Amazon Prime for newbies

[Steve Fatula]

As an aside, I wonder how Amazon views (perhaps values is a better word) each customer. I suspect Amazon has run the numbers to determine the average customer’s use of Amazon products and services. Another way Amazon has likely calculated this is to determine the cost of each customer per service offered.

For example, our family uses the streaming service, rarely (maybe 4 times per year) purchases something from Amazon that requires shipping, and uses the photo storage service a lot. There is no way our family comes close to using $119 of services from Amazon on an annual basis but yet we are stuck with the same price that a person who orders frequently from Amazon pays. Although I am sure Amazon would not lower its prices to offer such a thing, I wonder if it is possible Amazon will offer ala carte services (allowing customers to choose the parts of Amazon they want and not pay for the areas they would not use).

Yes, I agree that bundling is both good and bad. For those who only use one or two pieces, they may indeed pay more than it's worth. I always hated that with internet when I lived in town. I didn't want phone, TV, etc. For us, since we already get streaming with Prime, it made no sense to also buy Netflix. So, our view is Prime pays for the streaming, and everything else is "free". But obviously that is not true for many others. We watch a *lot* of video. Definitely cheap for us. And we like it better than Netflix which we used to have.

 

[bbodb1]

Thanks for the information on Amazon Prime Photos! Let me see If I understand correctly. It reads as if photos going forward can be uploaded automatically from my iPhone, via an Amazon app, and I would organize them after they are uploaded into Amazon Prime Photos..

This is certainly possible.
I know in my case, I do upload photos from my phone daily but only when connected to WiFi in order to save from using my phone’s data plan AND because it is faster.
Although I moved to an unlimited data awhile back, I still have the setting such that uploads can only occur over WiFi.

Glynda, you mentioned organizing photos once they are uploaded into Amazon Prime Photos. This too is definitely possible as a user can set up albums (and place photos of your choice in each album) and the software on Amazon will try and identify people. You can help improve the process by answering some “who is this” questions.

.... Since the previous photos in iPhotos on my laptop are already organized into labeled albums, will they upload as labeled albums to Amazon Prime? They do to Flickr.

I am not sure of this BUT…..
What you could do is export (from iPhoto) one ALBUM at a time to your desktop, then upload those photos to a similarly named album on Prime Photos.
More hands on work - BUT - you would have more control.

OR

If you have two smaller albums on iPhoto, upload those two to Amazon Photos and see what happens.

 

[Bucky]

So what should they do instead? Provide unlimited music on a permanent basis, and allow any player of your choosing? In other words, hand over all the music you wish, for free? Hmmm... I wonder how the musical artists would feel about that. Here's a thought: Perhaps you could approach your employer and tell them you have no more need to be paid for your services. You'll work for free, and they can choose your hours.

All I did was express my reservations about the music provided. If you don’t like it, fine. But petty replies serve no purpose here at all.

Well, then you’ll need to get your free music elsewhere. Please share that with us when you find it. If you feel Amazon Prime isn’t a fair deal, I’d suggest you give it up.

See above. Nobody here dissing Amazon in general, just expressing their feelings. If you don’t like those, get over it.

 

[Phydeaux]

All I did was express my reservations about the music provided. If you don’t like it, fine. But petty replies serve no purpose here at all.



See above. Nobody here dissing Amazon in general, just expressing their feelings. If you don’t like those, get over it.

I'd suggest you follow your own advice. I was sharing my opinion. Don't like it? Get over it.

 

[shorts]

I do not enjoy shopping, so I use Amazon Prime for most of our purchases, except groceries. If you have an Amazon Prime Acct. you can get a discount at Whole Foods, and we do use that discount for brick and morter grocery shopping.

How do you get the discount at Whole Foods in the store? How would they know you have Amazon Prime?
Thanks

 

[DeniseM]

You can either download the App to your phone, or sign onto your Amazon account and register there. You either use the App, or give them your phone number at check-out.

MORE INFO: https://www.amazon.com/primeinsider/tips/whole-foods-perks.html

 

[TUGBrian]

didnt see it mentioned, but the biggest money saver for me for my prime membership is the SUBSCRIPTION feature.

add anything from paper towels, to wiper blades, to baby wipes, to trail mix to air filters (which is handy for reminding me when to change them)! if its available via subscription you can save an additional 15% off the already stupid low amazon prices.

you can also not only schedule the frequency of deliveries (from every month, to every 6 months)...you can skip a delivery or move up a delivery to the current month if you find the need. its a super handy feature for regularly bought items.

sadly not everything sold on amazon is available for subscription, but youll find enough to hit your 15% discount (need 5 items delivered in a month to get the 15% off)

 

[WinniWoman]

didnt see it mentioned, but the biggest money saver for me for my prime membership is the SUBSCRIPTION feature.

add anything from paper towels, to wiper blades, to baby wipes, to trail mix to air filters (which is handy for reminding me when to change them)! if its available via subscription you can save an additional 15% off the already stupid low amazon prices.

you can also not only schedule the frequency of deliveries (from every month, to every 6 months)...you can skip a delivery or move up a delivery to the current month if you find the need. its a super handy feature for regularly bought items.

sadly not everything sold on amazon is available for subscription, but youll find enough to hit your 15% discount (need 5 items delivered in a month to get the 15% off)

I use this all the time. The only thing I hate is when suddenly something I always subscribed to becomes unavailable.

 

[Bucky]

I use this all the time. The only thing I hate is when suddenly something I always subscribed to becomes unavailable.

This is another one of those perks one really has to keep an eye on. Seems like I always have a couple of them set up for one thing or another. My most recent one was for Brachs Original Jelly Beans! Yes, I’m a jelly bean addict. Had been getting two of the 50 some ounce bags for $15 and change. When my latest reminder came recently, it showed the price had went up to $27. I immediately cancelled the upcoming delivery and any future subscription deliveries. I waited about two weeks until my stash was getting low and looked at amazon again. Now the price for the exact same thing has dropped to $11.71 for the two bags! You have to be very careful and not forget to check these before each delivery or it can happen to you. Not the first time I’ve been through this with them. The best thing I’ve found is to sign up for the subscription and get the discount and then cancel the subscription. While I love Amazon, it is always buyer beware. They are for sure not the cheapest retailer out there.

 

[TUGBrian]

yes, that is very frustrating for me as well. the sneaky price changes are ridiculous.

although I do admit, with at least 30 subscriptions over the 6 month span, its almost like playing mahjong each month to drag and drop things I need or dont need to this months delivery, or skip on to next!

 

[Steve Fatula]

We use that subscribe and save as well, forgot about that. For items we cannot find locally mostly.

 

[heathpack]

Update:
1. Amazon shopping. The jury is out. I will admit it’s pretty convenient. We got a Keurig at work. Boom couple days later I had some K cups on hand whereas normally I would have waited until the weekend and needed to make a special trip to the a big box store (I guess) to get some. I have a blue cashmere scarf that I really like, I’ve been wishing I had a black one for awhile now but not enough to go out and shop for one. Boom now I have one. Clipper lube for the dogs clippers, haven’t really had a need to go to Petco in a long while. Boom arrived yesterday.
BUT they have screwed things up twice already- it was pulling teeth to get them to apply a $15 credit I was supposed to get for downloading the app- it took 2 emails and 3 chats to get that straightened out. When I was shopping for the Kcups, I only shopped items with free same day delivery and wanted to deliver them to work. I put the items in my basket and the only free shipping option I was offered was 3 day! WTF? I work in LA so getting me a package shouldn’t be a 3 day process and I don’t understand why it wasn’t same day. Backed out of my cart screen to see if I was confused what I about shopping for same day available items. Nope. Went back to my cart and now I was offered free 2day shipping. Whatever, annoying. But ok. Then the items were delivered to my house instead of work... (I assume backing out of the cart screen somehow reset my shipping address to my default home shipping address).
Honestly the Prime shipping thing would not be enough for me to keep Prime.

2. Amazon Video. This is the winner IMO. We got a Firestick, hooked it up to the TV and amazingly it worked right away. Still exploring it, but so far Wow. The Marvelous Mrs Maisel is a great show. I made a donation to PBS SoCal and have enhanced viewing options on PBS, great stuff. We linked to our cable HBO account and could rewatch Game of Thrones in its entirety if we got bored, lol. Really impressed with this feature. We’ll keep Amazon Prime just for this feature.

3. Amazon Music. Also a big winner IMO. I’ve noodled around, found a few playlists I enjoy and it’s pretty good stuff. Definitely work having.

4. Amazon Reading. Not yet sure, because in researching options I stumbled upon Audible.com. Wound up doing a free 30 days with Audible and have been listening to books rather than reading, so no opinion yet on Amazon Reading. But I’ll probably keep Audible and try it for a year. I spend at least an hour a day commuting so the books make the time pass painlessly. Currently listening to a book on the subject of Positive Psychology (which is essentially the field of studying health/wellness of the brain vs traditional psychology which studies illness of the brain). I had hoped that we could listen to an Audible boom on our drive home from Sedona but we had Bluetooth tech glitches between my phone/IPad and the car. How I just use an external Bluetooth speaker in the car and earbuds on the train. With an Audible subscription, you get one book credit per month plus two original content titles. That will probably fill up all my commute time. Plus husband and I could let our TV read to us one night per week perhaps, if I got a book we’d both like- I can stream the Audible books through an app on the TV now.

5. Amazon Photos. Haven’t really explored this too much yet, although I’ve downloaded photos to it.

6. Amazon Fresh. Not yet available in my home zip code but they’ll deliver to my work. Probably a little impractical but I could get a grocery order delivered to me at work on a day I’m planning on driving home instead of taking the train. But probably not work another $14/mo unless they start delivering to my home. And even then, I rarely shop at Whole Foods (too expensive for me) and it’s only 3 miles max from my house with convenient parking. It’s not a big deal for me to run to Whole Foods myself. I did sort of wonder about delivering lunch supplies to work every Monday morning- spring mix, salad ingredients, fresh fruit, maybe soup or hummus and pita chips or nuts. Then never packing lunch again. But I’d have to consider space constraints in the work fridge...

That all I can think of for my “review”. I am super surprised to find that we’ll be keeping Prime. We seem like one of the least likely households for this to make sense... But you never know unless you try something.

 

[Glynda]

Wow, you have really explored Amazon quickly! That's a great review! I suspected that you would find it worthwhile. Amazon's variety, prices and two day delivery are wonderful! Yet, I feel bad about not supporting our local stores.

I started with Audible before it became Amazon's and I absolutely love it. I listen several times a day. In the car, getting dressed, bathing the dog, out walking, doing household chores...you name it! I have a small bluetooth speaker in the house and for travel. The car is no problem as the car has USB ports and I attach my phone and play it through the media setting instead of bluetooth. That way my phone is charging too. I have found that Apple's airPods make it much easier to listen than their earPods. The earPods wires drive me crazy! I find that the AirPods volume is louder and that helps when walking in the city or listening in same area as the TV is on for my family. At one time I had the two book a month subscription. But then I discovered podcasting and starting listening to quite a few of them each week so cut back to one Audible book a month. We've just started watching Amazon Video as we still have so many Netflix to watch along with DVR recordings of favorite programs on cable networks. I had a Kindle once, still do I guess, but never got into that much. Prefer Audible.

Enjoy and thanks for review!

 

[heathpack]

Wow, you have really explored Amazon quickly! That's a great review! I suspected that you would find it worthwhile. Amazon's variety, prices and two day delivery are wonderful! Yet, I feel bad about not supporting our local stores.

I started with Audible before it became Amazon's and I absolutely love it. I listen several times a day. In the car, getting dressed, bathing the dog, out walking, doing household chores...you name it! I have a small bluetooth speaker in the house and for travel. The car is no problem as the car has USB ports and I attach my phone and play it through the media setting instead of bluetooth. That way my phone is charging too. I have found that Apple's airPods make it much easier to listen than their earPods. The earPods wires drive me crazy! I find that the AirPods volume is louder and that helps when walking in the city or listening in same area as the TV is on for my family. At one time I had the two book a month subscription. But then I discovered podcasting and starting listening to quite a few of them each week so cut back to one Audible book a month. We've just started watching Amazon Video as we still have so many Netflix to watch along with DVR recordings of favorite programs on cable networks. I had a Kindle once, still do I guess, but never got into that much. Prefer Audible.

Enjoy and thanks for review!

I just checked out the Audible site today, I noticed they have daily deals and was wondering what they had today. Sweet. I just downloaded this book for $4. Completely 100% a subject I really want to hear about. What are you going to download for your monthly freebies? Obviously the free book on Christmas songs. I’m leaning towards the WW1 fiction book about the Christmas Armistace, I am thinking my Mom will be visiting over Christmas and she might like it, we could gather round the Yule Log and listen perhaps. And if husband is game for a book night once a week, I might go for the Alien novel. He likes the Alien franchise. Although I’d probably pick something else left to my own devices...

Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance by Malcom Gladwell

 

[Glynda]

I am a fiction person for the most part. When listening to Self Help books my mind tends to drift too easily. A friend and I did enjoy listening to One Doctor: Close Calls, Cold Cases, and the Mysteries of Medicine by Brendan Reilly. I've been trying to get through The English Grammar Boot Camp by Anne Curzan and DNA Is Not Destiny: The Remarkable, Completely Misunderstood Relationship Between You and Your Genes by Steven J Heine for some time to little avail. My Wish List is so long! When it comes time for my new monthly listen, I study the choices, choose one, save several more and then watch for them to go on sale or to be a daily offer. They will send you emails when something on your wish list is on sale.

 

[klpca]

Re: Audible. If you pay for a full year at once you get a discount. I think that it is ~$150 for the year instead of ~15 per month. Audible is my absolute favorite subscription in the world. I will probably never get through my library but I don't care. Frequently they have buy two, get one free and I am a sucker for that. I often find the first book or two in a series and will start a new series that way. You can also return books that you don't like. I don't think that you can do it from the app though. I don't abuse this perk because I don't want them to take it away, but if I get halfway into a book and don't enjoy the content or the reader, I will return it. For me, the reader can make or break a book. Sometimes you just can't stand their voice, lol.

 

[Panina]

Amazon's variety, prices and two day delivery are wonderful! Yet, I feel bad about not supporting our local stores.

I use Amazon prime a lot so the 2 day shipping in prime has lots of value to me. As with most of my online shopping, I use Amazon to get things I can’t get at my local stores. Even though it is easier to order most things online, I do go to local stores when they have what I need. Local stores first, Amazon second.