Musk, bezos, guillotine
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I hate to be honest, but I used Amazon Prime a lot because:
- I cannot drive. Thus, getting to the store is difficult.
- I must bring in 3-4 items a week, so yeah, I save on shipping.
- Auto-subscriptions save a little.
- I have priced a lot of stuff over the years, and while Amazon is not always the best, the convenience is impressive.
- They have, multiple times, been incredibly helpful with customer service. Like above and beyond.
- COVID and nobody masks around here. I have an autoimmune condition, so it's important that I not leave unless it's a medical appointment or similar need.
- They just have stuff I can't find anywhere. Yes, as some have said, caveat emptor, but that's true for all the stores.
I also save a shit ton of money. When I used to browse Walmart or Target, I used to buy a lot of shit I didn't need. I don't get as distracted with focused buying. I also order from Aliexpress if I can wait 30 days, and I have only been ripped off three times in several years, for a total of maybe $35.
I'm not saying my way is better, and certainly not if it's better for you, but it's been a godsend to the house-bound.
If Amazon genuinely fits your use case, more power to you. I think the problem is the average person being duped into thinking they need Amazon Prime as the default position.
I have never used amazon, much less paid for a subscription service for the pleasure of using it. I was hoping that the author atleast stopped using amazon alltogether. Ah well. Little victories I guess.
I've never really understood what prime actually is. They nag me about it on the occasion I might buy something from amazon. weird to think someone perhaps couldn't live without it.
It’s a joke unless you need something overnighted or next day and as a bonus - it will usually be improperly packaged and delivered with malice.
Prime Video catalogue is a pale shadow of what it used to be. Exclusives have dwindled. Now they want 3 bucks for no ads on top of paying for Prime? Naw.
Counterfeits are everywhere. That’s what Aliexpress is for (half joking). Frequently have to check the manufacturer’s site when pricing or picture seems dubious.
One delivery driver commandeers our neighbors’ empty driveway, swings the back doors open and blasts shitty pop music at full volume while fumbling through deliveries for 30 minutes every other day.
Buying direct is now often the same price more or less and you can get in a week anyway for negligible shipping price. Or even free shipping if you spend x amount.
So we cancelled too.
I just genuinely don't understand why people think it's necessary. I use Prime once a year and it's when my boss gives me a gift card for Christmas. I guess I just don't understand what the typical person is buying every single month from Amazon to warrant a subscription - I know 1 or 2 people buying cat litter every month and having it delivered, but why? Just go to the store! I love in a rural town and I still trek to the store. Maybe if you have mobility issues or something but I just don't get it. Probably just the anti-consumer in me.
I have prime for the no rush shipping. Every time I delay my same day or next day shipping to the 3-4 day no rush shipping I get a few dollars of digital credits which I use to buy ebooks. Over the course of a year it essentially pays for the cost of prime with free books I would have bought anyway.
Ive never understood the dependence on Amazon. It's not even a monopoly, I've never bought anything online that somewhere else didnt also offer the product, usually an online store specializing in that product.
Yup. I stopped using Amazon for anything but maybe searching the closest thing to a unified search engine for goods, and when I find good information or a product I need, I will find somewhere else to buy it.
Turn Amazon into a search engine. Buy somewhere else.
Pro-Tip: If you’re already signed up for prime, you can go to your membership details and cancel auto-renewal OR they allow you to cancel now and will refund whatever they owe you before the renewal date.
It actually makes your life better!
I decided to not renew my amazon prime account when it expired in November. I did end up using Amazon once since then. Products on Amazon are overpriced, in addition to the annual fee. I didn't feel like I was getting my money's worth. I didn't like that there were ads on prime video, or fees for grocery delivery that used to be included in the annual fee.
I found a bento box at Marshall's for about $6-7, and the exact same one on amazon for $20-25. Also fuck Bezos and the exploitation of workers, and Amazon's aggressive union busting. and they stole Amazon fresh delivery peoples tip money.
In fact, I have always lived without Prime and have never felt the need to have it.
Cancelled two weeks ago, and while it's too early for me to have a fully informed opinion, so far I've noticed that if you just hold items in your cart until you reach some kind of threshold (and I admittedly don't know what that is) you can get free shipping anyway.
It's almost like I was paying all that money just so I could one off order anything on a whim. I'm an adult, I can exercise impulse control and stick it to Amazon in some small way by doing it. Win/Win.
I deleted my Prime! So many good points on this post. My last 2 purchase from Amazon took 2 weeks to get here, which is fine but prime is advertised as 2 days. Amazon prime’s TV selection is for the most part trash & finally Amazon can burn in hell. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to cancel it.
dropped it when they sent me the emails about adding ads, gf was halfway through a season of supernatural though so set it to expire at the end of the month.
they just took the next payment anyway and carried on my subscription. i had to go on again, cancel... again, and get a refund.
slimey sneaky bezos had his fingers in my wallet
I cancelled Amazon prime a few years ago. Amazon was never able to honor the next day or even two day shipping so I cancelled.
Technically, for me, there was no change in shipping speed for me cancelling prime
Amazon was never able to honor the next day or even two day shipping
I used to travel a lot for work and needed deliveries on specific days. Amazon guaranteed delivery days were crap.
I know a guy who actually got an official response from Amazon about that. Their response was "We guarantee 2 day shipping once the items are shipped. We may not start shipping for a day or two depending on how busy we are."
I live in an area where lots of stuff can get there same day or overnight which has legitimately saved my ass a bunch of times. If it was just 2 day I would definitely consider cancelling, especially now that prime video has ads.
same. i feel gross using it but it's literally figuratively magic being able to lie in bed, realize i need a specific cable for something, order it on my phone, and have it the next morning
sometimes i'll try to go to an actual store instead, but then often they won't have the specific thing, or it'll be out of stock, or they'll only have expensive ones, and either way i have to drive there and back and talk to the guy which is a pain
Is it really 140 USD annually in US? Here in EU it's about equivalent of 12 dollars yearly... What is that?
I buy from Bezoco maybe once or twice a year, if I really can't find something anywhere else, and they always, always offer a free Prime trial.
If you don't know this already: you can cancel the Prime trial immediately and still get the full 30 days (or week or whatever) out of it.
Who the hell has a prime subscription? Bigger question is how to live without using amazon at all. We need some kind of improved
In my country I can finally start to pay vendors by wiring money instantly without the need for third party payment services. Fucking banks took their sweet time. All this inefficiency basically leads to a tax on all internet commerce that empowers people like Musk or Thiel via paypal.
I don't have access to amazon at all, ao don't get the rave about amazon itself either.