Amazon Prime fee increasing to $99

[lorraineb]

I just read that Amazon Prime is raising their membership subscriptions rates from $79 to $99. Do you think the service is still worth it for the extra $20 a year?

[HappySaver]

To me it's not even worth it for $79.

I've tested it twice now with free trials. Every single movie or show I've wanted to watch had a price - nothing worthwhile was free. So what's the point in that? Their Prime digital service is a joke.

In terms of shipping, it might be worth it if I needed a ton of stuff right away, but I always just do super saving shipping and I'm fine with waiting. Rarely have I ever needed to pay for shipping. Certainly nowhere near $79/yr in shipping costs. I may be unique in this aspect - for many of my co-workers who have Prime, the instant gratification of getting their junk right away is a big deal.

[ua_guy]

The problem with Prime is that "Free 2-day Shipping" often is not free. If you compare prices between Prime items and not-prime items shipped 2-day with a shipping surcharge, they are often very close. It seems as though the main benefit of a Prime membership is to have 2-day shipping included in the item's price. Last I heard, there was an ongoing effort to do a class-action lawsuit against Amazon.

[Retired To Win]

I'm not unhappy with the service and I'll still keep it at $99.

The shipping on just a few "gear" purchases a year (like a big telescope) will defray the annual fee for me. From another viewpoint, $99 a year for the movie service is comparable to Netflix's annual cost. No, it's not Netflix, but I do find enough free movies to watch to make it worthwhile. So, I can either consider the movie service a bonus or I can consider the free shipping a bonus. It's all good either way (for me).

[BuckyBadger]

I like it and I will continue to pay for it. I'd actually pay a little more for it if I had to. I find lots of stuff that I'm interested in watching, but I actually do appreciate the pay options, as well. Often they'll have a movie that I'm interested in seeing for a rental fee between $3 and $5. To be able to rent a movie without leaving my house from a service that already has my billing information and that I trust is great. We usually watch free stuff but will pay for a movie maybe once a month.

We're big movie-watchers, though, and will see movies in the theater most weekends, especially through the summer.

They also have LOT of excellent TV shows for free. I consider it a streaming service that costs about what Netflix does with free shipping as a perk. I haven't watched their original programming yet, but the stuff on Netflix is excellent. House of Cards, for example, is a spectacular show.

[mmmlb]

I'm going to keep my Prime membership for another year.

I buy a lot of random things (fuses, violin strings, free weights, curry to name a few this year) from Amazon because its either cheaper than the local store or it's just not available around me.
Sometimes I just need a little item and can't get free shipping unless I spend $35 on that order.

I watch shows on their streaming service sometimes but would watch it much more if they had it work on the WD TV Media Player.

[rennigade]

I have the student rate for some reason, which is going up to $49 or $59..I forget. Either way I wont be renewing it. I hardly use it now as is. If I really want something ill write it down and wait till I have $35 or more in items so I qualify for free shipping. Im rarely ever in that much of a rush that I need it asap.

People also forget...big box stores NOW PRICE MATCH AMAZON!! If you find something on amazon you can take it to bestbuy, walmart, etc and they will price match as long as they have it. Sure if you do not have any of these stores nearby then amazon prime is probably worth it. And yes, you have to pay tax if you price match...some states now require you to pay tax when you order from amazon so relax.

I kind of wish amazon would just keep increasing the price of prime each year. Regardless if they do people will continue to pay for it. More power to amazon!

[creditcardfree]

Still cheaper than Neflix with comparable movie options, plus free 2 day shipping. In our area we are away from lots of stores. In some cases driving 30+ minutes to see if they even have what we want is just not worth the time. So the annual fee is a timer saver when I can find it online and have it at our door in two days.