this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2024
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When I lived in NYC I could not even understand the appeal of Prime. Now that I live in the burbs I can’t live without it. I hate that I keep throwing money at Bezos but abusing their return policy is my little solace.
As somebody who lives on an island, I don’t understand the appeal of Amazon Prime. It’s a bogus product - if you live outside the mainland USA, you still get slower shipping speeds (usually like 1 week with Prime vs 2 weeks without it). It’s literally just an instant gratification thing - if I need something now, I’d just go out and buy it from a store instead of ordering it through Amazon or any online retailer.
Speaking from my experience in Australia, Prime is quite good for ad-hoc ordering.
For AUD6.99 a month I can order something that will usually turn up tomorrow morning, meaning that if I need a light bulb or a dishcloth or weed killer it's just a 30 second search with the app on my phone and I can get on with my day.
Compare that to:
eBay - free shipping, a week or so, "express" , 3 days and AUD12-18 per purchase.
Small online retailers - generally no free shipping, usually an Australia Post option at AUD12 or so that takes about 4-5 days, "express" via various couriers that takes that to 2-3 days for AUD18-30.
Large retailers - a week or more for delivery, AUD10-40 depending on size.
Me going down the shops and buying it myself - AUD60/hour labour and consumables, 30 minutes to an hour depending on what I'm buying and where from, AUD30-60.
Say what you want about their treatment of workers, from a consumer point of view Amazon's warehousing and delivery logistics are pretty effective.
Added edit: I don't live in a "rural" area (of which there are plenty in Australia), but I've sent stuff there using Prime and even then it's only an extra day or two on top.
Oh and there's Prime Video, and I've watched a few shows on it but it's not something that I particularly need or desire.
And sure , I could do without Prime. Just like I could do without brunch at a cafe once a week, or I could do without Netflix. But it provides a service that is generally cheaper and more convenient than the other options I have so..... I'll just continue to use it until it doesn't.
Yeah we've been fucked over for so long down here in Australia with overpriced everything from lack of competition that Prime is a legitimately good deal on many things.
It’s literally cheaper for me to order my fucking groceries delivered to my door than it is to go to a supermarket, yet the supermarkets still don't stop jacking up the prices. Aldi can sometimes work out cheaper, but you've got to hunt for their sales in the magazine each week so its not practical.
Im just glad to have rest of the world prices on many goods, sure it might not seem cheap to them but it is here.