We love Amazon Prime. It's a luxury, but based on what we buy on Amazon.com it's already paid for itself a few times over.
Amazon Prime is all-you-can-eat two-day shipping on millions of eligible items, without minimum orders. It also includes overnight shipping upgrades for just $3.99.
The cost of Amazon Prime is currently $79 per year, and right now Amazon.com is offering a free one-month trial to new Prime customers.
Of course, this kind of plan isn't a great deal if you don't spend a lot of money on Amazon.com. (If you're quick on the trigger and want to get a few shipments in during the free trial, I certainly won't stop you, though!)
Here are my thoughts on Amazon Prime:
- We buy specialty foods. The online prices for specialty foods are in some cases way better than what we can get in a store. Since our daughter has food allergies, there are some staple foods that we would be buying anyway, so the expenses really aren't that discretionary. We saved enough money on one order to justify the cost of a full year of Amazon Prime. Then, most everything else we buy from Amazon.com ships for free, too, and this is gravy!
- Two-day shipping means two-day shipping. This is a fast service. It's only been once or twice that the order hasn't come within two business days, and they were weather-related. Getting orders that fast sure spoiled us in a hurry.
- Because this is such a fast service, we've never had the need to upgrade to overnight shipping!
- It's no extra work to use it. We just log into our Amazon.com account, and it knows we're Prime subscribers. Done!
- Amazon Prime works with recurring orders, too.
- When taken in the context of rising energy prices, this is a surprisingly good deal. It's such a good deal that I expect it either to go up in price substantially or go away entirely. Rising oil prices will gum up the viability of mail order and international outsourcing and Wal-Mart's warehouse on wheels. Amazon Prime is a gem. Snag it!
The Amazon Prime free one-month trial works like this:
- Sign up on this special Amazon Prime free trial page. (New members only.)
- Enjoy the benefits of free two-day shipping!
- If it's not what you expected, cancel at any time before the one-month trial period is over and you won't be charged $79 for the year.
We're not canceling though. Amazon Prime is too valuable to us given the way we buy there.
Most people don't spend over $79 in shipping within one year.
The free trial has caught my attention, as I'd like to start ordering household products (toiletries, cat food, etc) from Amazon instead of making annoying trips to Target every week or so. But it appears that many of these household products are not sold by Amazon.com, and thus do not quality for Prime.
What has your experience been?
Curt: I don't know the statistics but it probably doesn't take as much as you think to go over $79.
John: According to the Amazon Prime FAQ most items that qualify for Super Saver shipping also qualify for Amazon Prime. Prime is limited to Amazon.com products and products sold through the "Fulfilment by Amazon" program; it does not cover products sold by third parties (e.g. Target) or through third parties (Amazon Marketplace). They also will not ship gift cards or "hazardous materials" under Prime. Bulky or unusual shaped items will be sent standard shipping instead of 2-day shipping under Prime.
What I'm guessing is that the specialty foods we buy qualify for Prime under the "Fulfilment by Amazon" program. We've struck out a few times, for sure, but really all you need is one or two really fantastic deals to pay for Prime for the whole year. One of the linked posts explains how we did this.
So yeah, it would be really good if Target on Amazon were included in this, but they're not. A lot of products are, though.
I had an Amazon Prime subscription a few years ago and found that it had a very negative impact on my frugality. If you are at all prone to buying things that you don't need, do yourself a favor and avoid Amazon Prime like the plague.
I'm currently in a three-month trial of Amazon Prime, but I don't think I'll continue once the trial period is over. Their regular shipping is fast enough for me here; I usually get items in 2 days anyway, whether using standard shipping or "Super Saver."
I don't think Amazon Prime is a good idea for most people. If you spend a lot of money on Amazon and for some reason the regular mostly-free shipping is too slow in your area, then maybe it's worth it.
Right, I agree that it's not for everyone, and it's probably not for people who have trouble with overspending. We do buy a lot of specialty foods because of our daughter's allergies; it makes the food quite a bit cheaper for us to do it this way.
Bottom line is that we really like it and benefit from it, and your mileage may vary. I'll be happy to answer any other questions posted about the program.
What types of specialty foods do you buy on Amazon? My family has food allergies as well, but we can find them locally or buy alternatives at some of the big stores like Costco or Target. I guess if you don't have access to the large store, Amazon would be a great alternative.
I haven't purchased anything from Amazon in a few years, but remember they had great shipping and great prices. I've given ebay most of my business as you can't beat the prices and selection.
Passive Dad: We buy dried cherries (Traverse Bay), small pickles without any corn syrups, sugar-free vanilla syrup for my wife's steamers, and watermelon lollipops. We've also gotten some bread sticks and oyster crackers that my daughter can have.
All of these are way cheaper than what we could get in the store, and in some cases we can't find them in the store anymore. The lollipops saved us enough money from what we were paying in the store that it paid for the entire Prime membership for a year.
For those of you with Prime memberships, here's a good website for searching for Amazon Prime items:
http://www.amazanian.com
I love my Prime membership. It's paid for itself many times over. I first signed up about a week before Christmas last year, which allowed me to have several last minute items sent to me on time for Christmas. All the items I ordered over the rest of the year was just an extra savings, then add in this year's Christmas shipping, and what a deal.
The membership has saved me a couple of times when I needed an item quickly and either couldn't find it locally or didn't have the time to drive around to find it. An extra $4 for 1 day shipping is quite the bargain. So many items I've ordered have been either the same price or cheaper than from a brick & mortar store, then when you add in the lack of sales tax and lack of gas money and time spent going to the store, I've really come out ahead. I've wondered why they provide such a deal, but then realized it is to encourage you to buy from Amazon instead of competitors. Well it works for me.
Oh, and just learned today that you can share the membership with up to 4 household members. This wasn't an issue during the year, cause I would just order for anyone in the house, but when it came to Christmas shopping, using my account for another family member to order something for me wasn't going to work. So sharing the membership on another account makes sense afterall. Hurray!
I think it is excellent service but not sure whether i should extend beyond the free trial period. $79 seems to be steep if i can get the same things free with "super saving scheme" [ofcourse i will have to patiently wait for my order to arrive]. But most of the times i think i will be willing to do it instead of paying $79 upfront. I wish the subscription cost was little lower (anything < $35 – i won't have second thoughts)
If you’re in the market for items eligible for Prime, take a look at http://www.guaranteedprime.com.
It is very user friendly, and provides accurate, Prime Only results.
I am currently in the trial period. I went through my receipts from last year and added up how much I actually spent on shipping charges to Amazon. It totaled around $85. I hate the free supersaver because it takes forever to get my items so end up paying ground shipping anyway. I haven't ordered some things simply because I try to wait to consolidate orders. Well, I've been very busy with this prime membership! I am expecting 5 packages tomorrow that I ordered over the weekend and 1 Wednesday! I think I'm hooked. If you are a heavy internet shopper like me, look into this. Browse the amazon site and see how many of the things you buy regularly or want to purchase are eligible then do the math. Don't forget to factor in the convenience of automatically getting things in 2 days at no extra charge and not having to wait until every item is ready to avoid extra shipping charges.
I subscribed to Amazon.com’s Amazon Prime and was ripped-off when Amazon.com Prime arbitrarily cancelled my $79 annual subscription – and refused to refund my membership fees.
Here’s how Amazon.com Prime service was represented to me – you pay $79 annually and Amazon.com sends all your purchases via two-day UPS for free. Sounds like a great service, helping you save money if you order frequently from Amazon.com, right? Otherwise, why would someone pay $79 a year for the service, right?
Well, after sending gifts to about a dozen friends and family, I get a nasty email from Amazon.com Prime accusing me of buying stuff on Amazon and ‘reselling’ it at a profit. I was ordered to ‘Stop Immediately’ as Amazon.com Prime service accused me (very rudely, I might add) of violation of their ‘terms and conditions’.
First of all, I’m not reselling anything I bought on Amazon.com. Second, I bought the service to save money on shipping.
Apparently, Amazon Prime is designed for people who would have spent less than $79 for shipping and if you do – they trump some offensive remark and steal your money by not delivering what they promise.
Well, Amazon.com Prime ripped me off because they cancelled my subscription and refused to give me a refund of my $79 fee, or even a pro-rata refund.
My recommendation is to think twice about subscribing to Amazon.com Amazon Prime shipping service.
Kristi
Newport Beach, California
yay?
how do I get MORE than one month free?
You only get the free trial for one month. If you want to pay the fee and continue the subscription, log in and choose to manage your prime membership. That is also how you go about canceling. When I tried it I had to cancel before the trial period ended to avoid the membership charge. Needless to say I was hooked and did not cancel and have been sooooo happy with it.
If you don’t regularly shop online then this membership is probably not for you. As I read and understood the terms and conditions, this membership applies to me and up to three additional members of my household. I never understood it to be for sending gifts to others. When I order gifts I always choose standard shipping and only use prime shipping options for items to my home. No problems and I recently moved to another state but still maintain my UPS Store mailbox as my billing address.
Amazon Prime is a great concept and I’d be happy with it if it weren’t such a scam. The deal is – you order today and in two business days you’ve got your stuff, plain and simple. I normally order stuff on Saturday, which means the two business day promise has my stuff showing up on Tuesday. I’ve done it many times and Tuesday is the correct calculation for something ordered on Saturday.
Problem is – they tell me at checkout I’m getting it on Tuesday, then when I get the confirmation email, it says Wednesday, or sometimes it’s Thursday or Friday, because it’s coming from a warehouse not near where I live.
I say tough, you promised two days, get it here. They say, sorry sucker, can’t do it. And what’s worse is that even they the rep admits on the phone it’s not packing until Monday, their website says it’s already been packed and you can’t cancel it. If you call customer service, they can usually do the canellation, but what a pain.
So, my problem with Prime is that it’s a scam, a lie, a fruad – plain and simple.
This is sweet !
I also downloaded this grease monkey script to find items on sale on Amazon: http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/80649
We love our Prime membership. My husband originally set up the trial and once I realized we could share, I was in. I love books and would have to wait until I had $25 worth of books to buy then wait for supersaver shipping. Now I can buy one book and have it within 2 business days. Plus Amazon customer service is amazing – I consider Nordstrom and Amazon #1 in customer service.
Amazon prime fraud 🙁 i was charged $79.– with out any knowledge be warned … if u purchase any thing watch ur billing statements after 30 days