Amazon prime?
 

Is this something I want or is it one of those things they give you "free" but you have to cancel later if you don't use it...?

It all depends on how much stuff you order from Amazon. I use it quite a bit as they almost always have a "free 2nd day delivery" deal.

Yes, you have to cancel it after you use it before the end of the trial period or it's one of those subscription deals.

Bezos didn't get to where he is by giving stuff away.

I do not order from Amazon anymore. I started, then cancelled my account when they abused my email inbox. It was far more difficult to stop getting email from them than it was to start.

Thanks guys! I think I'll pass too.

Twenty years ago, Amazon was a cheap discount bookseller. Because online offered low overhead, they under priced traditional retailers and dominated the market. Then they forgot about books, and reinvented themselves as the retailers of everything, the E-Bay alternative, the rocket boys, the giant computer timeshare service bureau, the grocery store, and a bunch of other stuff. None of which they do particularly well. Nor are they any longer particularly cheap. Their main stock in trade is logistics. By dominating transportation and delivery market share, they dominate all markets which depend on transportation, which is to say all markets. Like Standard Oil in the 1890's, it's not about the price of the goods, it's the way they manipulate shipping cost. Why it's tolerated I couldn't tell you.

Their prices are routinely 10-20% higher than the shop-around competition, and worse, the price may vary based on customer profile. It's really astonishing that they have so many ardent defenders.

No. Their main profit center is web hosting and services. It's like 97% of their profit. AWS is an industry juggernaut.

I use their streaming service quite a bit. I do order a fair amount from them. I shop around and their prices seem quite competitive to me at least on what I shop for. Their shipping and return policy more than makes up for any price difference in my opinion.

For $125/year

1. Amazon version of Netflix (including the real top gear)
2. Amazon streaming music
3. Free delivery on everything.

If you have Netflix for $15 a month you are already paying $130/year for that. Everything else is bonus. It is true, amazon gets your with the convenience. Some items are particularly expensive but if you know what your looking for you can avoid the convenience traps.

I use it for my business. It’s cheaper for me to pay an extra dollar for toilet paper than to send a$15/hr employee to the store to buy it, which will certainly take him an hour at least.

At home my wife is stuck with the kids and most times it’s easier to pay an extra dollar than load up the kids and unload them etc. for a single item. Amazon is so big because they are doing it right and th customers are deciding with their pocket books.

As a brick and mortar store it kind of hurts me to say it. Amazon will eventually put me out of business as soon as they decide to sell appliances.

How you use Amazon dictates whether or not Prime is worth it to you. If you only use Amazon a few times a year it totally isn't worth it. If you shop from their store often (at least twice a month) or you use their streaming services, then Prime is worth it. In my area there's really only Wal-Mart or Lowe's/Home Depot as any sort of a big-box store to go to. I absolutely despise going in the prior and will go out of my way not to shop there unless I have no other choice or time constraints prevent shopping elsewhere.

If I want to shop anywhere else, it's pretty much an hour's drive. It's all about where you live and what your options are. If you're in a city you have choices that those of us in more rural areas don't. Paying for Prime and getting things shipped to me that I can't get locally is a major benefit. Certainly less expensive than that 140 mile round trip every time I need something I can't get locally. If you're smart and you shop around on the site, you can often find things with Prime shipping for the same cost as competitors but without freight costs and without sales tax (though that may change before long).

No. It's like the blind men and the elephant. AWS can be accurately regarded as their logistics chain for virtual products. The goal there as with physical delivery is market dominance. And since when did they give a hoot about profit? As long as the next fool is willing to shell out ever more for stock, they don't need no stinkin profits.

"accurately regarded as logistics chain for virtual products". That makes no sense, can you explain? They own and have developed AWS over quite a few years. Some homegrown some acquisition, but their platforms are very widely adopted and well established.

I buy a lot of the "used" stuff from Amazon which usually means open or damaged box. If I don't like it I ship it back for free. You can't beat Amazon's return policy.

A few examples from the last couple of months:
Driver's side w124 front control arm lemforder $36
LG LCRT2010ST microwave $93 ($199 retail)
Castrol 0w40 synthetic 5qt $18 (prime day)
Bosch 5275WS w203 air filters $5/ea
Lemforder w203 transmission mount $7
KYB 553178 w124 rear shocks $18 ea

People abuse the hell out of Amazon's free return policy and most of that stuff gets resold as used for much less. The prime subscription pays for itself in no time. Add to that the 5% back on the Amazon card and it's a no brainier.

Given enough time and effort you'll probably find a physical or online store where any given item is cheaper than amazon. The thing is my time is money and Amazon saves me a lot of time. If I can wait 2 days for any item I'll buy it on Amazon and save myself a trip to the store.

https://pics.me.me/1998-2017-sell-bo...e-32478475.png

I began a Prime member when they showed me that I had spent $350 on shipping costs over a 12 month period. I decided that their $99 a year membership for free 2 day shipping was worth it, considering what and how much I bought. The first item I bought from them on the Prime plan paid for the membership for the year. I bought a large fire and water proof gun safe, for the same price I would have had to pay from the manufacturer, minus the $130 shipping cost. It was a no brainer for me on that purchase...Prime did it's job.

I've been a member since the year after it came out, and haven't looked back. In my home, it saves me money.

You have to shop around with them.
For a while I bought diesel purge through them, then a guy on Ebay started selling it for 6.00 a can so I switched.

Big companies negotiate minimal shipping rates. Damaging other on line retailers of medium and smaller size. I believe it is so competitive some of their shipping suppliers reduced costs to get the contracts. Then are downloaded onto increasing individuals shipping rates.

I only buy from ebay USA or ebay Canada. If I am really desperate for an item now. Or the item is shipped from the orient for almost nothing. I live in eastern Canada. . .Many things are five percent of local retail including shipping from the orient.

Delivery though Is usually slow. A little quicker out of Hong Kong usually. Last week outside mirror led light assembly for the jetta. Fifty dollars ebay. Plus ebay will want their cut on shipping to Canada.

Five dollars including shipping from China. Could be a knock off but that has not been a general experience with most things acquired there by me in the last year or so. Before that there were far more knock offs.

Unless pretty obvious. Seem now to be the exact same parts the original manufactures used in production. Or what they sell you as replacements. Volkswagon does not manufacture these units as they are seen as fitting many brands of cars in the listing.

If nothing else it is ten percent or less the cost of American vendors listing the part on ebay. Their part will be the exact same part in most cases.

It makes sense that a carrier would discount for its best customer. But Amazon has access to rates and services that are probably net losses to their carriers. The carrier pushes these losses into small businesses and individuals. To understand this, price out the cost of one of your prime shipments as an individual. Depending on what you buy, shipping at normal rates can easily exceed the cost of the product alone. Chinese shippers on eBay are either directly subsidized by their govt, or stealing postal service from their employers. Again, price out the cost of sending the item back to see how it works.

In an earlier age, similar abuses led to the ICC regulating rail rates. If all the talk about helping small business isn’t just wind, then some sort of control has to be put in place over the primary carriers.

The same rationale can be applied to the automotive sales business, grocery or any other commercial enterprise.

There are always "loss leaders" which are compensated by mark-ups on other products.

Not the same. A can of tomato sauce on sale this week has insignificant impact on general commerce. But the price of transportation underlies everything. Amazon can't offer "free" shipping without massive price concessions from the shippers, and the shippers can't offer those concessions without making up for it every place else. Again, investigate this yourself. Price out the undiscounted cost of returning an item on your own dime. That cost is the subsidy which small shippers are indirectly paying to their larger competitor. Not just on prime day, but every day.

One thing to consider is when you go out shopping, just about everything you drive to the store for is available on Prime without having to leave the house.
Most of the time, cheaper too, plus eliminating the cost of fuel and insurance driving to and from the store.

I was under impression Tom liked to drive.

Of course.

I picked up a new clutched AC compressor for the C320 on Amazon to replace unreliable clutchless compressor. $200 retail, $86 open box. Not even fleabay can compete with that.

they have now started the Data mining angle with their web hosting and their little digital spy alexa or whatever its called JUST LIKE GOOGLE, but to guys like you TBO there is no concerns, because there is no such thing as privacy anymore anyway,




this is why google has started the massive move to get their hooks into as many as possible ahead of having to comply with the new EU regulations on privacy,, cant really keep track of whatever I used to do that was hijacked --the operating systems were GUTTED and now if you want to do anything you "have to _uPgrade_ to chrome" in other words you have to sign away your right NOT to have google sucking up any and all of your data, and sending ot to their data processing center to decide whats sellable to the brokers............................................................................................. .................................

You have literally no idea what you're talking about, that much is apparent.

So persons personal data is --Not the oil of the 21st century?


Google is NOT mining as much personal Data from the populace as they possibly can ?




Google does not have huge "data centers".........


and Facebook does Not have huge "data centers"..........


And they are Not selling persons data to data brokers?

Really, why then did the EU put a stop -set limits- to the tech companys personal data mining abuses?

So I have no idea what im talking about ~~ because as far as peeps like you are concerned,, there is really no such thing as people protecting their privacy anymore?


Because- that was such a , uh, 20th century kind of thing anyway?


https://www.nasdaq.com/article/how-the-eus-new-privacy-law-will-impact-big-tech-in-2018-cm893605

And what's really weird is none of those are AWS, which is what the topic is....

wow...triggered much panzz?

I have been to googles data center in Goose Creek SC. Its pretty huge

I buy used books from Amazon fairly often .

I can't see paying them anything over the basic item price as I'm a Yankee Farm Boy and so price shop very aggressively .

I can see where those who shop on Amazon lot, or watch too much TV, would find prime a $ deal but, I don't have Amazon blowing up my inbox with clutter I don't want .

Well actually I was countering your comment about how amazon is making much of its money,, they are clearly branching into Data Collecting /Selling.

I buy a fair amount on AMZN, particularly vitamins and herbal supplements. Also their annual sales are great. Every fall they have 25% off on boots, which are already well priced. I have an Amazon Rewards Visa card set up as my primary payment method and the card is set up to auto pay off its balance monthly out of a checking account. No fees, and the rewards are far more than enough annually to cover the cost of the membership. For best prices I use a Chrome APP called 'Honey' that tracks prices on any item I am searching for and finds the best price.

Bingo. If I can wait two days for it, and don't have the time to drive around for it, Amazon gets the order.

Most stuff is cheaper-my Pirellis were $185/pop. Local shops were $220+
Go price out a surefire on amazon vs dick's ($60 vs $100).

Think of it as a really convenient and decently priced walmart.

camelcamelcamel is web based and does the same thing. It's awesome for getting car parts you don't need right this minute.

Check out warehouse deals for car parts. People return **** just because the box is damaged or they find 1 scratch. W124 Lemforder front control arms for $36 a pop... yes please.

I think this year I'll crest $20k on Amazon because of my business, Prime is great as is the Prime Visa card.


You know you order a lot when they want to send you a button for Aprilaire furnace filters and door knobs!:D