Obi-Wanma

Aren't they supposed to extend your prime membership by a month or something like that every time they miss the guaranteed delivery date?

slybone

If you call them on it they will do it, but it won't happen automatically if you don't complain.

TheBang

Yes, that's what I mentioned above. I got my membership extended to the maximum of one extra year that way. But you have to ask.

zyzzle

Bezos has paid his minions well to crunch the numbers. They know that most of the sheeple will think "Oh, an extra $20 per year isn't much!" as Amazon continues to have them by the balls in the ever-tightening vice grip.

It's pure profit for them, so Amazon's not doing us any favors any time soon. Long live the Amazon monster!

I wouldn't pay 11.9 cents per year for Prime, so fuck them and their constant scheming to part us of our money as rapidly as possible.

Obi-Wanma

Sorry, I missed your previous post.

majorjoe23

Honest question: when is the last time you actually used Amazon?

story

We're still in, it's fine.

Shannon Nutt

It's also a $40 increase in 4 years.

Noonan

I placed I think 5 individual orders over the weekend, one which I needed Sun. I paid $3.99 for one day shipping for the item I needed Sun and all the rest went free 2-day and are arriving today, except the one I placed last night.

The ability to do that without having to think about consolidating orders makes the fee worth it for me. Not to mention the $12 I save on every game pre-order I place.

zyzzle

Yes, from $79 to $119 in only four years is a 50% increase. That's Mr. Bezos getting more and more greedy. I'm sure glad he dosen't run the country yet, as with a 12.5% per year inflation rate, we'd be in dire straits.

That's my main beef, it's a needless and greedy increase, "just because he can get away with it." It's Amazon doing what Amazon does best: being the rapacious bastards that they have become.

zyzzle

The honest answer is not that long ago. There are still some good deals to be had from Amazon's third party sellers. Mostly on books, but around two months ago, I ordered an Atari 2600 portable console from ATgames at a very good deal from a 3rd party. Their price? $19 brand new. Amazon's (greedy) price $39.95 brand new.

Why So Blu?

So $10 more a year? Worth it.

slybone

Yeah, I've been thinking more and more about it, and I agree, it's still a great value even after the increase (which BTW I've still not been officially informed about). At $10 a month it's still cheaper than Netflix, and I personally like Amazon's streaming selection better than NF, so to me Amazon is a better deal for the streaming alone. Then the shipping, music, photo storage, etc is just icing.

jjcool

Completely agree.

Mikael79

The television that Jodie Foster speaks to you from, is it 4K?

fujishig

Doesn't Amazon Prime lose them money on shipping for the most part (which I'm sure they more than make up with capturing their customers in a vice grip)? I mean, I'm not here to say Amazon isn't greedy, but if you could charge more for whatever it is you do and not get fired or lose customers, you're saying you wouldn't because you make enough money?

Plus it's not like they're not investing in the service. Even if you don't use the video aspect of it they are building it out, and even with the failed stuff like Anime Strike getting rolled into the normal sub, there's added value there. I'm not sure I'm going to renew at that price but there is value.

DJariya

-notrolls-

Sonic

Im sure the recent rise in Amazon fee annoys subscribers but if they were to do a poll, it will show that 95% are happy with the service.

100 million subscribers says it all.

Amazon service for me has been near impeccable. Sure Prime shipping less than a handful been late for me, but Amazon has made up for it in more ways than one.

zyzzle

Lots of Amazon fanboys, with lots of expendable cash, it seems.

Wouldn't the lot of you be highly unsatisfied if your property taxes suddenly increased 20%? Or the cost of milk, or your Uber rides, or the cost of your ISP service?

I'm not trying to troll, honest. I'm just expressing my displeasure in an open forum at a company which thinks it can do absolutely no wrong.

And its customers seem to lap every bit up, even the sudden 20% price increases.

fumanstan

There's been so many posts and discussions about Amazon and Prime and you still can't seem to understand or figure out how consumers are actually getting value out of the service and assume it must be because consumers are sheep or fanboys. If you're not trolling, then you're just out of touch. Maybe both.

davidh777

Yeah, I don't even bother to respond anymore to the comments about "pure profit," etc. But I must say that equating Prime with property taxes is a new one!

fujishig

The one true way to win the opposing side over to your side is by using the very diplomatic term "fanboys." That's what I've gleaned from message boards over the years.

Noonan

If liking Amazon because they can deliver basically fucking anything to my doorstep within 2 days at a cost less than B&M makes me a fanboy, where do I sign up?

Sonic

I been eyeing a digital antenna. I noticed when I went to my cart Amazon offered me a $2 coupon. So I bought the antenna. Plus free shipping.

Now where the hell am I gonna get that kinda service at a B&M store or any other online store? Surely not Walmart.com or Bestbuy.com.

Call me a fanboy but certain stores deserve my loyalty. Amazon is one of them.

zyzzle

I'm willing to try and look at it logically. For most, it seems the value that they get from Amazon Prime is time savings, and convenience.

If I was going to sign up for Prime, I'd need to order 120 packages a year to break even. It probably costs Amazon only a dollar a parcel, as they're obviously receiving steep discounts from the USPS, UPS, et al (most likely they ship for pennies on the dollar compared to the rest of us peons).

All of the rest of the "perceived value", eg streaming, etc is garbage. Their streaming service wouldn't be garbage if they actually offered content at 80 to 100 mbits / sec instead of the ~15 mbps that they stream 4k content. So, they've actually lowered the bar on quality for high-definition content. This is to keep *their* bandwidth costs down. They're not your friend there, either.

I'm still on the hook for sales tax, so that savings is now gone. That value is gone, which amounts to an extra 8.75% in my state. I loved the days when Amazon didn't charge tax, I was much, much more loyal to them then. Instant 8.75% savings over any B&M. No more, since they have a "business presence" in all 50 states now, it seems.

So, what's left? Unless I ordered a package every three days (now at the $120 / year rate), there's really no extra value in Prime. That is, Amazon *still* would make a profit off my Prime membership unless I ordered that frequently.

Now, many of you probably order more than 120 Amazon packages a year (ie, the 'fanboys' I refer to), but unless I become physically incapacitated and / or homebound, there is no extra "value" in Prime for me. Most of you probably think you're getting a "great" deal, but it really isn't, becuase Amazon stacks the deck in their favor.

The real goal, of course, is for Amazon to become some exclusive club-only membership like Costco, where the $119 (soon to be $150... $199... $249!) will be the yearly fee to use the service. Everybody who doesn't choose Prime will be subject to a 'fee' of 10% extra, or some such nonsense.

Within 3-5 years the above shall come to pass. Amazon wants it and will get it.