When Amazon.com first suggested that I might want to pay $79 to join its membership program Amazon Prime, which offers free two-day shipping on all orders, I thought it sounded like a lot of money. Besides, I figured, when I order from Amazon, I always make sure to buy $25 worth of stuff so I qualify for free super-saver shipping.
With Amazon Prime, you get free two-day shipping on everything you order, plus some other cool perks like streaming Netflix flicks. But is it worth signing up?
We asked our contributing editor Kenrya Rankin to come up with a mathematical formula we could apply to this and other paid membership programs to see if they’re really worth paying for. (The freebie rewards programs are usually a no-brainer, just make sure they have a good privacy policy and you can opt out of receiving tons of e-mails.)
Turns out, if you’re a frequent customer, the plans are often worth it. For example, if you order from Amazon more than nine times a year, Prime will pay for itself. If you also take advantage of the free streaming Netflix instead of paying for a subscription, it will pay for itself much faster.
So I signed up, just in time to send my dad a birthday present, rush delivery, no charge! The next day I ordered a book for myself—just the one I wanted, fast and easy, without having to shop around to pad the order so I could get the free (slower) shipping. And I can’t wait to curl up with a marathon of free Netflix movies!
For the bottom line on Amazon Mom, Barnes & Noble’s membership program, and Overstock.com’s Club O Rewards, pick up the June issue of ShopSmart, on sale now.
JimmyJames
09:53:16 AM on Thu Jun 2 2011
You don't get Netflix movies. Maybe you mean Netflix-style. Amazon's streaming selection is a much smaller list, and do not include many of the best TV shows and movies that Netflix streaming offers.
Phyllis Strickland
11:25:06 AM on Thu Jun 2 2011
They offered a free trial last year, I tried it and then never canceled because:
#1) it pays for itself just because I no longer buy things I didn't really need (more books, more CD's, a kitchen gadget)to meet the $25 minimum because I have a thing about paying the high postage. Not only that I would waste a lot of time looking for an item that wasn't too little or too much, and was sold by Amazon not Amazon Marketplace. TIME IS MONEY!!
#2)in 2007 AAA computed the national average driving cost per mile was $52.2 cents - average cost of gas was only $2.256. So $79 would take you 151 miles. So tell me how many shopping trips does that cover, especially if you have to go to several stores to find the item.
This has changed my shopping habits significantly - I now buy everything I can from Amazon because it saves me time and money. And it sure is much more fun to receive a package than it is to do routine shopping. Except clothes and accessories shopping - well that is a different story.
crystal cheney
07:43:30 AM on Sun Jun 5 2011
I love amazon! We built a house this year after our burned down. I joined the "Amazon Club," and we found a ton of deals and awsome buys that are not here locally and I also just recently joined the automatic ordering that send us our "household goods" paper towels, toilet paper...on a regular schedule that I choose. I don't have to drive to the store or worry about checking out in the long line at Sam's Club for bulk items.