I just don’t think it’s worth the cost — for me.
I joined Amazon Prime when it first started in 2005. Back then, it was $79/year and all it guaranteed was free 2-day shipping. I’m pretty sure that applied to all items on Amazon and that might be because back then when you bought from Amazon it was actually sold by Amazon and shipped by Amazon. (None of the “marketplace” crap there is today.)
Time went on. My subscription renewed annually. I lived in a little town in Arizona that had very little retail shopping other than groceries, hardware, and ranch supplies. Amazon helped me get good deals and quick delivery on the computer components, software, books, and other items I needed in my job as a freelance computer book author. I enjoyed the ability to order anything and have it shipped to me for free within two days.
Amazon added Prime video in 2011. It didn’t matter to me because I had super crappy Internet service at home and satellite TV so I didn’t need/want to stream video. Of course, that changed in 2013 when I moved to Washington State, got super fast Internet, and skipped the satellite or cable service. But I’m not big on watching TV so I really didn’t stream much on Amazon. I had Netflix. And a DVD player.
In 2014, the annual price for Prime membership increased to $99/year. They added Prime Pantry, Amazon Music, and Amazon Photos, none of which held any interest for me. Amazon Now was also added; it offered same-day shipping in metropolitan areas as far removed from my rural home as can be imagined. But Prime still seemed like a good deal for free shipping within 2 days.
Prime Day debuted in 2015. It basically conned Prime members into buying more crap they didn’t need — although I did get a smoking deal on a hybrid queen-sized mattress for my camper one year.
Prime Reading started in 2016, although I only discovered it last year. It offered a limited selection of books and magazines to read for free. I used this feature to read a few magazines I couldn’t get at the library.
When the Amazon Rewards Visa card came out in 2017, I got one. I earned points for my purchases and used those points to buy things on Amazon. No annual fee. I still have the card but I rarely use it; Chase (the bank that runs the card) has super shitty customer service so I now mostly use my Apple Card, which gives me “cash back” that I can spend anywhere. 2017’s Prime Wardrobe did not interest me in the least. And the special Prime benefits at Whole Foods were useless to me because there wasn’t a Whole Foods within 200 miles of my home.
When the Prime membership price went up to $119/year in 2018, I started wondering whether the free shipping — which was really the only feature I used regularly — was worth it. It’s around then that I started streaming video in an effort to get my money’s worth. But I didn’t stream much.
2020 and covid rolled around. All of a sudden, I wasn’t getting free 2-day shipping. I was lucky to get items I ordered within a week. It was the lockdown, of course, and I really couldn’t blame Amazon. It was temporary — or at least that’s what I thought.
Amazon will ship for free even if you aren’t a Prime member. Just buy at least $25 worth of eligible stuff.
Truth is, I haven’t gotten regular 2-day shipping on Prime items from Amazon since Covid lockdowns began. It’s been more than two years.
So this year, when Amazon announced that it was raising the price of prime membership to $149/year. I took a good, hard look at what I was getting for that. A lot of folks don’t realize it, but if you spend $25 or more on Prime eligible items, you get those items shipped for free even if you’re not a prime member. I just tested this by logging out and adding a $14.99 item to my shopping cart. See the screen grab here? Buy $10.01 more and it all ships free.
Then I started to explore my Prime membership settings. They offered this helpful graphic to show how much I used Prime features:
In 12 months, I had 80 free shipments — which I could have had without Prime membership — and watched just 14 movies or TV shows.
I concluded that Amazon Prime simply wasn’t worth $149/year to me. Frankly, it isn’t even worth $119. Maybe not even $99, unless I start watching a lot more television.
So with my membership up for renewal on March 12 at the new $149/year rate, I decided to cancel — or “pause,” which apparently removes features and stops billing but keeps my account on standby in case I want to fire it back up. Cancel is an option, too, and I suspect that I’ll use it if they start spamming me to come back.
It’s pretty obvious that Jeff Bezos — with his fancy new yacht — doesn’t need my money. And why should I spend my money on services I don’t need or use?
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You can read more details about the history of Amazon Prime from 2005 to 2020 in this article.
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Interesting, Maria. I’m going to go find my benefits utilized page and make a decision. Thanks for the inspiration.
I honestly feel that it was long overdue for me. I can still stream video on Amazon Video; I just have to pay for what I watch. I guarantee it’ll be less than $149 worth of video per year. And the shipping is really a non-issue. I’m shopping a lot less on Amazon these days anyway.
Maria – we concluded the same thing back in 2019! We cancelled just before the pandemic and did so because of the cost, the treatment of employees and contractors, and not getting the “2-day shipping guarantee.”
We also started reading in the press about how Amazon was dumping outside couriers like UPS and FedEx for their “own” delivery drivers (I put ‘own’ in quotes because Amazon clearly washes their hands of any responsibility for the Amazon drivers because they are ‘third party contractors’). Bezos and Co. did everything they could to control metrics, movement and design of their contracted couriers driving the Amazon vans. Yet they fight tooth and nail in court to say the drivers and courier owners are the ones responsible for any liability and they can make their own business decisions, not Amazon. What a joke. But I digress…. good riddance Amazon!
With the brick and mortar stores now price matching Amazon sold and shipped products, I don’t need to spend a minimum of $35 or wait a week plus for a package when I can walk into a store and get better pricing AND I am supporting the physical locations in hopes they will keep their doors open.
P.S. Love your site and YouTube videos. I worked in news for 16 years in Los Angeles and LOVED visiting our news helicopter staff at Whiteman.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this and for your praise about my videos, etc. However, I do have to ask a question: what are you hiding from? You used an alias for your name and you put in an obviously fake email address. Are you so paranoid that you think even a simple blogger like me is going to out you to some sort of QAnon cabal? My comment policy requests a name — and it can be just a first name — and an email address. I don’t use email addresses for anything. Honestly, the only reason I approved your comment is because I’m in a good mood and it does add to the conversation. But in the future, have a common courtesy to use at least a real first name instead of hiding behind an alias.
Of course, even replying to your message is a waste of my time because you will never be notified of the response – you put in a fake email address.
Really? I do have a real email address. It IS a functioning email address. Send something to it and I will tell you what you sent in the comments. I use that email for subscriptions. It’s nothing personal. If you wish to know my real name, so be it – Scott Phillips. However, I am rather surprised for your harsh attack on my character. Sheesh.
Check your subscription list and see that the email I used is subscribed for well over two years now. I even bought your FARS107 book. I understand the frustration to have someone put in what APPEARS to be bogus info but my god, go easy on new commenters – I wasn’t spamming you.
“Harsh attack on your character.” Is that really what you think?
And no, I know you weren’t spamming me. If you were, your comment would have ended up in the spam folder and you wouldn’t be able to comment here again.
I don’t look at subscription lists. I don’t look at emails. I don’t use them for anything; every subscription feature is automated with an easy opt out.
But in this day and age of misinformation and trolling, I’ve become pretty sick and tired of people hiding behind aliases — which is especially absurd since WordPress logs all the ip addresses of every visitor. I’d like a civil conversation and I don’t think it’s asking too much to be able to put at least a realistic first name to the person I’m communicating with.
Duly noted. Hi Maria- I’m Scott. I’ve been subscribed and reading your blog since (I just checked) June 2018. Long time reader, first time commenter. Honestly I’m not offended at this point and I will try to be empathetic of what I am sure is a barrage of nonsense you have to deal with on the internet. I’d like to leave in saying this in a joking manner: we may be internet strangers but if I caught you on a good mood day, I’d hate to piss you off on a bad mood day! Har har har.