Amazon Prime membership price increase to $99

[photogal06]

It's funny Amazon went through with the price increases when this story and lawsuit about how they've been scamming Prime members is making front page news:
http://gma.yahoo.com/amazon-accused...sts-210708580--abc-news-personal-finance.html

Thanks for the link...I hadn't seen that article

I discovered a while ago that, for the items I buy, the price on Prime with "free" shipping is exactly the same as the price + shipping on other sites. So I'm paying $79 a year for what, exactly?! I felt like such a sucker when I realized. Ever since Christmas my Prime shipping has been 3-4 days, not 2, so I let my Prime expire last week. I would have gotten in under the price increase, but it wasn't worth even $79 to me.

 

[Pooh2]

I got an email that mine is going up Nov 2o14. I have not used it enough to make it worthwhile, the price increase helped decided not to renew it.

 

[wiigirl]

It's still a bargain for me. My Prime just renewed, so I'm good at the old price for another year.

 

[PocahontasLookALike]

How do I get student pricing???

 

[Iowajes]

5. Previously, any item was shipped 2 day for free. Now there are many, many items that are "add on items" that can only be shipped with a $25 minimum order.

That isn't accurate. Only prime eligible items shipped 2 day for free, not any item. In the past those 'add on' items just weren't prime eligible at all (in fact, they just weren't carried by amazon). Amazon expanded their services to offer these items at all.



For those looking for the student membership/discount: http://www.amazon.com/gp/student/signup/info

 

[Judyat]

It's still a good deal for us and I am reminded of that every time I ship a box UPS or USPS. A medium size box costs well over $15 to ship. It's nice to have the option to get a small item and not have to spend $35 to get it shipped free.

 

[EMode]

That isn't accurate. Only prime eligible items shipped 2 day for free, not any item. In the past those 'add on' items just weren't prime eligible at all (in fact, they just weren't carried by amazon). Amazon expanded their services to offer these items at all.



For those looking for the student membership/discount: http://www.amazon.com/gp/student/signup/info

That isn't true for every add-on. There were many items that I had ordered that were Prime eligible that had changed to add-ons.

 

[mousehockey37]

Amazon has had the same $79 for Prime since its inception years ago. The fact that they have added so many things over the years and didn't increase the price until now is unheard of. Prime easily could have inflated year over year and $99 could look like a bargain right now.

 

[kmb584]

I didn't renew when my membership expired last month and am thankful that I didn't. I was very unhappy with it towards the end. Two-day shipments took 4-5 days to reach me, the cancelation of the $3.99 overnight fee, etc. When DD was an infant/toddler it was great for diapers and other essentials (the subscribe & save discount stacked with a coupon plus free shipping - at that time things were delivered to me overnight) but when I stopped purchasing from them frequently, my Prime subscription was left behind and became a senseless expense. In its glory days it was a fantastic service.

 

[btwiceborn]

I looked at my amazon purchase history and realized that I save around $75 throughout the last year on purchases from them. So the savings didnt even match the old price. I cancelled and wouldn't be tempted at the new price.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Mine is up in June, I have to think about it. I do not use the streaming at all really. For now it is a "no brainer" it will be $49 for me so I am definitely keeping it for another year. I am still able to use my "student" account because I signed up using my old college email. I am pretty sure this is the last year I will be eligible for it... After it goes full price, I will really have to think hard about renewing it, I like it but I don't know if I like it $100 a year much.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Slate.com has a useful widget you can use to see if Amazon Prime saves you money:

http://www.slate.com/articles/busin...et_to_find_out_if_the_service_now_99_per.html

 

[lucyem]

Yes, shipping on Amazon is free if the order is over $25. It is called "free super saver shipping."

We always use this option. During the holiday season it does take longer for shipping. But normally I get items within a couple of days. I never understood paying for the whole Prime thing. But honestly I avoid Amazon. Their prices are not always the best.

 

[eileenkeeney]

Does anyone really save money with Amazon Prime, or would those items have shipped free anyway, if one had been willing to not receive them as fast?

Were these items one would have paid for express shipping on anyway?
If not, then it is really not true savings.

Shipping cost is built into the Amazon prices already. They run some sort of program, that continually looks at the prices others are selling for, INCLUDING shipping cost, and that is how I suspect they price.

I use Amazon a lot, but I always just hold stuff in my cart until I have enough to get free shipping.

I have not looked that closely at their video streaming, but I did glance at it. It looked like most stuff cost extra to stream anyway.

 

[kimnmiah]

Mine is up in June, I have to think about it. I do not use the streaming at all really. For now it is a "no brainer" it will be $49 for me so I am definitely keeping it for another year. I am still able to use my "student" account because I signed up using my old college email. I am pretty sure this is the last year I will be eligible for it... After it goes full price, I will really have to think hard about renewing it, I like it but I don't know if I like it $100 a year much.

You have to prove you are still in school when you renew. They want a copy if a transcript or a tuition bill emailed as proof. Just had to do that this week.

 

[Aryn]

We love amazon and will stick with it even if we have to pay 99. (we are on the student price right now) Every item we bought last year (54) came in 2 days without fail. We stream shows and rent our book monthly. We do not have netflix, but have cable and we are totally happy with Amazon.

 

[glassslippergirl]

There is a way to lock in the $79 price for an extra year no matter when your membership renews. It involves gifting yourself a membership now but setting it to activate the day after your current membership expires. The details are in this article:

http://m.cnet.com/videos/save-$20-on-your-amazon-prime-membership/50162058

And here:

http://slickdeals.net/f/6784580-hea...rs-at-79-before-the-price-increase?p=66743626

It's a pretty smart work around.

 

[jessica52877]

Didn't their return policy change at some point in the past year? I have only returned something once, they were too big, but I needed to return something after Christmas and it had been over 30 days so was no longer eligible and I remember seeing that I would have to pay to ship it back. Even though I only used the service once and it cost Amazon about $3 in shipping I really enjoyed knowing it could be done.

 

[jessica52877]

The widget is interesting but if I didn't have prime I would just wait until I had $35 in my cart. I had always done that in the past. The one thing that it seems to do is make it easier to get a rock bottom price on something and not worry about the price changing but it also makes it easier to spend more $.

 

[mickey2000]

The widget is interesting but if I didn't have prime I would just wait until I had $35 in my cart. I had always done that in the past. The one thing that it seems to do is make it easier to get a rock bottom price on something and not worry about the price changing but it also makes it easier to spend more $.

Spend more !!!!

I have 87 orders in the past 6 months