Michael Corvin

Post a deal and get it back on track instead of adding fuel to the fire.

My Other Self

They started charging sales tax by me last September when construction on their distribution center out here started. It didn't open until last month.

kenbuzz

Here in Indiana, our Governor in 2007 struck a deal with Amazon - open a distribution center here and we'll hold off on doing anything about sales tax. Amazon now has five centers in Indiana including Amazon's larges in the US just 30 miles north of Indy. Well, times have changed, an the deal was revisited this year. The State House pushed through legislation to rescind the waiver, but the State Senate delayed action. Our new Governor and Amazon came to a comporomise - no tax through the end of 2013, but starting in 2014 Amazon will collect sales tax on in-state purchases.

So we'll be paying 7% more come 1/1/14. But with so many local warehouses stuff ordered here shows up extremely fast. The tax is/was inevitable, but because we had the waiver for 7 years we got and will continue to benefit.

wishbone

Indiana has had a use tax for several years. Yes, this will force people to pay sales tax but you were supposed to report it on your income taxes anyway.

Obi-Wanma

Lots of states have Use Tax, but most people don't bother paying it.

ctyankee

I definitely subscribe to the full-cost model. Time is money and dealing with clowns and lines and returns has a 'hassle cost' to it as well. On top of that, with my purchases, Prime is a complete no-brainer of a decision.

Over time, I do get the sense that *some* folks aren't Prime members because they can't afford the upfront cost of the program. I sympathize. However, for those folks, the more obvious question becomes ... isn't there better things to be doing with their hard-earned cash than purchasing DVDs and the like?

Preterite

Well, maybe they can afford DVD's and the like right up until an $80 surcharge is added to the cost.

As I've said before, Prime doesn't offer anything to me. I was happy with the free shipping and I don't stream (and there doesn't appear to be anything on Amazon or Netflix that would entice me to). So all the extra $80 would do is lessen whatever deals I was getting.

jjcool

Prime seems like a no brainer to me. I happen to split it with two other people, so I only pay around $30 a year. Big thing for me is not having to build an order to get free shipping. I can jump on these bargains as they are posted and not worry about having to have filler items ready to go. Makes their Black Friday shopping even easier.

ctyankee

No doubt.

I don't want to make this into any deal, but you're making my point. If someone is THAT close to what they "can afford" they really are completely kidding themselves on their budget. Again, too many people are simply operating paycheck to paycheck with too much personal consumption in the mix. There, I said it.

Pointyskull

I love Prime - worth it, imo!

Preterite

It's an extra eighty bucks that they can't spend on actual product in exchange for slightly faster shipping. It doesn't seem very practical to me, regardless of one's budget.

ctyankee

Each to his own. In my case, it's nice to get something delivered before another week on the road. Also, as mentioned, individual deals become individual deals not dependent on finding something else for the order or mucking up Black Friday opportunities. I also enjoy the free offerings in Amazon Video. But, again, perhaps neither the purchase of Prime or DVDs (to the degree some seem to be buying them) should be in the mix for some.

notkevinbacon

Mark me as another Prime subscriber who really values the service. It's cheap for what it is - I tend to overnight or 2 day online purchases anyway. Sometimes overnight/same day service has been a life saver or just convenient.

Have netflix, but Prime video is a little bit of icing and also, Kindle lending library is great.

Death and taxes, folks. I took advantage of that no tax stuff while I could too, but it's not something worth complaining about. You aren't entitled to not pay them were applicable.

Does this mean that the add on item threshold will raise to $35? That would be a bummer. I use Amazon for a lot of my household items because I can get them much cheaper than in the city.

thetao

While I'm disappointed, prices do inevitably go up, so I'm not surprised that Amazon eventually raised their free shipping point by $10. Probably 2/3 or more of my orders cost more than that anyway, so it's still something I can work with.

Concerning Amazon Prime, transit time is just not my main concern. As long as it arrives intact, that's usually good enough. (I've sometimes waited 8-9 weeks for European purchases.) A "Prime Light" that offered XX free shipments of my choosing for a lesser fee could be intriguing, but $80 for Prime seems like wasted money. What I've love infinitely more is an annual $25 fee that magically makes all Marketplace and Fulfilled by Amazon sellers grade and describe their products 100% honestly, according to my standards. Being able to place an order, knowing up front exactly what's arriving, would be a huge time saver and well worth the cost.

jjcool

Factor that $80 against all the crap that you dont really need that you get to bump your orders over the free shipping threshold, how much you spend on shipping in a year for orders that arent over the free shipping order threshold, and the deals that you miss out on because you are trying to piece an order together to get free shipping. When it was $80 a year, that was less than $7 in shipping a month. That's somewhere between one and two orders a month with shipping.

Mike86

Prime definitely makes sense to have if you order from Amazon on a regular basis. The fact that you get packages in a day or two and don't have to worry about ordering a certain number of items to get free shipping is nice. Granted you pay $80 upfront but it pays off pretty fast if you ask me. Not to mention their streaming service is pretty nice. The new $35 minimum is a bit of a steep jump in price but I would be it's partially to entice more people into joining Prime.

That'sAllFolks

And this is one reason I don't have Prime. Amazon does not have that many bargains and since BBY PMs anything they "might" have a bargain on, it's really a waste for me to get Prime. I try NOT to use Prime during BF week since the same BD/DVD bargains tend to pop up at every retailer with different pricing. Amazon usually gets the bargains first, then somebody else cheaper, etc. But they usually ship pretty fast (ever with FSSS) so people don't do that.

Also, since I am very bargain conscious, it is better sometimes for my orders to sit for a few days while Amazon jacks around with the price. It's very discouraging to me to see prices drop hours/days after I place an order. At least with a B&M, their price lasts for at least a week (most of the time.

I don't see my self ever paying for Prime. I guess if I didn't care about bargains and just bought what I wanted when I wanted it I might consider it, but this forum and BD.com has cured me of ever being like that.

Mike86

A lot of it for me is that Amazon is also just really reliable. I always feel safe ordering from them that they won't mess something up and if they do that they'll correct it. I get my items from them in a timely manner all the time. Plus to be honest they may not always have the rock bottom prices on things but they usually are pretty fair on items that they offer. Sometimes the way prices fluctuate can be irritating but usually not that big of a deal to me.

ctyankee

Says the guy with 1,688 Blu-Rays and 3,824 DVDs ....

You're like an alcoholic that attends AA meetings in a bar.

wmansir

Just ran into new min a few days ago. What's really crappy is I needed an "add on" item which was only $5, but they won't sell it unless the order is over $25. So I get the order to $25 so I can buy the $5 item I really want and find I need to add another $10 to get free shipping, otherwise shipping will be $11.

Mike86

Yeah the add on items piss me off a bit too. Basically I can't get items under $5 unless I throw something else in with it. I ran into it just last week actually but luckily I had a Blu-ray on order that hadn't shipped so I just combined them. Probably a rare occurrence I order something under $5 but still irritating.

adrenaline78

I was wondering why we were being charged tax. Where is the DC going to be?

PhantomStranger

All of the Amazon tax dates were negotiated settlements with each state on a case-by-case basis. Amazon actually ended up making money on collecting state taxes, as states fell over themselves to get that revenue by making concessions to Amazon. The only losers were the consumers.

zyzzle

Right, they sold out to the states, and we, the consumers doubly lost out (we are forced to pay tax = extra 8 to 10% 'surcharge' while Amazon *profits* on this 'deal') . Shows Amazon is not customer-friendly, and is in bed with the politicians now. Hence, I no longer respect them as a company.

WallyOPD

The taxes were coming one way or another, Amazon fought it off as long as they could. Once it was inevitable, clearly they were going to try to make it as advantageous for themselves as they could.