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It turns out that Amazon Prime isn’t necessary, even if you frequently order from Amazon.
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I canceled my subscription in May 2020, and it had no impact on order speed or prices.
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On the plus side, I’m saving at least $ 120 a year on expensive membership fees.
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In April 2020, just as pandemic lockdowns were taking effect in New York City, I canceled the Amazon Prime membership that my wife and I had shared.
In the year and more since this subscription ended, I haven’t missed it once – and we’re saving $ 130 per year plus tax by not paying for the service.
Video: 9 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Amazon
We are by no means anti-Amazon crusaders: this year, so far, I have placed 15 separate orders for products delivered through Amazon. Last year the total was 20 orders.
What was my shipping cost for all of these orders? A total of $ 17.57 for 2020 and $ 12.26 in 2021 so far.
This includes two air conditioners (with free shipping), two large Tommy Bahama beach chairs (again, free shipping), and a variety of freebies sent to a relatively isolated town in Pennsylvania.
While it is true that some of these items we purchased would have received a slight discount through Prime, or some would have been delivered the next day (rather than two or three days later), it is extremely unlikely that these discounts add up to the difference of over $ 100 between what we pay for delivery now and what we pay for a Prime membership.
Plus, even without a Prime membership, most of the items we buy through Amazon deliver amazingly fast.
Living in Brooklyn, not too far from a large Amazon fulfillment center on Staten Island, sure doesn’t hurt! But I have had equally positive experiences sending gifts through Amazon to families in Pennsylvania and Ohio, where packages arrived several days ahead of scheduled arrival times.
But what about Prime Video? Frankly we weren’t using it and we are already paying for Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Max. I can name specific reasons for these subscriptions – shows, movies, or entire libraries that justify the current subscription fee. With rare exceptions, that didn’t happen with Prime Video for us.
More often than not, the video we wanted to watch on Prime Video still required a rental fee. This happened enough times that we completely stopped activating the service.
My context is not everyone’s context, of course. My wife and I don’t have children, we live in a big city and we own a car. Frankly, there weren’t many good reasons for us to pay for Amazon Prime specifically.
Do we really need Frankie’s Spuntino Cookbook delivered the next day, or are we okay if we wait a few days? I think we will survive.
But maybe you’re a new parent and need diapers tomorrow, no matter what? Or do you have a job that prevents you from shopping during regular business hours? Or any number of perfectly reasonable situations? I understand!
The calculation here is more than strictly financial, and the decision depends on a lot of things. For $ 120 a year, however? It is a decision that deserves reflection.
Do you have any advice? Contact senior Insider correspondent Ben Gilbert by email ([email protected]) or Twitter DM (@realbengilbert). We may keep the sources anonymous. Use an unprofessional device to reach out. RP pitches by email only, please.
Read the original article on Business Insider
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