this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2024
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It’s Surprisingly Easy to Live Without an Amazon Prime Subscription (slate.com)
submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/technology
420 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 
  • The author canceled their Amazon Prime subscription on a whim and realized they didn't really need it.
  • Leaving Prime meant slower shipping but the author was happy to wait and still found the selection and delivery speed satisfactory.
  • Many people love Prime for its fast shipping and convenience, but some readers expressed ambivalence and considered canceling.

Archive link: https://archive.ph/3M27c

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[–] [email protected] 77 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I cancelled Prime late last year, and haven't really missed it, either.

Leaving Prime also meant the end of free Amazon Prime Video (you can still rent or buy many movies without it), but I’ve been able to bear it.

While I had Prime, I think there was 1, maybe 2 instances where I wanted to watch something and it was actually included with Prime. Every other time, Amazon Video had the movie, but they wanted an additional fee to watch it, so this was absolutely no loss.

One thing to note: Every time I check out on Amazon, now, they offer me a reduced price 1-week "trial" of Prime, to get the expedited shipping, for like... $5 or so? If you cancel yours, and also see this offer: You can take the offer, submit your order (and get the free 2 day shipping), then once you get the shipping confirmation, go in and cancel the Prime subscription. Since you've had it for only a few hours, Amazon actually refunds the price you paid. In effect, you get the shipping benefits for free. We'll see if they close this loophole, but for now, it works.

[–] dual_sport_dork 30 points 9 months ago (1 children)

If you decline a few times they'll eventually offer you an entire month of Prime for free. I've thus never paid for Prime, ever.

No gain or loss there. Amazon's logistics are so grabasstic now that delivery lead times are about the same with or without Prime. So I don't particularly care.

I only buy commodity bullshit on Amazon anymore, and sometimes not even then. If they have it for a good price I might get a pack of crimp connectors or a roll of 3D printer filament or nuts and bolts or something. Otherwise it's just wall-to-wall Chinese word salad non-brand knockoff shit on there anymore. You may as well just shop on AliExpress since at least they're honest about hawking tat from Shenzen and it's cheaper to boot.

[–] Krudler 7 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

You might find this very interesting

https://youtu.be/B90_SNNbcoU

He tests crimps and various Amazon electical products.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

https://piped.video/B90_SNNbcoU

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.

[–] Cheems 2 points 9 months ago

There have been zero times Amazon video has had something I wanna watch