Amazon Prime membership

[frojazz]

I love my prime membership.  Like Leslie, it just goes against my nature to pay for shipping.

I also don't like to pay for shipping.  I wish that I could find coupon codes for Amazon, but their prices are so good that it makes more sense to buy it from them (support the KBs) and pay whatever shipping they charge.  I like to look for good deals and finding $25 of stuff, especially books, is usually pretty easy, although the wait is always hard.

However, I canceled my Amazon Prime after I got my K2 because I don't see myself buying as many DTBs as I used to.  And--if you are paying $79 a year, it is not free shipping.  If you buy/send once a month, it averages out to be about $6.50 for each shipment, and that's assuming you aren't paying extra to get things overnight.

I also had to cancel my Prime because I found myself sending things too often to other people!  It was just too easy to click and send, especially since Amazon stores addresses in your account.  Maybe when we get our finances back in order I'll get my Prime membership back.  We'll see.

[VictoriaP]

Leslie talked me into it a week or so ago.  I should add that to my list of KB initiated expenses!  LOL

Seriously though, I do a fair amount of shopping online already, not just for books, and it's worst for birthdays & holidays, because hubby & I are both absolutely awful at planning.  Consequently, EVERYTHING we buy for those events ends up costing us twice as much, as we either have to send 2nd day or next day to get it there in time.  It's no use saying we should plan better, we're aware of that, but it simply never happens.  And at d*mn close to 40 years old, it's time to accept that neither of us will change! 

The Prime membership will pay for itself in that way alone.

Then you add in my seriously profound lack of patience in waiting for packages coming to me.   

To make up my mind, I started looking up on Amazon both things I'd bought in the last three months & things I was thinking about purchasing soon, whether from Amazon or elsewhere.  How many of these items were available with Prime?  How many weren't?  Were there acceptable Prime alternatives to those that weren't?  It didn't take long for me to figure out that I was going to be ahead of the game before summer, let alone after Christmas.  So I went ahead & started the trial.  It means changing some buying habits from multiple sources over to Amazon, but in the end, I figure I'll be saving money fairly quickly on this deal.

[Britt]

My stepdad has it, and it extends to my mom and me on our accounts as well. I LOVE free two-day shipping

[Steph H]

As an example of how quick and easy it is to use Amazon Prime without worrying about getting to the "free super saving shipping" amount --

I just discovered about 30 minutes ago that K1 batteries are listed as in stock again (a rare event!). Wham bam thank you ma'am, I've got one in my cart, and I check out before they can mysteriously go out of stock again. At $19.99, without Prime, I'd either have had to pay for shipping or futz around finding something else to add to the cart to get to whatever the limit is for free super saving (no idea what the limit is...$25? $30?). With Prime, the transaction was done in less than 5 minutes and I should have a backup battery in hand on Tuesday.

[Shizu]

I feel the same way. I don't have to think about the price. I just order it and get 2 day shipping, like I order $9.99 iGo tip for the iPhone and get it 2 day later. I used to spend a lot more than I wanted to meet free shipping amount before I had the Prime. Now I only buy what I need at that time.

[April]

I've had Prime membership for about 4 years. There are so many product categories on Amazon.com - it's a virtual shopping mall. You really can't go wrong, especially if you have friends and family in other states.  I've never had a problem, ever. I highly recommend it! 

Modified to add:  I am NOT a fan of USPS (I'm trying to be polite here and not go off on a rant - lol) - 99.999% of what I purchase is shipped from Amazon via UPS.  I've only had one Fed Ex shipment in the past few years. Everything arrives in 2 days, and often (as others have mentioned) arrives overnight.  Also, large, heavy items usually qualify. I bought a huge grill and a firepit last summer - 2 day shipping at no extra charge!  The Amazon prices were great (comparable or less than what's in local stores).  I didn't have to load/unload, drag down the steps - that's what my UPS guy does for a living. 

[Steph H]

I just discovered about 30 minutes ago that K1 batteries are listed as in stock again (a rare event!). Wham bam thank you ma'am, I've got one in my cart, and I check out before they can mysteriously go out of stock again. At $19.99, without Prime, I'd either have had to pay for shipping or futz around finding something else to add to the cart to get to whatever the limit is for free super saving (no idea what the limit is...$25? $30?). With Prime, the transaction was done in less than 5 minutes and I should have a backup battery in hand on Tuesday.

Hey!  I made the blog!   Thanks for adding the links, Harvey!

[Harvey]

Yes, you are on Page 1 of the blog! Thanks, Steph!

[Gregor]

I have it and I'll keep it, as there are many books I want to read that Kindle doesn't have.

I order lots of stuff from Amazon, so it pays for itself.

[Leslie]

So the only advantage of Prime is the quick/cheap shipping? (Fast shipping isn't fast where I live)

Yes, it's a membership program for shipping.

L

[radiantmeg]

I'm glad to read some opinions on this.  I've thought about getting it a couple of times, but haven't.  I think I might next time!