I cancelled my Netflix subscription and signed up for Amazon Prime a few years ago. The streaming service was the main reason I switched. Free shipping and other benefits were extra perks for me. I have not subscribed to the ad free option. So far, the ads have not been annoying enough to make me switch.
I agree that the free shipping option is probably enough to pay for the Amazon Prime subscription. I do not pay for many streaming services. If someone has several streaming services, they may wish to determine for themselves if the cost of Amazon Prime is worth it over the others.
We have had Amazon Prime for many years. We live in a fairly rural area with little shopping options other than a Walmart about 15 miles away. We use almost all of the features available to Prime members and have a Prime credit card that we only use at Amazon for an additional 5% savings on all purchases. Free shipping alone more than pays for the annual membership fee. Another great perk is Amazon Pharmacy rolled out a couple of years ago. I have early stage glaucoma and the eye drops are very expensive. Last I saved over $900 using Amazon Pharmacy instead of my insurance online PBM. This is a great unknown benefit to many Prime members and very simple to use. Great for retirees on limited incomes.
We will definitely be keeping Amazon Prime Membership!!!
Another consideration for making the $139 annual fee more palatable is to consider getting the Amazon Prime no annual fee Visa from Chase. You get 5 points for every dollar spent on Amazon. I did quick math to figure you would have to spend slightly less than $3000 per year to receive enough points to cover the annual cost of Prime.
I just applied myself because there is currently a $200 gift card promotion.
When Prime was offered, it was the only way we could get things shipped to Hawaii at reasonable cost or for ‘free’ (free is not quite correct because NO COMPANY carries items across the country or the ocean for free).
Anyway, then I started seeing times when things could not or would not be shipped here. Then the shipping times got worse.
By the way, it is next to impossible to have Lithium solar batteries shipped here without the price being doubled or.
Just the other day I saw where Amazon is ready to open their distribution center on Oahu. Things may change, we will see. We currently have an Amazon office at the Kona Airport, but I have no idea how big, maybe just a small sorting area because we only have 150,000 people on the whole island.
I also have taken advantage of the streaming and movies, etc, which when coupled with the need for shipping, it was a win-win.
Time will tell if I hang on, but IF we could get solar batteries here cheaply just one battery could save me $500, so yeah I would continue my membership.
I had Prime several years ago. I got it for the video, not the shipping. Since I had it I tried several times to order an item, only to be informed on the order page that the item was not eligible for free shipping! I never saw any exemptions mentioned when I signed up. I did not order the items from Amazon and I would never sign up for PRIME again!