this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2024
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Frugal
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Discuss how to save money.
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Ignoring the other benefits to prime outside of shipping, this is a major caveat:
"Amazon still ships free when your cart is above $35, albeit a few days slower. "
Most people are fine with slower, but if you're forced to make your order $35 to get free shipping, you're likely buying stuff you don't want/need just to get to that amount.
Just to save like $10 a month?
I don't think you save money by cancelling, unless you actually don't buy stuff from Amazon to begin with.
For me, having Prime is still worth it. Several grocery items are still cheaper from Amazon, and ordering for same/next day means I don't have to waste time/money/energy going to a store to get that same item.
But that doesn't mean I won't cancel the moment Prime stops being a good value.
I've posted this elsewhere in similar comments. The value of Amazon has shifted from "buy anything" to "buy something that's annoying to find".
Unfortunately local brick and mortar stores are to blame as well.
Say you're looking for a 3-ring binder. You likely know where to go for it at your local Walmart. You aren't tied to a particular brand (or you are) and it doesn't take you long to find it.
But now let's say you're looking for something small like car wax. You're not sure what you need. You'd think it's in the care care section but you're not seeing it. The Walmart app says it's in aisle K44 and your in, what the hell? Z4? Map does you no good. And when you get there there are so many small products that you can't find it.
Amazon has done studies and the majority of shipped products weigh less than something like 5 pounds. People find Amazon search better than the in-store experience.
Walmart, and most B&M stores unfortunately have no incentive to change because they want you to browse. For Walmart, it's basket size (items per cart) whereas Amazon is the speed of checkout.