of you who say you shop local. You mean actually local stores.  I could buy 90% of what I buy online at Amazon locally but it would be from large national companies target/ Walmart.  True local stores are small and niche they are a lot of fun but I'm not buying what we really need there usually.

[HS Mom in NC]

2 hours ago, rebcoola said:

I am curious those of you who say you shop local. You mean actually local stores.  I could buy 90% of what I buy online at Amazon locally but it would be from large national companies target/ Walmart.  True local stores are small and niche they are a lot of fun but I'm not buying what we really need there usually.

Let's not forget that Target and Walmart employ local people. The fewer people spending money there, the fewer employees those stores need, and sometimes they need to close.  So yes, they count as shopping locally. Should their employees make more money than they do? Yes.

I don't do much local niche shopping either.

[Pawz4me]

20 minutes ago, Homeschool Mom in AZ said:

Let's not forget that Target and Walmart employ local people. The fewer people spending money there, the fewer employees those stores need, and sometimes they need to close.  So yes, they count as shopping locally. Should their employees make more money than they do? Yes.

I don't do much local niche shopping either.

Amazon has a distribution center about 30 minutes from me that employs over 1,000 people.

[bookbard]

3 hours ago, rebcoola said:

I am curious those of you who say you shop local. You mean actually local stores.  I could buy 90% of what I buy online at Amazon locally but it would be from large national companies target/ Walmart.  True local stores are small and niche they are a lot of fun but I'm not buying what we really need there usually.

I think it's different for me - Amazon is an American store, I'm in Australia. So, for example, I could order a printer from Amazon, or from Bing Lee - a local guy started that business in Australia years ago and his family still runs it - I'd rather he get the money than Jeff Bezos. They have actual stores and being Australian the workers there have decent pay, sick pay, maternity leave and so forth. 

[Lady Florida.]

3 hours ago, rebcoola said:

I am curious those of you who say you shop local. You mean actually local stores.  I could buy 90% of what I buy online at Amazon locally but it would be from large national companies target/ Walmart.  True local stores are small and niche they are a lot of fun but I'm not buying what we really need there usually.

That's true in my area too. 

30 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

Amazon has a distribution center about 30 minutes from me that employs over 1,000 people.

They're building one about 20 minutes from me that should be open by the end of this year or early 2022 and there are rumors of another one being considered in our county as well. 

[Emba]

On 9/21/2021 at 6:48 PM, Homeschool Mom in AZ said:

Let's not forget that Target and Walmart employ local people. The fewer people spending money there, the fewer employees those stores need, and sometimes they need to close.  So yes, they count as shopping locally. Should their employees make more money than they do? Yes.

I don't do much local niche shopping either.

When I say local, I mean brick and mortar stores in my area. If I meant only small and local, there would be almost nothing. The small local stores tend to specialize in selling things that are wants, not needs.  Cute boutique clothing, gifts, stuff like that. If I Can I shop there, but mostly for gifts.  There are a few hardware stores that are sort of a regional chain, I think, and the music store is a regional chain. I do try to do most of my grocery shopping at a smaller non-chain store. But I still consider buying at brick and mortar Hobby Lobby to be slightly superior to buying online, because of the local workers employed.

 Books, though, there is nothing local. whatever popular titles Wal Mart carries, there are a few at Hobby Lobby, and whatever secondhand books can be found in secondhand stores are it. The pandemic closures finished off our only small bookstore.

 

[vonfirmath]

On 9/21/2021 at 7:12 PM, Pawz4me said:

Amazon has a distribution center about 30 minutes from me that employs over 1,000 people.

Yes. Amazon employs more people than Walmart/Target in our local city, I suspect, since they just built a large distribution center. And in the greater metropolitan area there is more than one.

 

(And even before the ultra local distribution center was built, they employed my husband as a holiday worker for a couple of years when we really needed the extra money)

Edited September 23, 2021 by vonfirmath

[Carol in Cal.]

At home, Amazon is super fast and very convenient and helpful.  At the cabin, which is really a residential area despite being rural, they stopped providing the advertised 2 day shipping with Prime and now even with Prime things that I can get the next day at home take a week or more at the cabin.  This was not the case when I started, and I resent the change.

Honestly, if it wasn’t for the streaming, since we don’t have cable, I probably would have given up Prime by now.  I recently bought an IPhone and got a year of free Apple TV with it, so I might be switching to just that and give up Prime in a few months.  Have not decided yet.  I do like the Apple specials more than the Amazon Prime ones.

[Hilltopmom]

We use Amazon but got rid of Prime years ago. I just leave things in my cart until I have enough for free shipping. I prefer Netflix for shows.