Anyone use Amazon WITHOUT Prime?- what's it like?

[mangochutneyjar]

My prime is due for renewal in June. I feel a bit annoyed at paying £95 because half the time, my items dont actually arrive the next day, they're often 2-3 days late anyway. Also, they advertise items as being prime in the search but when it comes to payment it often turns out they arent.

Does anyone use Amazon without Prime and how do you find it?- delivery times etc. Thank you :)

Fab- I'm not renewing it if its not making any difference, it used be be about £70 but £95 is really steep

To be quite honest, it's the convenience. I know that sounds really lazy but it is for me, but you're right- there are other suppliers that I should look in to

I’m means that I actually try to shop around a bit as I don’t feel tied into using Amazon. I find I get better quality products off Amazon now a days as they don’t bother to curate anything anymore and it’s just full of drop shippers from Ali express.

It's fine

I usually just order prime when I'm going to get more stuff delivered eg around Christmas and then pay for the month

Nope. I pay for prime. I get free next day delivery AND access to prime video. It’s worth it. I don’t pay the whole chunk in one go though. I do it month by month which is £8.99 for me

I gave up Prime a couple of years or so ago when I was trimming my budget. I used to use it to watch films (as well as make purchases) but got annoyed that most decent films I wanted to see I had to pay for, on top of my Prime membership fee.

As for my purchases: most things are delivered free anyway if I select for delivery on dates a few days away - to suit my availability to accept delivery- rather than "next day". In any case, even when I choose a date which works for me I often get delivery a couple (often more) days before with no extra charge, so don't feel I'm missing out. I sometimes have things on regular repeat deliveries too so can get discounts on those and there's often 5% off some things - options at the bottom of the item's screen. Check carefully before confirming your order. 🌹

I don't pay for Prime and have never had an issue. Everything arrives within a couple of days or I can pick a set day if I prefer. I never pay for delivery, just go for free option.

I dropped Prime about a year ago. Wasnt using it a lot. But I have found this year that I cannot add new items to my subscribe and save without prime. The web chat staff were useless on this. Kept telling me to take out a trial and cancel it. Repeatedly. So my use of Amazon is dropping even further. Like other pps I now really think "do I want/need this?"

@BertieBotts

Or leave stuff in the basket until we want to buy something else.

Yes I do this too. Just makes my life a bit easier. 🌹

IMO, Prime is good as who does not want an item the same or next day. However, IMO, its more suited to those that cant see beyond their nose

Forward planning saves a lot of money

I have never used prime, I make sure I order enough that I don't have to pay a delivery charge and most of what I buy arrives the next day.

I stopped using Prime a year ago - no regrets! I noticed amazon is about 30% more expensive than normal shops e.g. kid clothes around 10 pounds per item of dubious quality while m&s is about £7 and cheaper supermarkets 3-5£. Also many times ebay has the same items but free delivery for smaller things like craft supplies, dress up stuff etc. As pp, I use the option to deliver to pick up location in case I need something from amazon, so the delivery is free.

Thanks! This is me exactly- I used to see films I wanted to watch then realised I had to subscribe and pay for the channel as well (have used up all my free trials now!)

So my use of Amazon is dropping even further. Like other pps I now really think "do I want/need this?"

I've been doing the same. I have realised how much money I am spending on stuff I dont really value that much. Its surprising how much it all adds up too.

Just changed pet insurance too and its gone from £27 per month (bought by many) to £12 (Tesco pet insurance)

I can’t imagine it being any worse without prime. They would actually have to work at it to make it worse. The amazon prime (tv) app is full of stuff requiring extra payment, shows that are included in prime don’t actually play due to a persistent issue!
We are in a town 20 mins from the distribution center - yet parcels are never next day, or even on prime day. Often left on the pavement, the app tracking rarely works and then to top it all off, they can’t work out how to press a door bell.

I got rid of Prime a few months ago. It's really kerbed my random purchasing because I keep a basket running until I've got over £25 and by then I often decide I don't really want/need whatever it was after all!
I still get my subscribe and save offers.
DH misses it, but not enough to warrant nearly £100 a year.

For me prime is a waste of money as its not always granteed a next day delivery,as for watching movies most of the free movies are with ads and they want you to pay extra on top of it to pay for other movies.

I do. It's fine. I never pay for next day delivery for any company and I avoid all subscription/regular payment based services as much as possible, because I like to keep full control over my finances and how they're spent, not have multiple direct debits coming out each month whether I like it or not.

I use it when I am offered a free month, but things generally arrive within 48 hours so I wouldn't be paying for it. I remember the olden days before Prime!

You can edit the subscriptions on Amazon right up until despatch and either skip or stop. I don’t have tons of them but they work out really good value on our cat litter and some other animal related items where we use a pretty set amount per month. It comes out as a card payment not a direct debit and I time it to coincide with payday.

I save a good £15+ a month over the next cheapest option to buy those things and given our distance from shops it’s a godsend.

@mangochutneyjar I once read an interview with Jeff Bezos (Amazon billionaire) that said "we want Prime to be such a good value, you'd be irresponsible not to be a member" ... but they haven't persuaded me yet. We usually take a free trial for a month in the run up to Christmas, when we're buying lots, and then watch a few of their tv shows, but we're never impressed enough to continue it. The only downside is that we have to pad out our orders to £25 to get free delivery (unless the items are on Marketplace in which case they are often just free delivery anyway). I usually just add a bag of cat food or some electric toothbrush heads, or a pack of pens - all things we need regularly. Many of the parcels are delivered next day or very quickly.

I don't have Prime, although they do try and trick you into it with each order!

Items arrive quickly, usually within days.

I think Prime encourages you to order things for the sake of it - just to get your money's worth.

I don't have Prime and it's fine. I always pick items that have free delivery and whatever I have needed has been delivered within the 2-3 days advertised. I have tried a trial of Prime a few times and haven't found delivery times to be any different. Amazon delivery has really gone down hill. Prime items have never been delivered next day and lots of items aren't available for prime delivery anyway. Unless you're using it to watch specific programmes or listen to music only available to Prime members, I think it's a pointless additional cost.

No i dont use prime i dont use amazon as much now any way.

I've never paid for Prime. Deliveries come within a couple of days anyway and I just add items if needed to get free delivery. I don't think I've ever needed anything next day delivery...

I generally try not to buy from Amazon anyway.