# Thinking about letting my Prime lapse



## Mips (Nov 13, 2011)

I have had Amazon Prime for a few years now.  I used to buy a lot more than I do now.  I used to read their Prime loans until I fell out of that habit when they didn't have them well marked earlier this year.  I do use it for the Instant Video, but only in spurts.  With my current usage I just haven't been getting much value from it...but I could just be short sighted about that.  Which is why I am posting here.

I am not sure whether or not to renew my Prime.  My buying habits will not be increasing over the next year.  I have other video options which I use more often.    If I let it lapse for a time could I pick it up again without missing out on any grandfathered benefits?  It costs $99 for everyone all the time now, doesn't it?


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

To my knowledge you won't miss anything by letting it lapse and come back. Of course Amazon.com could always make a change that would grandfather current subscribers. But I don't think that is reason to keep it if you aren't getting value from it.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Definitely worth evaluating the value.

The price is $99/ year. That's $8.25 per month.

For shipping: you can get most things via 'free super saver' anyway as long as you're willing to wait. If you have Prime and don't mind waiting, you can use 'no rush' shipping and get $1 credit back in most cases. 'Course that's credit you have to spend on Amazon, but, for me, that's not really a problem.  I've ordered 10 physical items so far this year, so that's $10.

1 free borrow a month is, arguably, worth $3-$5 per month, depending on the books you borrow. To be sure I don't 'waste' a month, I keep a list going of books that qualify and have a reminder set on my calendar that reminds me at the first of the month to borrow something.

2 free 'Kindle First' books a month is easily worth $10 a month as these are books that will normally sell at $4.99 each*. Of course, it might be the offerings don't appeal. I've been able to find ones that looked good enough to take a chance on every month, AND often find something else to put on my Prime Wish List for borrowing later.

So, for me, the $99 is worth it just in reading material and the shipping benefit is almost like icing on the cake. 

I don't do much video streaming so that's not even a factor in my calculation, but for those who do, that's pretty huge!

*Non prime members can get 'em, too, at a discount . . . I think $1.99 is the price. Might be more accurate to say the benefit is only worth $4 a month, in that case, since that's what you're saving with Prime. For me, I have always been able to identify one or two I was willing to try for free. Not sure I'd have picked 'em all up if they cost, though, even if it's only a couple of bucks.


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## Pickett (Jan 6, 2011)

I sometimes think about letting my Prime lapse.  $99 is a lot and would buy a lot.  I never had any problem getting enough together for free shipping before I had Prime; I always kept a list of things I was wanting to buy or could wait and group things together.

I don't often watch the Prime videos-it's hard to find anything I want to watch and I own dvds I have never watched.

Sometimes I listen to Prime Music, but I have shelves full of cds some of which I haven't listened to in years.

I do read my prime loan every month without fail.  Like Ann I keep a list and try to pick one of the most expensive books off the list. But I own a lot of books I want to read and  haven't had time yet.
However the Kindle First books have not appealed to me at all; many months I don't even bother.

Looking ahead I realize the day should come or is maybe here to drop it.  Over five years it adds up to $500.  That is A LOT of money.


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## Umno (Mar 22, 2015)

Mips said:


> I have had Amazon Prime for a few years now. I used to buy a lot more than I do now. I used to read their Prime loans until I fell out of that habit when they didn't have them well marked earlier this year. I do use it for the Instant Video, but only in spurts. With my current usage I just haven't been getting much value from it...but I could just be short sighted about that. Which is why I am posting here.
> 
> I am not sure whether or not to renew my Prime. My buying habits will not be increasing over the next year. I have other video options which I use more often. If I let it lapse for a time could I pick it up again without missing out on any grandfathered benefits? It costs $99 for everyone all the time now, doesn't it?


Ultimately the decision is yours but ask yourself this - How often do you use anything related to Prime? Daily basis? Weekly? I don't know when your membership runs out but if you have enough time, don't use anything prime related for a week and see if you can do without it.

$8.95 a month sounds great but I know having to pay the $99 all at once can make it seem not worth it.


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## missypyxi (Jan 23, 2015)

$99 is a big lump to pay all at once. It'd be nice if they did a monthly subscription.


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## Capri142 (Sep 25, 2009)

It all depends on how much you use Amazon.  We do the majority of our shopping on Amazon and try to make it all Prime items. While we now have to pay the taxes that we did not used to have to pay, we enjoy the quick delivery and the fact that we can shop from home. We also no longer have cable tv and use Amazon Prime, Netflix and Hulu Plus streaming for our video entertainment. This saves us more than $120/month in cable  fees which easily pays for the annual Prime fee. So, all that said, we like it. But if you don't use Amazon prime or take advantage of Amazon Prime Videos or the lending library, the $99/yr fee is probably not worth it.


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## FloridaFire (Nov 21, 2011)

I couldn't live w/o Amazon Prime. (Well, I *could*, but it would be totally difficult and costly). I order at least 3x a week from there, exclusively use Prime Photos, Prime Music and Prime Video streaming. I'm so tied into Amazon Prime, I feel like we're related family


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## Bob327 (Nov 17, 2011)

I sure absolutely positively no desire to cancel my prime membership... It is just to darn convenient to me...  I do read almost every evening sand when I watching  TV even with cable there are some nights that nothing interesting is on...so I use the Fire Tv to view Prime Video or Netflix 

Just this morning I fed the fish in our small indoor pond and realized I will soon have to start feeding the fish in our outdoor ponds so I pulled out my phone and ordered a 5 pound bucket of fish food .... quick easy I'll have it in 2 days with no shipping...no spending time driving to the store save on gasoline as well as  the cost of the other Item I walked out of the store  with...      I also used my Amazon Points to pay for the darn bucket so In the end I did not pay a cent ...

Free cloud storage for all my pictures, is a plus for me...and although I do not listen to music prime music is nice to have  so I can listen to music on my Tablet as I read out pool side in the summer...

To me the Prime membership price is a major bargain 
Bob G


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