Amazon has announced that the yearly price for Amazon Prime will increase from $79 to $99 starting this year.  Amazon Prime gives you free two-day shipping, no minimum order size, unlimited streaming of movies/TV, and more.  It has been $79 for many years now, and I’ve subscribed myself for quite a few.

Now I don’t think $99 is a terrible price increase.  It’s most likely still a good value if you purchase a lot of stuff from Amazon.  For me though, with the addition of taxes and other factors I have already been purchasing less from Amazon, and many of my purchase are just digital any ways, so I need to look through and see if $99 is still worth it to me.

If you are an Amazon Prime subscriber, what do you think of these changes?  Will you continue, cancel, or take a look at your Amazon spending and think more about it?

2014-03-13_8-51-15


Comments (Page 1)
2 Pages1 2 
on Mar 13, 2014

I paid 29 € per year for years, soon the costs increases to 49 and I can then see streamed films, that does not interest me. Suscription is no longer worth, so I have already canceled my membership.

on Mar 13, 2014

Nope, didn't use it in the first place.

on Mar 13, 2014

The increase in yearly price, although not jumping for joy over it, does not seem excessive.   Yes, I will continue to use it.  What purchases I do make over the internet are researched for availability and price.  I also use Overstock.  My purchases are non-digital.

EDIT:  The above link by Ryat makes interesting reading.  I will have to give this another look.  It may or may not affect my decision.  Keeping in mind the old saying "There is no such thing as a free lunch." 

on Mar 13, 2014

fwiw A few months ago they raised the minimum order size for free shipping from $25 to $35 (still very low competitively from what I can tell).

I never was tempted by Amazon Prime, don't buy that much stuff.

on Mar 13, 2014

I still buy so much from them, that it is still a bargain. Not quite the bargain it was when it was cheaper and I ordered more, but still a bargain. So yeah, I'm still in. Honestly I'm surprised it stayed that cheap, for that long.

on Mar 17, 2014

No.  Felt it was overpriced before the increase.

on Mar 17, 2014

I don't use it...yet. I have been begging the wife to cut the damn cable and try going with a few services like Amazon, Netflix, and/or Hulu. I've looked into Roku as well.

I don't have to go into detail when I say I am sick...f-ing sick of Timewarner and all their endless bs. I want to tell them to take a flying leap so bad.

If it weren't for my daughter, I think my wife might be more willing to try something different. 

Financially, going with just internet and a couple streaming services would cut our bill in more than half.

 

I'd like to hear how these services (Amazon, GooglePlay, Netflix, Hulu, etc) compare, from people here (more than I would from any other site or source).

 

Edit: Here is an article on Lifehacker on how you can get another year at the old rate:

At first, it seemed that there was no way for current subscribers whose subscriptions weren't expiring before April 17 to renew in advance at the old rate, but it turns out there's a clever workaround:

on Mar 17, 2014

Hulu has some. Hulu plus is OK until you have viewed everything you want.  New shows don't happen very often, (gets worn out fast) on Hulu/plus.  ABC wont let you watch on line anymore unless you verify your cable service.     CBS, NBC and Fox let you watch most things over web, no charge, sometimes no commercials!  Amazon is OK for movies, but pricing is kinda inconsistent.  The others I know nothing about.

 

on Mar 17, 2014

PoSmedley
Financially, going with just internet and a couple streaming services would cut our bill in more than half.

 

This was a good strategy "before" the end of net neutrality.  Netflix has already been bitten into. The have to pay to keep their packets safe as they travel Comcast's wires.  Those wires are part of the public spectrum that we let them use in return for their building their network as a public good.  Funny how the Supreme Court doesn't care about our rights or the concept of the "Commons".  The sweet nectar of other peoples' profits is drawing Comcast and their ilk.  It won't be long until the most popular services (of all types) that generate significant web traffic are going to be priced right out of popularity; at least for those of us with modest means.  (We should all put a toll gate at the entrance of every street and charge Comcast vans admission if they want to use them. Alternately we could vary the speed limits thus letting Comcast's competitors get to clients on time and within their service windows.)

Comcast and other carriers were given monopoly rights in different areas.  In exchange for the rights of a common carrier with net neutrality at the core of those rights they wired everything and competition was squelched.  Only the biggest players like phone companies could "purchase" enough of those rights they were guaranteed to also play in these sandboxes.  

Township based wireless services, owned and operated by local citizens via their local government were sued out of existence or stillborn when the cable and phone companies rose up and smote them with their deep pockets and lawyers who were not public defender types.  

So given this recent history I think it's fair to predict that even if you don't buy "cable" a price similar to cable will be extracted from you one dollar at a time.  You can bet Comcast already has you in their sights.  

And yes I always tin foil my head everyday before I leave the Faraday cage I live in at home.

 

backs out of the room slowly...  

on Mar 19, 2014

RedDwarf999


Quoting PoSmedley, reply 8Financially, going with just internet and a couple streaming services would cut our bill in more than half.

 

This was a good strategy "before" the end of net neutrality.  Netflix has already been bitten into. The have to pay to keep their packets safe as they travel Comcast's wires.  Those wires are part of the public spectrum that we let them use in return for their building their network as a public good.  Funny how the Supreme Court doesn't care about our rights or the concept of the "Commons".  The sweet nectar of other peoples' profits is drawing Comcast and their ilk.  It won't be long until the most popular services (of all types) that generate significant web traffic are going to be priced right out of popularity; at least for those of us with modest means.  (We should all put a toll gate at the entrance of every street and charge Comcast vans admission if they want to use them. Alternately we could vary the speed limits thus letting Comcast's competitors get to clients on time and within their service windows.)

Comcast and other carriers were given monopoly rights in different areas.  In exchange for the rights of a common carrier with net neutrality at the core of those rights they wired everything and competition was squelched.  Only the biggest players like phone companies could "purchase" enough of those rights they were guaranteed to also play in these sandboxes.  

Township based wireless services, owned and operated by local citizens via their local government were sued out of existence or stillborn when the cable and phone companies rose up and smote them with their deep pockets and lawyers who were not public defender types.  

So given this recent history I think it's fair to predict that even if you don't buy "cable" a price similar to cable will be extracted from you one dollar at a time.  You can bet Comcast already has you in their sights.  

And yes I always tin foil my head everyday before I leave the Faraday cage I live in at home.

 

backs out of the room slowly...  

 

The supreme court, like most 'for the public good' institutions, has been bought by the monied powers.  Andrew Jackson was right when he said (political cartoons of the day?  I forget) a central bank was like a giant octopus that will slither its arms into every crevice of citizens' lives. And banks are the conduit by which corporatist elites finance their coup d'tat.  In plain sight.  I'm hoping that with the move by the US gov't to remove itself as sole controller of the internet things will change for the better.   Some other countries are not so strongly beholden to the monied corporate class -and perhaps we might get some freedom back where it matters.  Who knows.  Maybe we can link into the EUs newly forming web backbone?  <backs out of the room very quickly  >

on Mar 19, 2014

Nope. I already was cringing at the $79 from before. It'll make me less likely to just click "buy". 

on Mar 19, 2014


http://gma.yahoo.com/amazon-accused-cheating-customers-shipping-costs-210708580--abc-news-personal-finance.html

And interesting legal case regarding this subject.

 

This is another example of the big lie that the markets work best when they are free (of government 'interference.") 

on Mar 19, 2014

Being on the other side of 'the Pond' there's no such thing as 'free shipping'....sometimes it's the majority of the price....

on Mar 19, 2014

Oh I'll still use it!

2 Pages1 2