Amazon to increase Prime Membership fee to 119

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I always price check Amazon with Walmart and Target and almost always Walmart wins. And now Walmart carries a lot of the natural brands which I use. Their prices were cheaper when I just ordered Mrs Meyers hand soap, Seventh Generation detergent and some supplements. It only takes a minute to price check and I always do. That’s why I haunt these budget boards - I’m very frugal!

Yeah for me in the variety of items I get Walmart isn't anywhere near as inexpensive for the majority of items compared to Amazon.

I'm frugal too..but not quite certain what that has to do with it all. In fact I'd say that's the opposite of what you'd want to say.

Being frugal is why I price check with Amazon. It's why majority of the times the things I order come from Amazon as they are lower priced for what I'm buying compared to elsewhere in general. Not always just the majority.

I shop at Walmart for groceries as well as Aldi and Costco but for things like:

landscaping edging, the cat's water fountain filters, ice melt, various books (just recently got my mom a couple of Las Vegas hardback books), power cords for laptops and cell phones, cell phone cases, keyboard with case for tablet, pet carrier, toys, nearly all the dvd or blu-rays have been cheaper at Amazon vs Walmart, gutter clips (we installed a gutter guard), bought a shoe once that I already owned the shoe just bought a different color (Amazon had it for $25 everyone else had it for like double the cost) , cables at times, waterproof bags (we used at WDW and Universal), printer ink (was actually a better deal than what Costco had which Costco was running a sale even), car key remote, minwax stain finishing cloths, and the list goes on these items were all cheaper at Amazon than Walmart (with Walmart not having everything listed above either) and a variety of other places.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I am not happy about it, but I will probably keep it.

 

[runwad]

Someone asked about Amazon Student. My DD signed up 4 years ago with her college edu email address. She only had to go in and confirm it but everything else, order confirmations, tracking info, comes to my email. She doesn't get anything from Amazon in her school email except for the initial confirmation.

I find it handy when you have kids away at college. When we're done with that stage I doubt I'll keep it. I don't do the photo storage purposely because that is just how they keep you on the hook forever to keep renewing, so you have access to your photos, no thank you.

I'm not a big picture taker like the kids are, but we use google photos to back our pics to the cloud, it's free and I don't think there is any limit to how much you can put in there.

 

[Ben E N]

I'm going to guess you're not fully utilizing your Costco membership then.

When you say it "only gets you into their stores - you still have to drive there and home yourself." you're not actually correct. As a Costco member I have access to travel deals including rental car deals. I do also have the ability to order online with no shipping costs on a variety of items.

But I would also point out that Costco and Sam's Club are bulk warehouse companies. They are not the same type of company as Amazon. The similarity is that both have a fee and an individual may or may not feel for either platforms that the fee is worth it to them.

No, I do. I use their rental rates, which are better than others, but do not offer unique cars or anything. I have their premium membership, which gives me 2% back, 4% once I factor in my credit card points. But that is still lower than Amazon's 5% back. Also, Amazon offers more unique selection as well as services such as streaming video and music, and cloud storage.
I will always keep my Costco membership due to their amazing meats, though. Costco can't sell me a perfect prime beef brisket for only $3 a pound.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

No, I do. I use their rental rates, which are better than others, but do not offer unique cars or anything. I have their premium membership, which gives me 2% back, 4% once I factor in my credit card points. But that is still lower than Amazon's 5% back. Also, Amazon offers more unique selection as well as services such as streaming video and music, and cloud storage.
I will always keep my Costco membership due to their amazing meats, though. Costco can't sell me a perfect prime beef brisket for only $3 a pound.

Ok...then your original statement was completely false then?

Still a better deal than a Costco or Sam's membership, which only gets you into their stores - you still have to drive there and home yourself.

 

[MillauFr]

So if I sign up for prime through my son's school email account, can I still use my email address for shipping confirmation?

I use my daughter's school account. You can still logon on to Amazon if you want this info.

 

[MillauFr]

I'll renew. Anything to avoid driving to the store. Between the parking fees at the Target by our house and the proposal to charge a variable rate congestion toll to drive into downtown Seattle. No thanks. I'll have everything delivered.

 

[Ben E N]

Ok...then your original statement was completely false then?

Uh, no, subjective.
If I need batteries that very day, I can either order them off Amazon and pay $6 extra to get them within a couple of hours, or drive myself 20 minutes to Costco and use my membership to buy them there. Everyone's needs are there own, but there was nothing misleading or false about what I stated.

 

[Ben E N]

Ok...then your original statement was completely false then?

Oh shoot! I did make a false statement! I just ran out of a specialty item that Costco does not sell (Along with millions of other items.) Amazon had it at a great price. I had stated that it would cost $6 to have things delivered today, but this one is coming same day for free. This saves me a trip to an obscure store, where I would have to pay marked up prices.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Uh, no, subjective.
If I need batteries that very day, I can either order them off Amazon and pay $6 extra to get them within a couple of hours, or drive myself 20 minutes to Costco and use my membership to buy them there. Everyone's needs are there own, but there was nothing misleading or false about what I stated.

Oh shoot! I did make a false statement! I just ran out of a specialty item that Costco does not sell (Along with millions of other items.) Amazon had it at a great price. I had stated that it would cost $6 to have things delivered today, but this one is coming same day for free. This saves me a trip to an obscure store, where I would have to pay marked up prices.

I don't think you understand what I was pointing out.

You said "Still a better deal than a Costco or Sam's membership, which only gets you into their stores - you still have to drive there and home yourself."

There is nothing subjective about that. Costco membership gets you far more than just into their stores. It's a now $60 I believe membership per year that comes with perks (rental car, travel deals, free shipping on a variety of items, normally great pricing, etc).{ETA: I forgot gas at normally a lower price sometimes 20+ cents difference).

I stated previously that "an individual may or may not feel for either platforms that the fee is worth it to them."--that is a subjective aspect.

When I stated you must not use your Costco membership to its fullest you said no you have used it for rental cars. Therefore your previous statement of "only gets you into their stores" is false as you know at least some of Costco's perks and have used at least one of them. The difference is like I said before you may not feel as though it's worth it to you.

ETA: I will say to your 'marked up price' aspect. We just bought an igloo brand hard sided cooler. It holds 98 cans (62qt) plus ice for 5 days (supposedly). Costco had it for $39.99. Upon researching before buying it while in the store we found it was a model sold only for Costco--moreso it was the qt size that varied but the overall design was the same elsewhere. The most similar we could find was Amazon had the 52qt version for $62.98. Dick's Sporting Goods had a 70qt version for $69.99....yeah I'm gonna say Costco's price was by far the best.

We just research before we buy things to see if we can get something elsewhere for a better price.

 

[DisneyHardin]

We will still renew because it is so quick and easy. Last night I realized I forgot to go to the craft store for replacement pin backs my DH needed for his uniform. He doesn’t need them until Friday so I ordered them from Amazon and they will be delivered Wednesday and I don’t have to drive across town after work to get them.

Little things like that make it worth the yearly fee.

 

[kamik86]

I think this largely depends on where you live.

Those that live in areas of high traffic and the stores they need are crowded and they don't want to deal with traffic.

Or me where if target doesn't carry it its hard to find in my area. I use it for all the stuff I can't easily get in this area without a few hours drive. I don't use it for the stuff I can get at target. Others might but since my husband is there a minimum of three days a week anyway its not worth it for me.

If you live somewhere that this isn't an issue then yeah the 120 probably isn't worth it. However for those of us that use it... its worth it.

 

[Dakota731]

I'm frugal too..but not quite certain what that has to do with it all. In fact I'd say that's the opposite of what you'd want to say.

No that’s exactly what I meant and exactly what I did say. Again, I check prices on several sites before ordering, and I’ve weighed the cost/value for a prime membership and it’s not FRUGAL for me. And I check these boards for budget tips even when I’m not planning a trip. That’s my experience which is all I or anyone else can share.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I think this largely depends on where you live.

Those that live in areas of high traffic and the stores they need are crowded and they don't want to deal with traffic.

Or me where if target doesn't carry it its hard to find in my area. I use it for all the stuff I can't easily get in this area without a few hours drive. I don't use it for the stuff I can get at target. Others might but since my husband is there a minimum of three days a week anyway its not worth it for me.

If you live somewhere that this isn't an issue then yeah the 120 probably isn't worth it. However for those of us that use it... its worth it.

For us, it is what Amazon carries.

I have celiac and I am gluten free. Wal-Mart doesn't carry sweet rice flour. Millet flour is also hard to find. If I want to buy those at a brick and mortar I have to drive at least an hour, maybe two. I could order it from Wal-Mart, but then I have a choice of one manufacturer. Amazon gives me numerous options.

 

[smiths02]

So when exactly is this taking place? My renewal is up in June and my screen now says this:

Next Payment:
On June 11, 2018, you will be charged $99.00 for a year of Prime.

ETA: I see June 16th...looks like I just made the cut. Woohoo!

 

[Ben E N]

I don't think you understand what I was pointing out.

You said "Still a better deal than a Costco or Sam's membership, which only gets you into their stores - you still have to drive there and home yourself."

There is nothing subjective about that. Costco membership gets you far more than just into their stores. It's a now $60 I believe membership per year that comes with perks (rental car, travel deals, free shipping on a variety of items, normally great pricing, etc).{ETA: I forgot gas at normally a lower price sometimes 20+ cents difference).

I stated previously that "an individual may or may not feel for either platforms that the fee is worth it to them."--that is a subjective aspect.

When I stated you must not use your Costco membership to its fullest you said no you have used it for rental cars. Therefore your previous statement of "only gets you into their stores" is false as you know at least some of Costco's perks and have used at least one of them. The difference is like I said before you may not feel as though it's worth it to you.

ETA: I will say to your 'marked up price' aspect. We just bought an igloo brand hard sided cooler. It holds 98 cans (62qt) plus ice for 5 days (supposedly). Costco had it for $39.99. Upon researching before buying it while in the store we found it was a model sold only for Costco--moreso it was the qt size that varied but the overall design was the same elsewhere. The most similar we could find was Amazon had the 52qt version for $62.98. Dick's Sporting Goods had a 70qt version for $69.99....yeah I'm gonna say Costco's price was by far the best.

We just research before we buy things to see if we can get something elsewhere for a better price.

The other features of Costco's or Sams' membership are not unique to them. Yes, they can get you discounts, but so can other places such as AAA. Their gas is cheaper, but gas can be bought anywhere. By buying into their club, the only unique thing you are getting is access into their clubs. Features offered by Amazon, such as ordering through Alexa, cannot be had using other products. Not a huge deal either way, but if you're going to argue semantics, there you have it.
I think this point you are trying to disagree with is a kind of silly one. The only real similarity between Amazon and Costco/Sam's is that they charge money to get their full benefits (or any benefits in Costco/Sam's cases). The comparisons between even Sam's and Costco is such a hard one to do because they offer different products, especially when comparing Kirkland to Sam's generics. The comparison is essentially impossible between Amazon and those places, because Amazon's real strength is their availability of products, not the great value you get by shopping with them.
I personally will continue to hold memberships at both places, even if they raise their prices by 20% each. If they were to further their price increases to the point that I could only hold one, though, I would go with Amazon just because I use their products and services so much more useful to me. I am sure there are others who would go with Costco, and others who would opt out of both. That doesn't make any of us right or wrong, it just shows how useful those services are to us.

 

[smiths02]

For now, we will keep even if it was $119.
For the products we buy regularly, they are cheaper than most stores. I do check Walmart and target, but I find the price difference to be small generally. Some of the things I get I could get a local supermarket, and I find Amazon prices better than that even if not as good as Walmart.
For instance, I have subscribe and save to get 16 protein shakes a month. I pay $30.36 on Amazon, $29.08 on Walmart (but ordering 4 of them would not get me free shipping), Kroger is $35.96 if I go into the store and buy them
I also prefer the choice of things on Amazon to say Walmart or Target.

We also don't have cable, so we only have Netflix and Amazon Prime. I also utilize the free books sometimes. I also like how Amazon lets us all watch (we all have Kindles) whereas Netflix I have to pay extra to watch more than 2 screens. So our Netflix bill is $167.88 a year. Granted, their streaming choices are better, but I'm not getting books or free shipping with them either.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The other features of Costco's or Sams' membership are not unique to them. Yes, they can get you discounts, but so can other places such as AAA. Their gas is cheaper, but gas can be bought anywhere. By buying into their club, the only unique thing you are getting is access into their clubs. Features offered by Amazon, such as ordering through Alexa, cannot be had using other products. Not a huge deal either way, but if you're going to argue semantics, there you have it.
I think this point you are trying to disagree with is a kind of silly one. The only real similarity between Amazon and Costco/Sam's is that they charge money to get their full benefits (or any benefits in Costco/Sam's cases). The comparisons between even Sam's and Costco is such a hard one to do because they offer different products, especially when comparing Kirkland to Sam's generics. The comparison is essentially impossible between Amazon and those places, because Amazon's real strength is their availability of products, not the great value you get by shopping with them.
I personally will continue to hold memberships at both places, even if they raise their prices by 20% each. If they were to further their price increases to the point that I could only hold one, though, I would go with Amazon just because I use their products and services so much more useful to me. I am sure there are others who would go with Costco, and others who would opt out of both. That doesn't make any of us right or wrong, it just shows how useful those services are to us.

I still don't think you get what I was saying. I'm not arguing against features, etc. You're arguing something that I'm not even talking about.

Your initial statement was "only gets you into their stores" That is not correct. I have now said multiple times that the value of the membership is subjective. But what is not subjective is that Costco is more than just a store-you may not use the perks that your Costco membership gets you but that doesn't mean they don't exist. It doesn't matter if you can get X somewhere else-that doesn't mean that Costco doesn't have other perks.

That's like saying Amazon Prime only gets you 2-day shipping. Sure lots of people use Prime for the shipping (just like lots of people go to Costco's warehouses to shop) but people also use it for Prime Video, Prime Music, Photo Storage, etc all of which are features of being a Prime member just like Costco travel, free shipping for a variety of items, warehouse shopping, used to be photo development (our local store's machine went out 5 years ago and they advised at that time that locations that have the photo would still do it but once the machine broke that was it), etc are features of Costco.

*As an aside I'm an AAA member, a Costco member, a Direct Buy member, and an Amazon Prime member. All memberships currently hold value (though Direct Buy is one that we've only used to get our fridge so far) even though some features are overlapped. As far as subscriptions go we currently have Netflix, Kindle Unlimited (bought and renewed at 40% off on Prime Day) and currently CBS All-Access though we will be cancelling that one once we finish the leftover episodes of the new Star Trek show, (ETA: we also have cable tv). Again all subscriptions currently hold value even though some features are overlapped. I wouldn't cancel my Netflix subscription just because I can get movies and tv shows through the library for instance. I use the library in conjunction with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. If the price of any of my memberships or subscriptions reached a certain amount where I saw no more value in their features or perks then I would opt to not renew or cancel them.

 

[usnuzuloose]

So when exactly is this taking place? My renewal is up in June and my screen now says this:

Next Payment:
On June 11, 2018, you will be charged $99.00 for a year of Prime.

ETA: I see June 16th...looks like I just made the cut. Woohoo!

They charged me 107.99.

 

[kymom99]

They charged me 107.99.

Tax?