Demystifying Amazon Prime

I can certainly see how Prime has gotten Amazon to get people shopping in newer product lines.<p>Before Prime, Amazon was just for books. Now, I've bought books, a few computers, DVDs, a whole set of golf clubs, a 22-foot stepladder, a lawnmower, and I have a standing order for shampoo every three months.<p>Even the stuff like the ladder and lawnmower were cheaper on Amazon than at Home Depot, I didn't pay sales tax, and it was delivered right to my front door.<p>It's lowered the barrier to purchase quite a bit -- friends will often recommend books to me during casual conversation, and I'll just pop out my phone and buy it on the spot knowing I can have it in a day or two to read.

I love it. I hate going to the store and standing in line, so now I'll end up buying something on Amazon and just wait the 2 days to get it instead of driving to the store. It doesn't hurt that it's usually cheaper, either... And you never have to worry about it being out of stock when you get there. You can always see right on the site for sure.<p>I wish they'd do groceries and then I would have to deal with that, either.

Way more interesting is this (still in trial): <a href="https://tote.amazon.com/AmazonToteLearnMore" rel="nofollow">https://tote.amazon.com/AmazonToteLearnMore</a><p>Add in a feature it doesn't have: picking up stuff you want to sell on Amazon's marketplace, and you've got something fairly big. Want new stuff? Amazon. Want to sell stuff? Amazon.<p>It'd kill ebay.

I got in on the free for a year student promotion just before I graduated, and it definitely changes the way you buy things, or even think about buying things. Almost anything you want is 2 business days away. Combined with free returns, it turns even $500 HDTVs into an easy impulse buy.

The article seems to downplay the 2-day shipping aspect of Prime. I think they're missing the point -- yes, free shipping is nice, but for many people, getting what you ordered in two days in <i>very</i> nice.

I used this a bit when I was a student living in dorms, and getting stuff in two days was very convenient. But now the UPS/FedEx aspect is just too much of a hassle to deal with, so I prefer using USPS shipping. How do people get around the problems with having to be home to receive shipments, if you don't live somewhere like a dorm that has a mailroom handling that for you, and don't work at home? After the first time I had to drive to some UPS shipping center to pick up a package, I stopped considering this a viable shipping option.

"Really what people are paying for is immediate gratification."<p>They make it sound like its a bad thing. I think that last quote misses the point, I order single items from Amazon using Prime because I know I'll get it in 2 days. As a parent with a young child '2 days' is quicker than I'll be able to get to Target to pick up whatever it is I wanted.<p>I've ordered toilet paper using Prime...you know it's going to run out in 3 days, but you'll get it in 2!

<i>A few weeks later she signed up for Amazon.com's free shipping service, Amazon Prime, which guarantees delivery of products within two days for an annual fee of $79.</i><p>A free service that costs $79?

The only program that I think beats Amazon Prime is Zappos VIP, which gives you free next day shipping. Zappos seems to hand out VIP memberships right and left to keep customers happy.<p>Of course, now Zappos is owned by Amazon.<p>Edit: I have both Zappos VIP and free student Amazon Prime, so I'm pretty happy sending my cash to Amazon (not to mention AWS).