12 ms·

You have to love this sentence "We want Prime to be such a good value, you’d be irresponsible not to be a member."

by shuri 10y ago

darkclarity 10y ago
I like being that irresponsible one. Though it is impressive that Amazon has turned a delivery fee - that most people don't like paying - into an exclusive subscription service. A service that customers fall over themselves to sign up for when it's offered at a discount.
- ProAm 10y ago
  It's very Apple-esque to be a member of an elite community.
  - bonoboTP 10y ago
    How can subscription to a shipping service be compared to membership in a community? Where is the "community" in this? Do Prime-subscribes gather sometimes to discuss how they are subscribed to Prime?
    - ProAm 10y ago
      I was more relating the OPs comment: > Though it is impressive that Amazon has turned a delivery fee - that most people don't like paying - into an exclusive subscription service. Where Amazon has convinced people to prepay $100 per year for shipping on select items similar to how Apple has convinced customers to overpay on hardware and accessories to be part of the same style club. Community was probably the wrong word, but exclusive/elite membership maybe? And yes I hear people all the time talk about their prime memberships, especially at work.
- fleitz 10y ago
  It's the value of certainty that people are buying. Think of it more like 'Shipping Insurance', delivery fees are an unfortunate unavoidable thing, like car accidents. However, by purchasing 'shipping insurance' one can normalize the cost of shipping similar to the way one normalizes the cost of car accidents through car insurance. There is a virtuous circle too that is the opposite of moral hazard typically incurred by insurance companies as having certainty of cost makes risk taking less costly. Similarly, if shipping is free, then people order more things, creating economies of scale that reduce shipping costs, enabling amazon to make more profit, or price prime cheaper.
  - manyxcxi 10y ago
    There are other valid reasons besides not paying the initial shipping cossts. Typically anything shipped Prime is a no-fee/no-hassle return. Great for when you're buying clothes. After accidentally buying something NOT shipped prime, then getting hit with a bunch of fees from the seller to return it I've gotten much more careful about it. We also get discounts on our monthly recurring purchases that make it cheaper than going to the store to replenish, not even factoring for saved time. There's also the Prime video- which has a surprisingly good catalog of shows and movies (in the US at least). I still watch Netflix more, but I use prime video at least once a week.
    - fleitz 10y ago
      I got prime pretty much for the new Top Gear, everything else is just gravy. And now that I know I can return stuff I'm probably going to start buying clothes through prime.
    - sokoloff 10y ago
      Most non-clothing items are not no-fee returns unless Amazon has made an error or the product is defective. My wife and I double-bought a gift for our daughter and the return shipping fee was going to be $6.99 as it was our mistake. That's fair enough, IMO, but it's not free. Returns are often free on clothing/shoes and around Christmas. Prime Video is indeed a bigger benefit than I originally thought. The kids watch it several times a week and I probably once a week.
- MichaelGG 10y ago
  I cancelled it because Amazon's abusing their position. Refusing to sell Chromecast and Apple TV, then lying, repeatedly, about the reason when asked? I've been an Amazon customer for 13 years. I was rather annoyed to see them go with the anti-Wikileaks and try to be "sensitive" by banning certain cultural items. But this shows they've zero commitment to selling products customers want. Edit: And it really hurts. Some times I buy stuff from Amazon every day of the week. I've tried Jet.com, which is just a poor experience. I hate to cry antitrust but Amazon really dominates in any usable online sales env, it seems.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - sbank 10y ago
    Maybe you don't like it, and you are fully within your rights to cancel, but it is not abuse. They can or should be able to carry whatever products they damn well please.
    - greghatch 10y ago
      I think that was his point, he's critical of Amazon because they lied about their reasoning for not carrying the products, not questioning the legality of not carrying specific products. I thought that was obvious, and a charitable interpretation of his post would've made this clear, I think.
      - MichaelGG 10y ago
        Yep. Several CSRs told me "Oh it's out of stock" (not explaining the 404, or no "marketplace" vendors). I escalated. Then I was told the Chromecast was not sold due to "too many complaints". A supervisor then flat out denied that, as well as denied there being any ban on any such product. I asked about the Apple TV. After other lame "stocking" issues, a supervisor said "oh, we don't have licenses to sell Apple TV" and went on about how there's all sorts of legal issues. It's vile for a company that's supposedly pro-consumer.
- andys627 10y ago
  The fee is getting paid somehow - either by you up front, as a subscription, or for "free" built into the cost of the item.
  - zeven7 10y ago
    That's not what I've heard. A quick search found me this: > The company loses an estimated $1 billion to $2 billion on Prime shipping annually http://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-free-shipping-killing-amazons-profit-2015-07-14 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-free-shipping-killing-am... Amazon wants market share enough to absorb a loss on shipping costs. It's part of why Amazon is still not profitable.
    - tamana 10y ago
      That's not a fact, that's some rando's guess.
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
    - andrewfong 10y ago
      Saying Amazon is absorbing a loss on shipping costs to get market share implies that that they're engaged in predatory pricing (i.e. they're selling below cost to get market share with the intent to raise prices once competition has been destroyed). There might be some truth to that, but the better explanation for why Amazon isn't profitable is that it's simply plowing all of its profits back into the business. This link is older, but it does a pretty good job of going through the numbers and Jeff Bezo's thinking: http://a16z.com/2014/09/05/why-amazon-has-no-profits-and-why-it-works/ http://a16z.com/2014/09/05/why-amazon-has-no-profits-and-why...
      - nitrogen 10y ago
        It's not uncommon for an ecommerce site to charge less for shipping than it actually costs them (for perception/psychology reasons), and make up the difference on margin or services.
- ArkyBeagle 10y ago
  It's very effective sleight of hand. The cherry on top is 2-day delivery being prepaid. I wouldn't have paid for 2-day otherwise. They "fixed" that for me. The whole thing makes going to a brick and mortar store feel like going to the DMV.
  - pc86 10y ago
    With the exception that if you drive to store and back home for a single item, you'll have the item inside of an hour. If you live close, inside of 15 minutes? When I know I will need batteries in a week, I'll buy a box on Amazon and get it in a few days. If I need batteries now, I'll have them within an hour. It's certainly not "like going to the DMV."
    - eric_h 10y ago
      Well, the advent of prime now means you can get many things in an hour from Amazon, though of course there are additional fees that are not covered by the annual prime membership fees.
    - ErrantX 10y ago
      Here in the UK Amazon seem to be heading for same-day delivery for Prime customers (we already have free next day on Prime) and ultimately "within the hour" types of delivery in major cities.
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
    - ArkyBeagle 10y ago
      Relative to not having go it feels like going to the DMV.
  - mikeash 10y ago
    It's funny, it feels like the opposite to me. Going to a regular store is pretty simple. Buying with Prime is a pain in the ass, since half the stuff they sell isn't eligible. Amazon is rarely the cheapest option anymore, too, so I no longer have the luxury of skipping the price comparison and knowing I'm getting a pretty good deal anyway.
- audleman 10y ago
  I was gifted Prime and it surprised me how awesome it was. Say I want to buy a few pairs of SmartWool Socks, but since I'm buying them over the internet don't get a chance to try them on. Do I buy 7 pairs and risk it? No, I just buy 1 pair and get it in 2 days with no shipping fee. In fact I buy all kinds of things now on Amazon because I can get them in 2 days with no shipping fee. I get that I'm paying upfront for shipping, of course, which really only incentivizes me to shop more on Amazon. After a certain number of orders I'm beating the system, and that's fun. Plus you get a lot of freebies, like movies.
  - hvm 10y ago
    > After a certain number of orders I'm beating the system, and that's fun. That's only true if you would have bought those items anyway. If you wouldn't have then the system is beating you.
    - brownbat 10y ago
      > That's only true if you would have bought those items anyway. And if you would have insisted on 2-day shipping for everything you buy, which seems unlikely. Some purchases, sure, but everything?
- _pmf_ 10y ago
  That's a concise description of why I (as an Amazon fanboy) have probably unconsciously abstained from becoming a Prime member ... something just smelled off.
hackerboos 10y ago
Pity Prime video isn't available outside of the US/UK and 2 day shipping in Toronto...just poor value for money for Canadians.
- notjosh 10y ago
  For what it's worth, Germany also has Prime Video.
  - Matthias247 10y ago
    Yes, but it's probably also the only justification for paying money for prime. I also use it mainly because it's a requirement for their DVD/Blu-Ray rental service. However that got a massive price increase the last month - so I'm considering stopping to use both. Regarding delivery the interesting thing is that before prime emerged nearly all orders here in Germany were delivered on the next day. Then prime came up and from there on orders without prime took 2 days and looked artificially delayed so that you would have a reason to pay for prime.
    - qznc 10y ago
      We got a price reduction for DVD rental. However, we use Lovefilm-1DVD-without-streaming, because streaming does not work reliably for us. Amazon streaming often stutters and hangs. For comparison, Youtube works great.
    - DominikPeters 10y ago
      I observed the same thing in Germany: pretty much all delivery services deliver packages the day after they receive the package, so that for Amazon to achieve 2-day delivery they need to deliberately wait a day before they start packaging a non-prime order. Maybe not so customer-obsessed after all.
    - TillE 10y ago
      I had the same experience with much slower normal shipping suddenly after the introduction of Prime. But I just recently allowed my Prime subscription to lapse, and based on my very limited data it seems back to normal again.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
buro9 10y ago
Then Amazon is going to have to become much much better. I live in London, UK and do not use Prime. I've almost stopped using Amazon altogether now. Why? 1. Delivery - For our flat, their network either fails to deliver, mis-delivers or screws up in some other way far more than they succeed. There is no option to choose the one postal service that shines for my property: Royal Mail. Anything I order from Amazon may turn up eventually, but certainly isn't going to arrive whenever they claim. This is my #1 reason for abandoning Amazon. 2. Range and choice - Either you can't find what you want (the range within cycling for example is extremely limited) and have to look elsewhere, or you're swamped with marketplace sellers and what feels like a million grey goods. The Google engineer's "Which USB type-C cables are good" illustrates the sheer number of items that are of shoddy quality but are represented on the site as being of quality. There is simply, too much crap and not enough quality. 3. Price - I simply don't find Amazon the cheapest at almost anything. On their site it looks cheaper, always discounted, but if you take the manufacturers' SKU and Google it one quickly finds a whole load of places selling it for the same price or cheaper, also with free postage, or cheaper to the point that postage is irrelevant. 4. Bundling - Amazon Prime Video really isn't as good as Netflix, Amazon Prime Now isn't beating Shutl for me in London https://shutl.com/uk/ https://shutl.com/uk/, free postage hasn't been compelling (point #3)... but somehow bundling all of these things together into an ~£80 per year subscription is supposed to make a range of sub-par offerings value for money? 5. Warranty - I've purchased things on Amazon Prime, thinking they were covered by Amazon's customer service, only to discover that the obscure market place seller is really the seller and so my warranty complaints go back to them. They've been overseas and uninterested, and I've had to simply write-off the value of those items. If I buy elsewhere I can factor this in a lot more and choose a reputable seller. Depending on the item, i.e. I recently purchased a 40" 4K Sony TV, then I really want to be sure these high value items are going to be covered by a company that delivers great customer service... John Lewis in my case. There needs to be a Public Service Announcement in the photography section for the sheer number of lens that wouldn't be covered by warranty. I actually view Prime as nothing more than a hook, to keep shoppers too lazy to look around under a spell of "this is a bargain, you're receiving great value". In reality what Amazon once was is a long way from what they now are and Prime is a mask for that.
- Spearchucker 10y ago
pmontra 10y ago
I recently took advantage of Prime but I don't buy from them often enough, not even every year. I cancelled before the 30 days free trial expired. If they somewhat manage to get me buy stuff on Amazon often, I'll be back.
- backtoyoujim 10y ago
  Ah ... Prime. The only place you can get "free two-day shipping" that takes 6 days.
  - DiabloD3 10y ago
    I don't know why this guy is being downvoted, it's true. I've had several orders I ordered on a Monday, sold by Amazon, shipped by Amazon, on Prime two-day that didn't get here until after Wednesday (once, even the following Monday).
roymurdock 10y ago
You can almost hear the ghost of Warren Buffet pitching Geico echoing through Bezos' prose.
- pc86 10y ago
  Don't you need to be dead to have a ghost?
- tim333 10y ago
  https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/tale-two-annual-letters-bezos-amazon-buffetof-berkshire-amit-somani https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/tale-two-annual-letters-bezos...
  - roymurdock 10y ago
    Dude kind of missed the point that Bezos has clearly read a lot of Buffet's shareholder letters and is now taking on this good-natured, funny grandfather tone to soften public percpetion the hard economics that run his business - cost cutting, ruthless management, etc. that have recently come to light. Smart move, not subtle, but also not meant to be subtle. Wouldn't be surprised if Bezos starts madly pitching for the USA and including pictures of him and his employees soon...on the other hand, nobody breaks down the business of insurance/multi-national conglomerate management as elegantly, wittily, and insightfully as Buffett so we have that to look forward to from Bezos.
gdulli 10y ago
I think I'm being plenty responsible by (1) finding cheaper prices outside of Amazon (2) buying few enough things that the cost of Prime amortizes to an expensive shipping rate and (3) not making impulse purchases and being patient enough that I can live with the free non-Prime shipping.
sremani 10y ago
Amazon is too good at what they do. The feeling that they give too good of a value, while I spent thousands of dollars on their site was a weird kind of high. That is the end game, you spend a lot with Prime since, it shows up in two days and no shipping etc. I cancelled my Prime membership, and just that saves me a hundred or two a month, because now I have to think twice before ordering anything since shipping cost is involved and also have to bundle enough items such that I qualify for free shipping. side note: jet.com is not collecting sales tax yet. That is 8.25% differential where I live.
- e40 10y ago
  I went to the site. They popped up a window that asked for my email address and there was no way to dismiss this without giving it something. I closed the tab.
  - dhimes 10y ago
    I've run into this several times the last few days. I give fake emails. Usually something on aol, and a name that hopefully nobody has.
- Navarr 10y ago
  You shouldn't consider Jet.com not collecting sales tax as a "good thing" since you are technically required to pay it by law (in most places, normally, afaik, IANAL) So you technically do still need to pay that 8.25% differential.
  - vitd 10y ago
    Indeed you do. Many years ago I had a business. One year the state decided to audit my business. No biggie, I had paid all my taxes as required. Except I hadn't. My business was located near a big box warehouse and you could order on the website and go pick it up. This was when almost all online orders were claimed to be "tax free". I did that for a few hard drives and some other stuff. I ended up owing about $150 in back taxes and penalties because I hadn't manually figured out the sales tax I was supposed to pay and reported it. I was a little annoyed at my accountant whose reaction was, "Yeah, nobody pays that, though technically you're supposed to." Needless to say, I have a new accountant.

You have to love this sentence "We want Prime to be such a good value, you’d be irresponsible not to be a member."

by shuri 10y ago

You have to love this sentence "We want Prime to be such a good value, you’d be irresponsible not to be a member."

I like being that irresponsible one. Though it is impressive that Amazon has turned a delivery fee - that most people don't like paying - into an exclusive subscription service. A service that customers fall over themselves to sign up for when it's offered at a discount.

ProAm 10y ago
It's very Apple-esque to be a member of an elite community.
- bonoboTP 10y ago
  How can subscription to a shipping service be compared to membership in a community? Where is the "community" in this? Do Prime-subscribes gather sometimes to discuss how they are subscribed to Prime?
  - ProAm 10y ago
    I was more relating the OPs comment: > Though it is impressive that Amazon has turned a delivery fee - that most people don't like paying - into an exclusive subscription service. Where Amazon has convinced people to prepay $100 per year for shipping on select items similar to how Apple has convinced customers to overpay on hardware and accessories to be part of the same style club. Community was probably the wrong word, but exclusive/elite membership maybe? And yes I hear people all the time talk about their prime memberships, especially at work.
fleitz 10y ago
It's the value of certainty that people are buying. Think of it more like 'Shipping Insurance', delivery fees are an unfortunate unavoidable thing, like car accidents. However, by purchasing 'shipping insurance' one can normalize the cost of shipping similar to the way one normalizes the cost of car accidents through car insurance. There is a virtuous circle too that is the opposite of moral hazard typically incurred by insurance companies as having certainty of cost makes risk taking less costly. Similarly, if shipping is free, then people order more things, creating economies of scale that reduce shipping costs, enabling amazon to make more profit, or price prime cheaper.
- manyxcxi 10y ago
  There are other valid reasons besides not paying the initial shipping cossts. Typically anything shipped Prime is a no-fee/no-hassle return. Great for when you're buying clothes. After accidentally buying something NOT shipped prime, then getting hit with a bunch of fees from the seller to return it I've gotten much more careful about it. We also get discounts on our monthly recurring purchases that make it cheaper than going to the store to replenish, not even factoring for saved time. There's also the Prime video- which has a surprisingly good catalog of shows and movies (in the US at least). I still watch Netflix more, but I use prime video at least once a week.
  - fleitz 10y ago
    I got prime pretty much for the new Top Gear, everything else is just gravy. And now that I know I can return stuff I'm probably going to start buying clothes through prime.
  - sokoloff 10y ago
    Most non-clothing items are not no-fee returns unless Amazon has made an error or the product is defective. My wife and I double-bought a gift for our daughter and the return shipping fee was going to be $6.99 as it was our mistake. That's fair enough, IMO, but it's not free. Returns are often free on clothing/shoes and around Christmas. Prime Video is indeed a bigger benefit than I originally thought. The kids watch it several times a week and I probably once a week.
MichaelGG 10y ago
I cancelled it because Amazon's abusing their position. Refusing to sell Chromecast and Apple TV, then lying, repeatedly, about the reason when asked? I've been an Amazon customer for 13 years. I was rather annoyed to see them go with the anti-Wikileaks and try to be "sensitive" by banning certain cultural items. But this shows they've zero commitment to selling products customers want. Edit: And it really hurts. Some times I buy stuff from Amazon every day of the week. I've tried Jet.com, which is just a poor experience. I hate to cry antitrust but Amazon really dominates in any usable online sales env, it seems.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- sbank 10y ago
  Maybe you don't like it, and you are fully within your rights to cancel, but it is not abuse. They can or should be able to carry whatever products they damn well please.
  - greghatch 10y ago
    I think that was his point, he's critical of Amazon because they lied about their reasoning for not carrying the products, not questioning the legality of not carrying specific products. I thought that was obvious, and a charitable interpretation of his post would've made this clear, I think.
    - MichaelGG 10y ago
      Yep. Several CSRs told me "Oh it's out of stock" (not explaining the 404, or no "marketplace" vendors). I escalated. Then I was told the Chromecast was not sold due to "too many complaints". A supervisor then flat out denied that, as well as denied there being any ban on any such product. I asked about the Apple TV. After other lame "stocking" issues, a supervisor said "oh, we don't have licenses to sell Apple TV" and went on about how there's all sorts of legal issues. It's vile for a company that's supposedly pro-consumer.
andys627 10y ago
The fee is getting paid somehow - either by you up front, as a subscription, or for "free" built into the cost of the item.
- zeven7 10y ago
  That's not what I've heard. A quick search found me this: > The company loses an estimated $1 billion to $2 billion on Prime shipping annually http://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-free-shipping-killing-amazons-profit-2015-07-14 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-free-shipping-killing-am... Amazon wants market share enough to absorb a loss on shipping costs. It's part of why Amazon is still not profitable.
  - tamana 10y ago
    That's not a fact, that's some rando's guess.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
  - andrewfong 10y ago
    Saying Amazon is absorbing a loss on shipping costs to get market share implies that that they're engaged in predatory pricing (i.e. they're selling below cost to get market share with the intent to raise prices once competition has been destroyed). There might be some truth to that, but the better explanation for why Amazon isn't profitable is that it's simply plowing all of its profits back into the business. This link is older, but it does a pretty good job of going through the numbers and Jeff Bezo's thinking: http://a16z.com/2014/09/05/why-amazon-has-no-profits-and-why-it-works/ http://a16z.com/2014/09/05/why-amazon-has-no-profits-and-why...
    - nitrogen 10y ago
      It's not uncommon for an ecommerce site to charge less for shipping than it actually costs them (for perception/psychology reasons), and make up the difference on margin or services.
ArkyBeagle 10y ago
It's very effective sleight of hand. The cherry on top is 2-day delivery being prepaid. I wouldn't have paid for 2-day otherwise. They "fixed" that for me. The whole thing makes going to a brick and mortar store feel like going to the DMV.
- pc86 10y ago
  With the exception that if you drive to store and back home for a single item, you'll have the item inside of an hour. If you live close, inside of 15 minutes? When I know I will need batteries in a week, I'll buy a box on Amazon and get it in a few days. If I need batteries now, I'll have them within an hour. It's certainly not "like going to the DMV."
  - eric_h 10y ago
    Well, the advent of prime now means you can get many things in an hour from Amazon, though of course there are additional fees that are not covered by the annual prime membership fees.
  - ErrantX 10y ago
    Here in the UK Amazon seem to be heading for same-day delivery for Prime customers (we already have free next day on Prime) and ultimately "within the hour" types of delivery in major cities.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
  - ArkyBeagle 10y ago
    Relative to not having go it feels like going to the DMV.
- mikeash 10y ago
  It's funny, it feels like the opposite to me. Going to a regular store is pretty simple. Buying with Prime is a pain in the ass, since half the stuff they sell isn't eligible. Amazon is rarely the cheapest option anymore, too, so I no longer have the luxury of skipping the price comparison and knowing I'm getting a pretty good deal anyway.
audleman 10y ago
I was gifted Prime and it surprised me how awesome it was. Say I want to buy a few pairs of SmartWool Socks, but since I'm buying them over the internet don't get a chance to try them on. Do I buy 7 pairs and risk it? No, I just buy 1 pair and get it in 2 days with no shipping fee. In fact I buy all kinds of things now on Amazon because I can get them in 2 days with no shipping fee. I get that I'm paying upfront for shipping, of course, which really only incentivizes me to shop more on Amazon. After a certain number of orders I'm beating the system, and that's fun. Plus you get a lot of freebies, like movies.
- hvm 10y ago
  > After a certain number of orders I'm beating the system, and that's fun. That's only true if you would have bought those items anyway. If you wouldn't have then the system is beating you.
  - brownbat 10y ago
    > That's only true if you would have bought those items anyway. And if you would have insisted on 2-day shipping for everything you buy, which seems unlikely. Some purchases, sure, but everything?
_pmf_ 10y ago
That's a concise description of why I (as an Amazon fanboy) have probably unconsciously abstained from becoming a Prime member ... something just smelled off.

hackerboos 10y ago

Pity Prime video isn't available outside of the US/UK and 2 day shipping in Toronto...just poor value for money for Canadians.

notjosh 10y ago
For what it's worth, Germany also has Prime Video.
- Matthias247 10y ago
  Yes, but it's probably also the only justification for paying money for prime. I also use it mainly because it's a requirement for their DVD/Blu-Ray rental service. However that got a massive price increase the last month - so I'm considering stopping to use both. Regarding delivery the interesting thing is that before prime emerged nearly all orders here in Germany were delivered on the next day. Then prime came up and from there on orders without prime took 2 days and looked artificially delayed so that you would have a reason to pay for prime.
  - qznc 10y ago
    We got a price reduction for DVD rental. However, we use Lovefilm-1DVD-without-streaming, because streaming does not work reliably for us. Amazon streaming often stutters and hangs. For comparison, Youtube works great.
  - DominikPeters 10y ago
    I observed the same thing in Germany: pretty much all delivery services deliver packages the day after they receive the package, so that for Amazon to achieve 2-day delivery they need to deliberately wait a day before they start packaging a non-prime order. Maybe not so customer-obsessed after all.
  - TillE 10y ago
    I had the same experience with much slower normal shipping suddenly after the introduction of Prime. But I just recently allowed my Prime subscription to lapse, and based on my very limited data it seems back to normal again.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

buro9 10y ago

Then Amazon is going to have to become much much better. I live in London, UK and do not use Prime. I've almost stopped using Amazon altogether now. Why? 1. Delivery - For our flat, their network either fails to deliver, mis-delivers or screws up in some other way far more than they succeed. There is no option to choose the one postal service that shines for my property: Royal Mail. Anything I order from Amazon may turn up eventually, but certainly isn't going to arrive whenever they claim. This is my #1 reason for abandoning Amazon. 2. Range and choice - Either you can't find what you want (the range within cycling for example is extremely limited) and have to look elsewhere, or you're swamped with marketplace sellers and what feels like a million grey goods. The Google engineer's "Which USB type-C cables are good" illustrates the sheer number of items that are of shoddy quality but are represented on the site as being of quality. There is simply, too much crap and not enough quality. 3. Price - I simply don't find Amazon the cheapest at almost anything. On their site it looks cheaper, always discounted, but if you take the manufacturers' SKU and Google it one quickly finds a whole load of places selling it for the same price or cheaper, also with free postage, or cheaper to the point that postage is irrelevant. 4. Bundling - Amazon Prime Video really isn't as good as Netflix, Amazon Prime Now isn't beating Shutl for me in London https://shutl.com/uk/ https://shutl.com/uk/, free postage hasn't been compelling (point #3)... but somehow bundling all of these things together into an ~£80 per year subscription is supposed to make a range of sub-par offerings value for money? 5. Warranty - I've purchased things on Amazon Prime, thinking they were covered by Amazon's customer service, only to discover that the obscure market place seller is really the seller and so my warranty complaints go back to them. They've been overseas and uninterested, and I've had to simply write-off the value of those items. If I buy elsewhere I can factor this in a lot more and choose a reputable seller. Depending on the item, i.e. I recently purchased a 40" 4K Sony TV, then I really want to be sure these high value items are going to be covered by a company that delivers great customer service... John Lewis in my case. There needs to be a Public Service Announcement in the photography section for the sheer number of lens that wouldn't be covered by warranty. I actually view Prime as nothing more than a hook, to keep shoppers too lazy to look around under a spell of "this is a bargain, you're receiving great value". In reality what Amazon once was is a long way from what they now are and Prime is a mask for that.

Spearchucker 10y ago

pmontra 10y ago

I recently took advantage of Prime but I don't buy from them often enough, not even every year. I cancelled before the 30 days free trial expired. If they somewhat manage to get me buy stuff on Amazon often, I'll be back.

backtoyoujim 10y ago
Ah ... Prime. The only place you can get "free two-day shipping" that takes 6 days.
- DiabloD3 10y ago
  I don't know why this guy is being downvoted, it's true. I've had several orders I ordered on a Monday, sold by Amazon, shipped by Amazon, on Prime two-day that didn't get here until after Wednesday (once, even the following Monday).

roymurdock 10y ago

You can almost hear the ghost of Warren Buffet pitching Geico echoing through Bezos' prose.

pc86 10y ago
Don't you need to be dead to have a ghost?
tim333 10y ago
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/tale-two-annual-letters-bezos-amazon-buffetof-berkshire-amit-somani https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/tale-two-annual-letters-bezos...
- roymurdock 10y ago
  Dude kind of missed the point that Bezos has clearly read a lot of Buffet's shareholder letters and is now taking on this good-natured, funny grandfather tone to soften public percpetion the hard economics that run his business - cost cutting, ruthless management, etc. that have recently come to light. Smart move, not subtle, but also not meant to be subtle. Wouldn't be surprised if Bezos starts madly pitching for the USA and including pictures of him and his employees soon...on the other hand, nobody breaks down the business of insurance/multi-national conglomerate management as elegantly, wittily, and insightfully as Buffett so we have that to look forward to from Bezos.

gdulli 10y ago

I think I'm being plenty responsible by (1) finding cheaper prices outside of Amazon (2) buying few enough things that the cost of Prime amortizes to an expensive shipping rate and (3) not making impulse purchases and being patient enough that I can live with the free non-Prime shipping.

sremani 10y ago

Amazon is too good at what they do. The feeling that they give too good of a value, while I spent thousands of dollars on their site was a weird kind of high. That is the end game, you spend a lot with Prime since, it shows up in two days and no shipping etc. I cancelled my Prime membership, and just that saves me a hundred or two a month, because now I have to think twice before ordering anything since shipping cost is involved and also have to bundle enough items such that I qualify for free shipping. side note: jet.com is not collecting sales tax yet. That is 8.25% differential where I live.

e40 10y ago
I went to the site. They popped up a window that asked for my email address and there was no way to dismiss this without giving it something. I closed the tab.
- dhimes 10y ago
  I've run into this several times the last few days. I give fake emails. Usually something on aol, and a name that hopefully nobody has.
Navarr 10y ago
You shouldn't consider Jet.com not collecting sales tax as a "good thing" since you are technically required to pay it by law (in most places, normally, afaik, IANAL) So you technically do still need to pay that 8.25% differential.
- vitd 10y ago
  Indeed you do. Many years ago I had a business. One year the state decided to audit my business. No biggie, I had paid all my taxes as required. Except I hadn't. My business was located near a big box warehouse and you could order on the website and go pick it up. This was when almost all online orders were claimed to be "tax free". I did that for a few hard drives and some other stuff. I ended up owing about $150 in back taxes and penalties because I hadn't manually figured out the sales tax I was supposed to pay and reported it. I was a little annoyed at my accountant whose reaction was, "Yeah, nobody pays that, though technically you're supposed to." Needless to say, I have a new accountant.