Teach me about Amazon Prime

[dancingirl21]

So the general idea is it costs $70ish a year for faster delivery and has free shows/movies to stream?

What made you decide to get it? With the babe on the way, I'm thinking we will likely use amazon a lot more. What do you buy from there? Does it seem worth it for prime? I wonder because most things I order have been eligible for free shipping and I usually have it in under a week.

[LoveTrains]

I got amazon prime years ago when they first came out with it. I first did it because I wanted xmas presents delivered. I have had amazon prime for years and years now - and I love it because I get stuff in two days after ordering.

I order tons of stuff from amazon - granola bars, deoderant, soap, trash bags, paper towels, dog treats, etc. It all comes in two days so I always have it when I need it. It saves me tons of time.

I also enjoy the amazon prime lending library on my kindle now, too.

[LoveTrains]

I should add that everything comes in two days except fo the dog treats I ordered last Saturday and didn't get until YESTERDAY. I am pissed about that. That is the first time, though, in years that I have had a problem with delivery timing on prime.

[Becca]

You pay $79 - they ship nearly everything you buy for free

If you buy one or two things a year, probably not worth it.

If you buy all your diapers, wipes and anything else you don't want to run to the store for, it is so worth it.

(Though fair warning - prime coupled with 'one click shopping' can be detrimental to a MM budget )

[lochnessie]

Sign up for the free month trail! Then see how much you use it. I used it for some xmas gifts, and hosehold things (cleander, tampons,diapers). It was pretty handy dandy not having to go to the store! I didn't renew it yet, bc a lot of the things were bulk. I will sign up for the year membership in a few months.

[lochnessie]

Jan 5, 2013 10:08:05 GMT -5 Becca said:

You pay $79 - they ship nearly everything you buy for free

If you buy one or two things a year, probably not worth it.

If you buy all your diapers, wipes and anything else you don't want to run to the store for, it is so worth it.

(Though fair warning - prime coupled with 'one click shopping' can be detrimental to a MM budget )

OMG Agreed

[Deleted]

$80 a year. You get free 2-day shipping and $3.99 1-day shipping.

Amazon Prime definitely makes life easier when you have a kid. It is SO nice to just be able to get on the computer and order something I need in a few clicks rather than getting a kid ready to go out the door and driving to Target or wherever. Prime pays for itself easily both in terms of the money saved on shipping and taxes (though Amazon IS going to start collecting sales tax soon), but also because Amazon offers a lot of items at lower prices than I can get in-store and saves me gas money, especially if I get something that I would need to make a special trip out for. I also like that you don't need to spend $25+ to get the free shipping.

Recent Amazon orders in our house, and why we used Amazon:
USB hub and extension cable (way better price than I would find in store; saved me a trip to a specialty store like Radio Shack)
Toddler mittens (they didn't have them at Target, saves me from having to go out hunting around)
Furniture wall straps and TV tethering straps (didn't have at Target, no need to hunt)
Wall decal for DD's room (better selection and prices than in store)
Demineralization cartridge for humidifier (would have to make a special trip out to Bed Bath & Beyond for the one item)
A new wallet for me (better selection and prices than in store)

...etc. We also get toiletries and other household items from Amazon.

[Deleted]

We do not really use the streaming video.

You can also get Amazon Mom (free Prime) for 1 year to try it out if they are still doing that. It's what hooked me.

[Deleted]

I swear this question is asked every week, at least once.

I love Prime. I love Amazon. If you get it, make sure you use it a lot. I buy stuff on Amazon now that I wouldn't have before having Prime (like batteries, swiffer mop refills, etc) and it's been very convenient not to have to run to the store for 1 thing (at least when it is something I don't need for a couple of days).

[dancingirl21]

I will definitely look into the free month trial and Amazon mom. Thanks!

[CloudBee]

It has saved me from making many trips to the grocery store and Costco over the years. I still grocery shop regularly, but honestly, not quite as often. Same with Costco trips.

There is nothing better than coming home from work in the dead of winter with a jumbo pack of toilet paper on your front steps. I hate lugging those big, bulky items from store to car, and car to house.

Amazon has very reasonably priced organic canned good - like tomatoes and beans. I cook with both quite often. Again, heavy, brought to my door, delivered in 2 days or less, etc.

I sometimes use the $3.99 one day shipping option for sending gifts to nieces/nephews.

[sillygoosegirl]

I love shopping on Amazon because of their product reviews. I often feel lost on what to buy at a regular store, and often find I've chosen the wrong product after I've had it a while. I feel like that happens a lot less when I choose based on the reviews at Amazon. We do nearly all our Christmas shopping on Amazon, and we aren't very organized, so before we had Prime, it seemed like we were always paying for rush shipping at Christmas time. We just purchased a house a week ago, and we have ready purchased from Amazon: new locks, new garbage disposal, a bunch of LED lights, and specialty batteries for the garage door opener.

I feel like a lot of the smaller prime household items, like toiletries or food are over priced, but if I can save myself a trip to the store, that's often okay, especially as busy as I am at work and as much travel as I do for work. They also have a lot of things that are hard to find elsewhere. Like, it's the only place I've ever found to buy Thai tea outside of a restaurant (one of my favorite Amazon finds, which I buy often, since I can make it without the carnation evaporated milk, which is really unhealthy, and drink it in the morning when it won't interfere with my sleep, in addition to being very MM compared with a restaurant).

You can link one Amazon Prime account to like 6 separate Amazon logins, so we don't have to worry about seeing each other's Christmas purchases early. We didn't know this when we first got it, and there were no surprises that first Christmas with it...

The one thing I don't like about Amazon prime is that it encourages me to do even more of my shopping at a giant company, rather than at mom and pop stores.

[Deleted]

Jan 5, 2013 10:29:31 GMT -5 CloudBee said:

Amazon has very reasonably priced organic canned good - like tomatoes and beans. I cook with both quite often. Again, heavy, brought to my door, delivered in 2 days or less, etc.

Do they have the kind that comes in BPA free cans? I'm going to have to look this up. If they do... game changer.

[fredaruth]

Jan 5, 2013 10:14:01 GMT -5 @buckybells said:

I swear this question is asked every week, at least once.

Scroll down and make some effort. This topic is discussed practically every damn day.

[joenali]

I wish I could do Amazon Fresh with prime.

[4speedy]

I had Amazon Mom when my son wore diapers. I just checked it this morning to see if I could reactivity it for free since it's been we'll over 12 months since I bought diapers. Sadly, I can't reactivity for the free trial.

DO NOT sign up for Amazon Prime. What you want is to sign up for AMAZON MOM instead. You will get a THREE month free trial of Amazon Prime, which is a longer trial period than just the straight Amazon Prime membership. You can extend your free member ship by one additional month for every month that you spend a certain amount in subscription purchases. back when I was using it, it was $25 a month, I think. I'm not sure what the current minimum is. So I set up a subscription for an automatic delivery of a case of diapers every other month. I had another order set up to ship night time diapers and wipes in the alternating months. That was enough to extend my free trial of Amazon Prime for the maximum amount, which was 12 months back then. (Again, not sure if it is different now.)

The diapers were cheaper than Costco and delivered to me at no shipping charge. They send you an email about 3-4 days before your subscription order ships and you always have the option to reschedule a shipment if you still have plenty on hand. You also want to create orders that are in multiples at or just over the minimum to get the maximum number of free months. For instance, when I used Amazon Mom, each monthly order of $25 or more earned an additional free month. Placing 2 separate orders of $24 got you nothing. As long as you hit that $25 threshold, you got your extra month free. A $49 order was a waste, since it only earned one extra month. If you could create an order for $51, you would get an email saying, "your order of $51 just earned 2 free months of Prime. Your free membership is extended through May..."

The items I ordered were 2 types of diapers, wipes, A&D ointment, laundry detergent and face moisturizer for me. I combined the quantities and items to create standing orders that were in $25 increments. Some items came every other month, more frequently used items were scheduled for monthly delivery. After about 6 months, I had enough credit for an entire year of Prime. So I was able to do all of my Christmas shopping online (who wants to drag a baby out Christmas shopping?). I could order a $2 stocking stuffer on a whim and get it in two days without paying shipping. It was the easiest Christmas shopping I'veever had. I really wish I could figure out a way to get another free membership. It's not nearly as easy once you stop buying diapers to meet the requirements!

[joenali]

Jan 5, 2013 15:35:21 GMT -5 kooshball said:

Jan 5, 2013 14:06:57 GMT -5 joenali said:

I wish I could do Amazon Fresh with prime.

Agree. I usually spend enough to get free delivery "Big radish" status but it would be nice if it included prime.

I had "big radish" status last month. It was awesome! Now I don't have it for this month!

[ESF]

I signed up for it when we didn't have a car to get bulkier, heavier grocery items, paper products, etc. I'm completely hooked and am frustrated when places don't offer fast and/or free shipping now. We haven't been to Costco in years now (h's dad includes him on his plan, otherwise, we'd cancel that). It's so good for emergencies - realizing you are on the last roll of TP with no time to go to the store, etc.

I don't live near family and so it is fantastic for shipping gifts as well.

H streams episodes of the West Wing for free through it, and we occasionally pull off other stuff. It's got decent stand up comedy options to stream -- better than Netflix -- if you are into that.

I'm a fatass and Eloquii clothing is prime eligible so that's been great.

I order a lot of shoes through them as well. Returns on shoes are fairly easy and free returns. Don't love the 30 day window as compared to zappos, which gives you a year, but if I were less lazy, then it wouldn't be a big deal.

You can store multiple addresses so h has shipped snack items directly to his office.

I love it so much that I don't understand why someone wouldn't use it.

[dancingirl21]

Jan 5, 2013 13:50:00 GMT -5 fredaruth said:

Jan 5, 2013 10:14:01 GMT -5 @buckybells said:

I swear this question is asked every week, at least once.

Scroll down and make some effort. This topic is discussed practically every damn day.

You didn't have to click on the topic if you didn't like it. I did look first, but didn't see it.

Thank you, everyone else, for your helpful responses.

[Deleted]

Question about sharing- if H and I shared a prime account (as in we each had our own separate log-ins) then could we both get the benefits like streaming movies and stuff?

[Chrysanthemum]

Jan 5, 2013 10:05:35 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

I got amazon prime years ago when they first came out with it. I first did it because I wanted xmas presents delivered. I have had amazon prime for years and years now - and I love it because I get stuff in two days after ordering.

I order tons of stuff from amazon - granola bars, deoderant, soap, trash bags, paper towels, dog treats, etc. It all comes in two days so I always have it when I need it. It saves me tons of time.

I also enjoy the amazon prime lending library on my kindle now, too.

What is the quality of books in the Kindle lending library? I'm not impressed with their free ones right now and wonder if the Prime selection is that much better? Can you get bestsellers?

[Becca]

Jan 5, 2013 16:40:20 GMT -5 cuadrado said:

Question about sharing- if H and I shared a prime account (as in we each had our own separate log-ins) then could we both get the benefits like streaming movies and stuff?

I have prime and I assigned DH's log-in to my account so he has the shipping benefits. He says he is unable to do the streaming on his account. But I haven't checked to see if that is true, or if he is just being technology challenged and missing something.

[CloudBee]

Jan 5, 2013 13:29:39 GMT -5 @carmensandiego said:

Jan 5, 2013 10:29:31 GMT -5 CloudBee said:

Amazon has very reasonably priced organic canned good - like tomatoes and beans. I cook with both quite often. Again, heavy, brought to my door, delivered in 2 days or less, etc.

Do they have the kind that comes in BPA free cans? I'm going to have to look this up. If they do... game changer.

Yes, a few brands I'm aware of that I purchase are Muir Glen Organic, Eden Organic, Native Forest Organic, Pacific Natural Foods Organic (in boxes)...

[chia]

I agree that you should sign up for the Amazon Mom trial... here's the link:
www.amazon.com/gp/mom/signup/?ie=UTF8&tag=krissfacepage-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957

You should note, though - these free trials don't include free streaming.

Also, if you wind up buying Amazon Prime, you can split it with other people by adding them to the account (you can add 3 or 4 additional people...). I share it with my sister and my Mom. They don't get the streaming (I'm the main account), but they don't really care about streaming.

[Deleted]

I love Amazon and find many things cheaper than I would elsewhere. I find the Prime shipping to be an awesome benefit but I have a student membership so it is cheaper. I do think it is a wonderful thing to have!

[Shreddingbetty]

I did a trial membership shortly after DD was born because I wanted my pump right away. I have been hooked ever since. We have bought some big ticket items that made it well worth it: DD's crib and travel crib, a big BBQ, a big backyard play set. I used to order diaper but we have been done with that for a while. I couldn't get pampers sensitive swaddlers where I live so it worked out well. I have ordered lots of DVDs, baby/kid items. Just ordered a DVD player (other one broke). I do pretty much all my shopping on amazon (other than grocery :-)). I don't have to leave my house and I get it quickly (nice when I run out of ink on my printer cartridges)

There are lots of things that are readily available on amazon that I can't easily find in the store or wouldnt know where to look. And now with the amazon app I find myself scanning lots of items in the store to compare prices. If it is cheaper on amazon (it usually is) I order from amazon. I love being able to get a lot of reviews.

I have not used the amazon video streaming but I haven't really watched any movies since DD was born.

If there were an Amazon Anonymous I probably should be part of it. I am a total amazon junkie and the prime membership is totally worth it for us.

I also ordered a bunch of stuff from Amazon France a couple of months ago and the shipping on that was free as well (it was shipped to my aunt in Paris when we visited).

::::::off to order a couple of more log racks:::::

[Shreddingbetty]

Jan 5, 2013 16:40:20 GMT -5 cuadrado said:

Question about sharing- if H and I shared a prime account (as in we each had our own separate log-ins) then could we both get the benefits like streaming movies and stuff?

No, for streaming it is only the main account holder. But he could use your amazon sign-in and stream

[estrellita]

We have a free trial of Prime with our new Kindle we got for Christmas. We were already using FI's account for apps on our phones (so we could both use whatever we downloaded), so the Kindle is under his. We are considering continuing Prime partially because of the books and movies. I "rented" a book for free and started reading it. We can rent one per month. Do we get to keep the previously rented book and "check out" a new one as well? Do we keep it until we delete it or is there some sort of limit on the number you can have? I haven't tested out the streaming movies, but are there any sort of limits on the number of movies and stuff you can watch in a month?

I'm not a huge Amazon user but depending on the answers to those questions we may continue it. I also told FI that we need to start price comparing and buying more house items on Amazon to make it worth it, but we'd like to see if the books/movies alone may make it worth the cost. Thanks!

[Shreddingbetty]

Jan 6, 2013 1:49:51 GMT -5 estrellita said:

We have a free trial of Prime with our new Kindle we got for Christmas. We were already using FI's account for apps on our phones (so we could both use whatever we downloaded), so the Kindle is under his. We are considering continuing Prime partially because of the books and movies. I "rented" a book for free and started reading it. We can rent one per month. Do we get to keep the previously rented book and "check out" a new one as well? Do we keep it until we delete it or is there some sort of limit on the number you can have? I haven't tested out the streaming movies, but are there any sort of limits on the number of movies and stuff you can watch in a month?

I'm not a huge Amazon user but depending on the answers to those questions we may continue it. I also told FI that we need to start price comparing and buying more house items on Amazon to make it worth it, but we'd like to see if the books/movies alone may make it worth the cost. Thanks!

You can only rent one book at the time and only on your kindle (so if you use the kindle app for iPad or laptop etc you can't rent books on there). You have to rent it through your kindle (you cant do it from the amazon website). You have to delete before you can rent another one. You can keep a book for however long you want, you just can't rent anything else until you delete it. I don't believe there is a limit on how many movies you can watch.

[estrellita]

Jan 6, 2013 1:58:32 GMT -5 Shreddingbetty said:

Jan 6, 2013 1:49:51 GMT -5 estrellita said:

We have a free trial of Prime with our new Kindle we got for Christmas. We were already using FI's account for apps on our phones (so we could both use whatever we downloaded), so the Kindle is under his. We are considering continuing Prime partially because of the books and movies. I "rented" a book for free and started reading it. We can rent one per month. Do we get to keep the previously rented book and "check out" a new one as well? Do we keep it until we delete it or is there some sort of limit on the number you can have? I haven't tested out the streaming movies, but are there any sort of limits on the number of movies and stuff you can watch in a month?

I'm not a huge Amazon user but depending on the answers to those questions we may continue it. I also told FI that we need to start price comparing and buying more house items on Amazon to make it worth it, but we'd like to see if the books/movies alone may make it worth the cost. Thanks!

You can only rent one book at the time and only on your kindle (so if you use the kindle app for iPad or laptop etc you can't rent books on there). You have to rent it through your kindle (you cant do it from the amazon website). You have to delete before you can rent another one. You can keep a book for however long you want, you just can't rent anything else until you delete it. I don't believe there is a limit on how many movies you can watch.

Thanks for the info! That's kinda what I figured but we weren't sure about it. I'll have to finish this book so FI can check something out this month before the trial expires!