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How many are Prime members?

  • Me!

    Votes: 153 82.7%
  • Not me..

    Votes: 28 15.1%
  • Thinking about it..

    Votes: 4 2.2%

  • Total voters
    185

D.T.

macrumors G4
Sep 15, 2011
11,050
12,460
Vilano Beach, FL
oh, OK sorry... Prime isnt the epitome of consumerism? ???

Er, yeah, but that wasn't the direction of the conversation, or the original thread intent, __or__ the reason I responded to "ordering from Prime generates pollution and consumes natural resources ...".
 

kenoh

macrumors demi-god
Jul 18, 2008
6,506
10,850
Glasgow, UK
Er, yeah, but that wasn't the direction of the conversation, or the original thread intent, __or__ the reason I responded to "ordering from Prime generates pollution and consumes natural resources ...".

lol... just pulling your leg..
 
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D.T.

macrumors G4
Sep 15, 2011
11,050
12,460
Vilano Beach, FL
Speaking of the crass consumerism of Amazon ... we have a delivery coming today :D

LED lights, see the "What's on your mind ..." thread for usage (yes, it's again, Halloween related)
 
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MisterSavage

macrumors 601
Nov 10, 2018
4,605
5,448
Well, that's not really a concern specific to Amazon/Prime, if you buy locally there would still be manufacturer shipping, warehouses, trucks distributing to retail locations __and__ the consumer using a vehicle to get to the store.

Not to mention consumers have to drive to multiple places to get a wide variety of things and/or find places that have them in stock. It puts me on the road a lot less using Amazon Prime.
 

Killbynumbers

macrumors 6502a
May 29, 2019
554
544
I'm a Prime member occasionally. Maybe once or twice a year mostly when I think I'll be ordering several things. I don't care about the music or videos included, just when I want to order something.

If I can get it same day, I do or even within the hour. Last month, I ordered some canned food because my local King Soopers seems to no longer carry it. I ordered all the cans Amazon had and got two hr delivery free. It still got delivered before 7am which would have been the one hour block they would have charged me for.

Amazon Prime has it's uses but it's not something I need to keep paying for each month.
 

Huntn

macrumors Core
May 5, 2008
23,396
26,521
The Misty Mountains
I'm a Prime member occasionally. Maybe once or twice a year mostly when I think I'll be ordering several things. I don't care about the music or videos included, just when I want to order something.

If I can get it same day, I do or even within the hour. Last month, I ordered some canned food because my local King Soopers seems to no longer carry it. I ordered all the cans Amazon had and got two hr delivery free. It still got delivered before 7am which would have been the one hour block they would have charged me for.

Amazon Prime has it's uses but it's not something I need to keep paying for each month.
I did not realize you can subscribe per month, thought it was a yearly thing.
 

Killbynumbers

macrumors 6502a
May 29, 2019
554
544
I did not realize you can subscribe per month, thought it was a yearly thing.
It's $12.99 if you pay monthly.

There's been times where I cancelled for almost a year and then they offered me another free month trial again. A few times, I got offered a free week again. They make it hard to cancel and you have to click through 3-4 screens to finally cancel.
 
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TopherMan12

macrumors 6502a
Oct 10, 2019
785
898
Atlanta, GA
Just got an email from Amazon saying that Amazon Fresh (grocery delivery) is now free with Prime. Was $15 a month.

I signed up for the Amazon Fresh trial last month to have my Mac mini delivered to me the same day. Amazon had it discounted $50 so I figured why not? So weird getting a computer delivered in a grocery bag. Not kidding. It was in a grocery bag. ?
 

Elitegate

macrumors 6502a
Nov 2, 2014
533
430
I am no longer a Prime customer, it's not worth it. They promise a delivery within 24 hours (next-day), but when i order something it usually takes 2 days to deliver, and without prime it's between 2 - 3 days. And i also do not use their streaming devices. Only a minority of packages i have ordered i recieved within 24 hours, i guess it's because i live on the countryside and a bit away from the next major city. Literally, i can order something on Monday at 11 am and they ship it on Tuesday, so i will recieve it on Wednesday morning.

I also hate the fact that many articles are now "prime-only." You cannot buy them via Amazon if you are not a Prime customer. And it's 119$ a year in the US, crazy.
 

heyyitssusan

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Feb 9, 2014
3,847
9,393
Just got an email from Amazon saying that Amazon Fresh (grocery delivery) is now free with Prime. Was $15 a month.

I signed up for the Amazon Fresh trial last month to have my Mac mini delivered to me the same day. Amazon had it discounted $50 so I figured why not? So weird getting a computer delivered in a grocery bag. Not kidding. It was in a grocery bag. ?

OK I might give this a shot. I wonder if it works for new Fresh members or do you have to have been using their service to get it?
 

Ifti

macrumors 68040
Dec 14, 2010
3,910
2,407
UK
I guess it comes down to how much you order via Amazon.

I paid for the year up front since it was a little cheaper, but if I add up a next day delivery option from all the purchases I made, I could probably have paid for the extra delivery and still saved a bit over the year in comparison to paying for Prime.
Mine is due to renewal in Dec - I may not bother renewing it.....
 

TopherMan12

macrumors 6502a
Oct 10, 2019
785
898
Atlanta, GA
It is free for everyone now.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/29/20937862/amazon-fresh-free-delivery-fee-prime-members

I guess it comes down to how much you order via Amazon.

I paid for the year up front since it was a little cheaper, but if I add up a next day delivery option from all the purchases I made, I could probably have paid for the extra delivery and still saved a bit over the year in comparison to paying for Prime.
Mine is due to renewal in Dec - I may not bother renewing it.....

You should contact Amazon and ask for a prorated refund.
 
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heyyitssusan

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Feb 9, 2014
3,847
9,393
Amazon has their holiday shop up. anyone know if they do black friday deals at all? Are they comparable to some of the retailer deals?
 

okieoutwest

macrumors regular
Sep 14, 2019
197
224
I have been a Prime member for almost 8 years now, coinciding roughly with when I stopped having a car. Living in a city without a car has tremendous upsides, but being able to move from shop to shop to find difficult-to-locate items is not one of them. I hardly use Amazon Video, Music, or Fresh and am not in the Amazon Echo or Kindle ecosystem, and still find a tremendous value in being an Amazon Prime member. I'm also not convinced of the value of Fresh due to its small selection compared to brick and mortars + the minimum buy requirement.

If you like the service overall, I highly recommend getting either the Amazon Prime Visa or the Store Card (which is newer, and I haven't had experience with). The card offers 5% back on all Amazon purchases; 2% on all drugstore purchases; and 5% at Whole Foods. In addition, at Whole Foods they will often add 10% off random items for being a Prime member as you check-out. I regularly save ~5% on my overall Whole Foods purchase due to being a Prime member and get another 5% back, so it's roughly 9.75% discount at Whole Foods.

And, seeing as we are on MacRumors, there's a lot of value in getting 5% back on any Apple purchase -- far better than the Apple card, and often at a slightly lower price than Apple Stores as long as its not literally the launch month for a new product. The math is if you expect to spend more than $200/month or $2400/yr (that's one Macbook Pro, easily) on Amazon and Whole Foods, the kickbacks on the card purchases alone will pay for the Prime fee.

If you go this route, you can redeem the 5% back for cash or use it as credits against your purchases in Amazon. Go for the cash back and credit it to your Visa account. It's a better value than using it as a gift card, since you will earn 5% on the purchase if you pay for it directly and earn 0% if you use the Amazon credit option.

If you like a local or national charity, check to see if you can support them via http://smile.amazon.com which allows you to donate 1% back of most of your purchases to that charity. I always shop via smile.amazon.com, and if you somehow end up at an Amazon.com link, usually the site itself will ask if you mean to shop at smile.amazon.com.

However, Amazon increasingly has lower quality goods listed. It is hard to wade through the junk, moreso than even 4 or 5 years ago. I generally stick to name brands I recognize, try to make sure the item has "Free Returns" listed, and is sold directly from Amazon not a third party seller. Last, but not least, you can call them and tell them not to ship anything via Amazon Logistics. I prefer UPS or USPS as Amazon's own logistics company is just unprofessional - literally your least favorite neighbor driving things around in their minivan. I have had nothing but trouble with it.

Personally, I don't believe it possible to consume ethically under capitalism, so see little difference in using Amazon or Walmart or Target as my "big box" retailer. For things I know my local corner stores *do* carry, I will often get it there so I'm doing what I can to support local retailers which are an endangered species, even if it means spending another dollar or two on the product. So, things like paper products, detergents, light bulbs, etc. I avoid buying online.
 

heyyitssusan

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Feb 9, 2014
3,847
9,393
Amazon do Black Friday deals for an entire week.

Good to know, thanks!
Still unsure why Amazon is not selling any of the Pine Green silicone cases. Would be nice if they did with the price drop and my credit card points it’d bring it down to about $15
 

Volusia

macrumors 6502
Jun 8, 2016
384
274
Central Florida
We order everything except perishable items from Amazon, so the shipping makes it very convenient. Wife doesn't have to drag products to the check out, then check herself out, load it in the car, unload it and bring it in. The nice UPS folks deposit it right on the front porch for us!
 
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Gutwrench

Suspended
Jan 2, 2011
4,603
10,530
We order everything except perishable items from Amazon, so the shipping makes it very convenient. Wife doesn't have to drag products to the check out, then check herself out, load it in the car, unload it and bring it in. The nice UPS folks deposit it right on the front porch for us!

um....your wife doesn’t have to drag products to check out, then she doesn’t have to check herself out, then she doesn’t have to load it and unload it in her car then finally she doesn’t have to carry it in the house? With Amazon, UPS drops it off on the porch for “us”? Great news. She has more time to make sandwiches. ? (joking)
 

Clix Pix

macrumors Core
I was in the local pharmacy today looking for a particular product, and couldn't readily spot it on the shelves....the thought went fleetingly through my mind: "so much quicker and more accurate to just order from Amazon!" LOL! Fortunately, I finally did locate what I wanted on a lower shelf and that was fine. Otherwise I would've come back home and promptly gotten online to order from Amazon.....

My rule of thumb usually is that an item which is unavailable or likely to be unavailable locally is something I'll order from Amazon. If it's available locally, sometimes a store will actually match prices with Amazon (MicroCenter, for instance), and I'll get all the info and print it out from the Amazon page and having ascertained that the store does have the desired item, I'll then drive a couple miles down the road and make the purchase locally. That has worked out well and keeps the local store in business, too.

As for grocery shopping, that is something which I still prefer to do myself. I like seeing the items on offer, looking through the produce, choosing exactly what I want, etc., and it's not a big deal to put it in the shopping cart, then get in line and put the items on the conveyor belt and pull out my store card and my credit or debit card to pay, run the card through the machine, etc. I usually take a couple of recyclable/reusable bags in with me and then when I'm out at the car with the purchases I sometimes reorganize things to make carrying the bags into the house a little easier for me, by adding another bag or two as needed. I carry everything into the house and then put it all away. Not a big deal and I like (and need) the exercise!
 

akash.nu

macrumors G4
May 26, 2016
10,818
16,896
I was in the local pharmacy today looking for a particular product, and couldn't readily spot it on the shelves....the thought went fleetingly through my mind: "so much quicker and more accurate to just order from Amazon!" LOL! Fortunately, I finally did locate what I wanted on a lower shelf and that was fine. Otherwise I would've come back home and promptly gotten online to order from Amazon.....

My rule of thumb usually is that an item which is unavailable or likely to be unavailable locally is something I'll order from Amazon. If it's available locally, sometimes a store will actually match prices with Amazon (MicroCenter, for instance), and I'll get all the info and print it out from the Amazon page and having ascertained that the store does have the desired item, I'll then drive a couple miles down the road and make the purchase locally. That has worked out well and keeps the local store in business, too.

As for grocery shopping, that is something which I still prefer to do myself. I like seeing the items on offer, looking through the produce, choosing exactly what I want, etc., and it's not a big deal to put it in the shopping cart, then get in line and put the items on the conveyor belt and pull out my store card and my credit or debit card to pay, run the card through the machine, etc. I usually take a couple of recyclable/reusable bags in with me and then when I'm out at the car with the purchases I sometimes reorganize things to make carrying the bags into the house a little easier for me, by adding another bag or two as needed. I carry everything into the house and then put it all away. Not a big deal and I like (and need) the exercise!

This sounds like way too much hassle for me with the routined life I lead. Online shopping is my only preferred option. I can order things as and when I need from wherever I am and schedule to be delivered when I know I’m going to be home. Job done.
 

Expos of 1969

Contributor
Aug 25, 2013
4,741
9,257
No. Amazon is not yet in the Nordics. Some folks order from the UK or Germany but I don't know if they offer Prime to out-of-country customers.
 

Plutonius

macrumors G3
Feb 22, 2003
9,018
8,379
New Hampshire, USA
Just order items $25.00 or more and it ships free without Prime.

It doesn't ship as quickly but most of the time I receive the order in a few days.

I don't worry about being present when the order arrives since I have it shipped to a nearby Rite-Aid and pick the order up there.
 
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