Amazon Prime cost increase. Got my letter today

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Dave_W

The Dude
I received my price increase letter today and not sure what I think. $99 may be near my tipping point. Given that most of my purchases are well over the minimum "free shipping" level, not sure whether this so-called service is cost effective any longer. Yes, the free movies they provide to prime members are often different than NetFlix but I'm not convinced that is enough of a reason to continue with the service.

What do you think? You gonna stay with Prime despite the price increase or let your service expire and go back to ordering the free shipping minimum again?
 
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gqtuazon

Gear Head
My son uses it and he lives in California. He just added me to his account. I rarely use it since BH Photo ships most of my camera stuff for free.
 
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nickt

Senior Member
I'm not sure what I think either. $99 is starting to sound steep. We use it a lot, packages arriving here sometimes 3 times a week. Mostly non-book merchandise for me and books for my wife. Got some glue yesterday, same price as home depot, so I ordered it. I do a lot of shopping like that. But more and more small items are becoming 'add-on' items; they won't ship without a $25 order even though its prime. Either that or they mark up the price to a point I won't buy it. The videos, I can take or leave. I like to watch something to fall asleep to. I could do without them.
I think my plan is to turn off the auto renew now. I'm sure they are watching to see how this floats. Then in December, I am willing to let it cancel for awhile and see if they tempt me with a better offer.
 
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mustang

Senior Member
mine renewed automatically last month for 79.95 , but I see where it's going to be 99.95 in January 2015 on the next renewal date .

We have two amazon accts , what I notice is if I order with the acct that does not have prime . even if the item has free shipping it takes usually more than a week to get it .

with the acct that has prime , you can order the same item and it will be here in 2 days or less.
WTF !
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I just renewed a few days ago at $80 and haven't gotten any such letter about a price increase. $99 may just be my tipping point as well, though... I'll have to give that some consideration.

...
 
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nickt

Senior Member
mustang said:
mine renewed automatically last month for 79.95 , but I see where it's going to be 99.95 in January 2015 on the next renewal date .

We have two amazon accts , what I notice is if I order with the acct that does not have prime . even if the item has free shipping it takes usually more than a week to get it .

with the acct that has prime , you can order the same item and it will be here in 2 days or less.
WTF !
Click to expand...
That is part of Prime, 2 day shipping. Your order gets priority processing to get it to you in 2 days. They rarely actucally use a 2 day shipping service though. they are pretty good about getting my item to NJ or PA which is an overnight trip for ups to get it to me.
 
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nickt

Senior Member
Ok, now I'm slightly annoyed. Amazon changed the Prime management screen. The auto-renew option is gone. I had to click on end membership link where I got an option to select a 3 day reminder before it renews. So I opted for the reminder.
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
I've been on the tipping point of dumping Amazon altogether due to their lack of response to many of my letters questioning their labor practices and conditions in distribution centers. This put me over the edge. Love the free 2 day shipping, but I'm happy to go elsewhere.
 
Fred Kingston_RIP

Fred Kingston_RIP

Senior Member
It's a no-brainer... I spent thousands on Amazon... About the only thing I don't buy on Amazon is toilet paper... and fresh groceries... At $3.50+/gal for gas... I don't drive anywhere to buy something and then have some clueless clerk tell me they can order it for me...
 
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carguy

Senior Member
I'm still on a 6 month free trial, had no plans to renew and pay for it.

This seems to have hit the news recently.. ut oh...

Amazon claims that a $79 annual membership for Amazon Prime provides free two-day shipping on "millions" of items, but for some products, the company is accused of encouraging sellers to inflate shipping prices, according to two recent lawsuits.“The bottom line is the free shipping that Amazon offered to its Prime members wasn’t free,” said Kim Stephens, attorney for one of the plaintiffs, adding that he was “shocked” by Amazon’s alleged pricing practices.
Marcia Burke of Alabama says she became an Amazon Prime member and used its "free shipping" service at least 18 times in 2010, according to her lawsuit filed Friday in federal court in Seattle. Prime-eligible products are designated on Amazon's website.
In what she hopes will be certified as a class-action lawsuit, Burke accuses Amazon of encouraging third-party vendors to increase their prices to Prime members by the amount they charged others for shipping, without revealing that a portion of those alleged "inflated" prices was for shipping fees, the lawsuit claims.


more...
Amazon Customers Accuse E-Commerce Giant of Cheating Prime Members - ABC News
 
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Deezey

Senior Member
I renew in June. At the new $99 price point. Unfortunately I will be cancelling my account. $99 is a little too steep for me. I don't use Amazon all that much, and most times what I order is not Prime eligible. And if it is Prime eligibe I have noticed the prime deal is uaually the more expensive price. (I bought another Wacom pen for backup and I didn't use the Prime because it was $5 more than another vendor.) I just don't seem to use the Prime Membership enough to justify $79 a year. Let alone $99.
 
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PapaST

Senior Member
I was anticipating it going up to $149 a year. Although I'm not happy with the increase, $20 a year is easier to stomach. I do a good bit of ordering from Amazon so it's worth it for me. The free educational kid programming is a plus for my daughter.
 
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Pretzel

Senior Member
My situation: I always *WANT* something faster, but rarely *NEED* it faster. With that in mind, I often enjoy Amazon's prices and feel the savings is worth the slightly slower free shipping. In the instance that *NEED* is driving me to purchase immediately, I have Best Buy match the Amazon cost and pay the tax, which is often less than expedited shipping would cost anyway.

The last time I did that, tax came out to about $19.00, and it was the only time I did so last year... savings of $60.00 over Amazon Prime last year, and if it holds true, $80 in savings vs. Amazon Prime this year.

PLUS, places like Cameta, etc. offer me free shipping too, so ba-da-BING! I win with just about every purchase!

(BTW, SPOILER ALERT: I don't use Amazon Prime :) )
 
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kluisi

Senior Member
Pretzel said:
My situation: I always *WANT* something faster, but rarely *NEED* it faster. With that in mind, I often enjoy Amazon's prices and feel the savings is worth the slightly slower free shipping. In the instance that *NEED* is driving me to purchase immediately, I have Best Buy match the Amazon cost and pay the tax, which is often less than expedited shipping would cost anyway.

The last time I did that, tax came out to about $19.00, and it was the only time I did so last year... savings of $60.00 over Amazon Prime last year, and if it holds true, $80 in savings vs. Amazon Prime this year.

PLUS, places like Cameta, etc. offer me free shipping too, so ba-da-BING! I win with just about every purchase!

(BTW, SPOILER ALERT: I don't use Amazon Prime :) )
Click to expand...

You now pay tax on Amazon too I believe. B&H and Adorama are probably loving this news. I'm not prime and have no plans to start.
 
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carguy

Senior Member
kluisi said:
You now pay tax on Amazon too I believe. B&H and Adorama are probably loving this news. I'm not prime and have no plans to start.
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I believe you only pay tax using Amazon if a distro center is locted in your state or if the seller is legal and is located in your state.
 
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nickt

Senior Member
carguy said:
I believe you only pay tax using Amazon if a distro center is locted in your state or if the seller is legal and is located in your state.
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Or if you live in a thieving-tax-you-beyond-death state like New York. NY strong-armed Amazon in to collecting tax based on Amazon's affiliate link program. If even one of Amazon's affiliates is located in NY, they must collect taxes. 'Affiliates' being any NY based website that contains a commission generating 'buy from Amazon' link.
Amazon Rejected by U.S. High Court on New York Sales Tax - Bloomberg
 
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