Amazon Prime: Still a Great Value for Me

 

It’s so funny to me the way things happen sometimes.  Just the other day a Facebook friend who had just signed up for Amazon.com’s Prime Membership was wondering if she had done the wise thing.  I assured her that I certainly thought so.

This morning I received an email from Amazon.com announcing their intention to raise the Prime Membership fee from an annual $79 to $99.  Of course, they blamed the rising costs of fuel and transportation.  I felt the heat rising under my collar.  It won’t happen until February 2015, but still…

Prime Membership has been a great deal for me, the maven of online shopping, but a 25% jump in fees felt…well, it felt familiar.  Every doggone time I find something that really works for me, it either becomes discontinued, out of stock or out-of-this-world expensive. 

The email went on to explain that while the fee hadn’t been increased since 2005, the number of items eligible for free 2-day shipping and handling under the membership had grown from 1 million to more than 20 million.  (They wrote “over 20 million,” a grammatical error that seldom gets edited but which pushes my buttons every time.) 

So I decided to put a skill to work.  You know, the one your kids whine about and wonder when they will ever need to know it in real life – mathematics.

Between January 1, 2013 and today’s date, I placed 193 orders on Amazon.com.  Yes, that is a lot!  I told you I am an expert on this mode of acquisition.  I only go to brick and mortar stores for groceries, and that’s only because the great home-delivery service, Web Van, went belly up.  I have developed a phobia of parking lots and parking decks, okay? 

So, out of 193 orders placed, only 9 of them were not eligible for the free 20day S & H.  But the S & H fees I paid on those 9 orders totaled almost $55!  That’s an average of  a little more than $6 per shipment.  Now multiply that number times the 184 orders placed during the same time period for no cost. 

184 orders x $6.00 = $1104

Subtract the new fee:  $1104 - $99 = $1005

Total saving, even at higher fee is $1,005!  I’ll take it.

The other perks of Amazon Prime are not even included in these calculations.  There are hundreds of free movies and Kindle books on loan included, plus access to first-run movies at a price much lower than going to the theater.

No wonder Amazon.com is kicking ass and taking names among brick and mortar retailers.  Not once have I gone to the site looking for something and not found it there.  If you do as much online shopping as I do, try it.  I think you’ll like it.

Oh, and one more thing.  I only paid tax on 24 of those 193 orders.  Georgia has now joined the states that requires Amazon.com to collect sales taxes on items sourced inside the state.  Darn!