It was a matter of time, still irritating

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Dear Prime member,

We are writing to you today about an upcoming change to your Prime Video experience. Starting January 29, Prime Video movies and TV shows will include limited advertisements. This will allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time. We aim to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers. No action is required from you, and there is no change to the current price of your Prime membership. We will also offer a new ad-free option for an additional $2.99 per month* that you can sign up for here.

Prime is a very compelling value. Prime members enjoy a wide range of shopping, savings, and entertainment benefits, including:

• More than 300 million items are available with free Prime shipping and tens of millions of the most popular items are available with free Same-Day or One-Day Delivery.
• Access to exclusive and broad streaming video content (including Prime Video exclusives like The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Boys, Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, Citadel, The Wheel of Time, Reacher, and The Summer I Turned Pretty, as well as blockbuster movies such as Air, Creed III, Dungeons & Dragons, Candy Cane Lane with Eddie Murphy, and exclusive live sports including NFL Thursday Night Football).
• Access to Prime Video Channels, which provides an unmatched selection of subscription channels like Max, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME, BET+, MGM+, ViX+, Crunchyroll, PBS KIDS, NBA League Pass, MLB.TV, and STARZwith no extra apps to download, and no cable required. Customers only pay for the ones they want, and can cancel anytime.
• The ability to use your Prime shopping benefitslike fast, free delivery, a seamless checkout experience, 24/7 live chat support, and hassle-free returnson online stores beyond Amazon.com with Buy with Prime.
• Exclusive deals and shopping events like Prime Day.
• Ad-free listening of 100 million songs and millions of podcast episodes with Amazon Music.
• Prescription medications as low as $1 per month and fast, free shipping from Amazon Pharmacy.
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• Free two-hour Fresh grocery delivery on orders over $100 (and delivery charges between $6.95 to $9.95 for orders less than $100), and in-store savings on select groceries at Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market stores across the U.S.
• Unlimited photo storage with Amazon Photos.
• Gaming benefits with Prime Gaming.
• More than 3,000 books and magazines with Prime Reading.
• A free, one-year Grubhub+ membership trial valued at $120 per year, offering unlimited $0 delivery fees on orders over $12.

And, you can expect additional features and programs added in the future for our Prime members.

As mentioned above, no action is required from you. If you wish to sign up for the ad-free option, you can click here. And, as always, if you have questions about your Prime membership, you can manage your account here.

Thank you for being a valued member of Amazon Prime.

Sincerely,
The Amazon Prime team

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I actually canceled my prime account in November after probably a decade of auto renewals. I've still been getting free 1 and 2 day shipping for some last minute gifts I bought. I would only occasionally watch something on prime but the video quality was usually so bad I'd turn it off

You may want to check if you are really benefiting from Prime is what I'm saying. I've been getting the same shipping as I did when I was a Prime member. Prices seem the same too.

Dawnguard said:

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Amazon credit cards (chase and synchrony) give 5% cash back for Amazon purchases with prime. Only reason I haven't cancelled yet.

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You get points for all purchases made with the Prime card, whether on Amazon or not. I pay for literally everything with the Prime card and usually rack up a few hundred in Amazon points every year. Much more useful to me than any other reward card benefit.

C@LAg said:

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the kicker is... unlike every other streaming service where having the service is entirely optional...

you have no option to sever the Prime video streaming service from the rest of your Prime account.

you are being forced to subsidize Amazon's streaming service and their choice of programming.

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Then you should be happy with this change... Charging more for a premium prime video experience is the first step in decoupling the free shipping from the streaming

I dropped Prime almost 2 years ago. It was not worth $140/year for me.

I also tend to order less stuff that I really don't need. I wasn't a big Prime Video watcher. Also, it seems like what used to be good deals to be found on Amazon, you now paid a premium for the same thing that you could buy at HEB or Walmart.

Torn here. I like their TV show and movie libraries and I read a ton of Kindle books though that's not tied to Prime. Reacher is really good as is Bosch and Terminal List. On the other hand I don't know that we order as much as we used to and I know on some level I'm subsidizing the NFL contract and I watch zero NFL football. At some point these services are going to have to figure out that people are no longer willing to pay for a one size fits none TV service. Probably going to do some analysis what we use and decide if it's still worth it.

Who did not see that coming?

Piracy

Yep, too bad. Don't think I'm ready to pay extra per month to avoid the commercials, but maybe. If they guaranteed they won't ramp the cost up when I'm not looking it would be more appealing. I like Reacher, most of the rest I can do without. Maybe Billy Bob Thornton if that series keeps going...

Cable has gone up $100/mo for me in the last 8 months. I'm reevaluating our approach. Streaming is ok sometimes, but still like TiVo (I know it is ancient, but it kicks butt against any other approach still).

Mainly it is getting way too expensive for all these media solutions. We are about to see some heavy consolidation and then the cost per month will go through the roof until people decide to shut it down altogether and read paper books.

Not sure on Prime if I am ready to relinquish the reckless way I purchase and return until I locate what I'm looking for. But that is the downside of shopping online.

We are going to cancel. We moved to a more rural area and we don't need anything in 1-2 days that we ever order, anyway.

I'll just buy Reacher S2 elsewhere and save $120.

C@LAg said:

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Picard said:

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Just increase your Amazon returns to cost them more money

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they are slowly rolling out charging you for returns.

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Most everyone is headed that way. Reverse logistics is a costly logistical mess for retailers when about 20% of purchases are returned.

Speaking of streaming services merging--just came across this one...

If they are losing money, they will be raising monthly rates and increasing ad revenue to compensate. Consolidation will reduce competition and allow for price hikes.

https://cordcuttersnews.com/warner-bros-discovery-disney-comcast-paramount-lost-more-than-5-billion-on-streaming-in-2023/?amp=1

ravingfans said:

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Speaking of streaming services merging--just came across this one...

If they are losing money, they will be raising monthly rates and increasing ad revenue to compensate. Consolidation will reduce competition and allow for price hikes.

https://cordcuttersnews.com/warner-bros-discovery-disney-comcast-paramount-lost-more-than-5-billion-on-streaming-in-2023/?amp=1

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I kind of miss DTV satellite at this point: easy to navigate, superior picture quality over streaming, and then I just purchase a al carte what I want to watch if DTV doesn't have it.

Those were the good 'ol days minus the high sub cost and contract. However, the former is essentially back at this point. All we have left is flexible contracts which is still a boon to consumers.

High costs never went away if you wanted everything which is what the people that complaining about how streaming is just as expensive as cable are expecting.

Fenrir said:

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High costs never went away if you wanted everything which is what the people that complaining about how streaming is just as expensive as cable are expecting.

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I get that and am not as passionate about complaining about it. If you want to see the content, then pay for it.

And don't steal it. If you can't afford it, then go without.

It's entitlement mentality, mostly.

C@LAg said:

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the kicker is... unlike every other streaming service where having the service is entirely optional...

you have no option to sever the Prime video streaming service from the rest of your Prime account.

you are being forced to subsidize Amazon's streaming service and their choice of programming.

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The option is just cancel prime. If you think the rest of the prime services are worth the cost, then who cares. If not, cancel.

So many options on Amazon have free delivery anyway. A lot of options are cheaper in other retailers. We have free Walmart + and have used it more than Amazon recently.

How did you manage to get free Walmart+?

I tried it for a while and didn't like it because the delivery folks would ring the doorbell, wait for you to answer, and expect a tip. The tips add up and increase the overall cost significantly.

Jabin said:

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How did you manage to get free Walmart+?

I tried it for a while and didn't like it because the delivery folks would ring the doorbell, wait for you to answer, and expect a tip. The tips add up and increase the overall cost significantly.

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Through Amex. I have not once had a delivery person wait for us to open the door. They drop it on the doorstep, 30/70 if they ring the doorbell (70% don't), then leave.

We got a free trial of Walmart+.

Made our grocery order.

Received half (including substituted items) - the other half was just not delivered.

Had to fight with customer service to get a refund on the nondelivered items.

Canceled free trial.

must depend on the store.

I rarely get subsitiations...and when I do, it's for bakery rolls. Doesn't really bother me.

They've never waited at the door. Tipping is done through the app/website.

Never thought I would use Walmart+ but the "free" benefit (through Amex) convinced me to try it, and the convenience of free delivery same day is tough to beat. They don't seem to mark up their prices like other stores either,

I have no idea how they make any money (guessing they don't and it's their attempt to chip into Amazon's market share), but I'm a fan.

Naveronski said:

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We got a free trial of Walmart+.

Made our grocery order.

Received half (including substituted items) - the other half was just not delivered.

Had to fight with customer service to get a refund on the nondelivered items.

Canceled free trial.

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This. We use Prime a ton for work/home stuff… but I would never ever trust Walmart with anything. Ours (like most) is a cesspool.