(NA) Amazon Prime day

eman1200

eman1200

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Bro do you even lift
I don't really know what that means, but if you're a member you might find some good deals. I saw a few things I need.....a pack of bungee chords, a cigar cutter, panties, and a dog shock collar, which might make for some REALLY awesome videos at Jay's HOPS party.
 
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eman1200 said:
I don't really know what that means, but if you're a member you might find some good deals. I saw a few things I need.....a pack of bungee chords, a cigar cutter, panties, and a dog shock collar,
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Do it yourself sex change kit?
 
If you are looking for MESH ROUTERS, PrimeDay has the 3-pack of EERO routers which you can have the day after tomorrow with free prime shipping. I cancelled my LUMA preorder which LUMA continues to lie about the delivery dates.
 
Meh, been keeping an eye on things and it either feels like all either Walmart crap or not all that great of savings. Unimpressed.

Then again, I think Black Friday type shoppers are nuts.

Just saw a product that was 50% off for prime day with a Prime Day sale price of $79.99. Bought the same thing at Costco for $49 a few weeks ago.
 
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I saw almost nothing on Prime Day that wasn't either low quality junk or available any other time of year for the same price. Lots of hype, little meat.

They did put the ability to be annoyed by Alexa and their Amazon consumption devices on sale from their overpriced usual prices. Meh. I can watch and read stuff from them on the iPad.
 
We used to buy a lot of things from Amazon, and were Prime members. We let our membership lapse a year ago, but just signed up again. And we may be regretting it. With the possible exception of technology products, every single item I've checked is offered for as much or more than I can buy it at the local big boxes, and most items that I've checked are more on Amazon (sometimes dollars more). So I pay more for the item, plus the Prime membership, all to avoid driving 10 minutes to the big boxes which I go to at least once a week anyway.

Their Prime streaming video selection seems to have become worse since the last time we were members, and their Prime music selection leaves a lot to be desired as well.


JKG
 
I didn't end up buying anything, but the new Segway MiniPro was tempting. They had it at $699, off from $999, off from $1,299. At 28 lbs. it would be easy to throw in an airplane.
 
I ended up grabbing the fire stick w/voice remote for $39. The wife already had a Prime account, so we didn't spend any extra for that. I side-loaded Kodi and got a few of the add-ons like Exodus and Pheonix. A lot of the sports channel feeds don't seem to work, but I didn't spend any time to investigate. Tons of movies and television shows to watch, though, all free.
 
JGoodish said:
We used to buy a lot of things from Amazon, and were Prime members. We let our membership lapse a year ago, but just signed up again. And we may be regretting it. With the possible exception of technology products, every single item I've checked is offered for as much or more than I can buy it at the local big boxes, and most items that I've checked are more on Amazon (sometimes dollars more). So I pay more for the item, plus the Prime membership, all to avoid driving 10 minutes to the big boxes which I go to at least once a week anyway.

Their Prime streaming video selection seems to have become worse since the last time we were members, and their Prime music selection leaves a lot to be desired as well.


JKG
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I can see some of that. I do agree that the Prime video has become stagnant, but they have quite a bit of competition in that market (Vudu, Hulu, HBOGo, Netflix, Popcorn, Crackle, etc.). As far as the pricing on items, I seem to find them on par with many big box stores, sometimes cheaper. However, the selection is what draws me back. The other day I was looking at an automatic water faucet/sprinkler system for use at a house I might be laying sod at, but it won't be occupied, so I need something to water the grass for a bit each day without human input. I could go to Lowes/HD/etc. to try and find one, and they may have 2-3 models at each store. Well, I can drive 20 miles round trip hoping that I find a product that fits my need, is in stock, and hopefully has positive reviews . . . or I can go on Amazon and look at 15-20 models, read reviews, and then not worry about whether it's in stock because it tells me. Sure, it's not immediate gratification like going big box, but it still helps me on occasion. When buying normal, every day items, it makes little sense to use them (except diapers, apparently). However, with oddball electronics or products which have a wide range of quality, Amazon seems to be good for that.
 
Being half an hour minimum from a big box, it's the shipping/delivery to the door, and their return policy that keeps me with Prime now at their higher price point for the annual and also the creep up in prices on prime-allowed items. Still saves me a boatload on gas and zero hassle at all if I have to send something back.
 
On items from Amazon I desire and will purchase, but don't have a "got to get it now" need, I use one of the price monitoring services like www.camelcamelcamel.com

More than once it has come through and alerted me that the desired item is has been reduced to my target price range and I make the purchase.

I too see the upward price creep going on as merchants attempt to take advantage of the big market place that Amazon is.
 
SoonerAviator said:
I can see some of that. I do agree that the Prime video has become stagnant, but they have quite a bit of competition in that market (Vudu, Hulu, HBOGo, Netflix, Popcorn, Crackle, etc.). As far as the pricing on items, I seem to find them on par with many big box stores, sometimes cheaper. However, the selection is what draws me back. The other day I was looking at an automatic water faucet/sprinkler system for use at a house I might be laying sod at, but it won't be occupied, so I need something to water the grass for a bit each day without human input. I could go to Lowes/HD/etc. to try and find one, and they may have 2-3 models at each store. Well, I can drive 20 miles round trip hoping that I find a product that fits my need, is in stock, and hopefully has positive reviews . . . or I can go on Amazon and look at 15-20 models, read reviews, and then not worry about whether it's in stock because it tells me. Sure, it's not immediate gratification like going big box, but it still helps me on occasion. When buying normal, every day items, it makes little sense to use them (except diapers, apparently). However, with oddball electronics or products which have a wide range of quality, Amazon seems to be good for that.
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There is no doubt that Amazon is more of a "one stop shop" than anywhere else I've found, and that is worth something. I also agree that they seem better than anywhere else for oddball electronics items. The reviews are worth something, but aren't always reliable. And Amazon's customer service is, in my experience, tops. So there are definitely pluses. However, the last couple of things that I've purchased through Amazon were sold by third-parties who provided their own free shipping, so Amazon provided the storefront but Prime provided zero benefit.

Amazon's product prices have escalated steadily over the past couple of years, and whether I'm looking for toiletries, automotive supplies (filters, etc.), or general hardware items, I've found them to be almost always more expensive. That never used to be the case, which I guess is why I've noticed it more.

If I lived in an area where the big boxes were more than 5-10 minutes away, the convenience alone would be worth the cost of the membership. I feel that I'm kind of in a fence-sitter location with respect to convenience for most items. The other factor in my case is how many things we buy from them throughout the year, which usually isn't a ton. I think the last full year we were Prime members, we had maybe 6 or 7 orders total.

On the other hand, my experiences ordering from Home Depot and Walmart online have not been especially good. Home Depot in particular was a complete disaster. Amazon's goofed up our order a couple of times, but returns are always no hassle and their customer service has always been top notch.

My wife has found a few things on Prime Video, but I miss the good documentaries and shows like Mythbusters which they used to have on there. It seems as though the selection has really thinned out. Same with Prime Music, a rather thin selection.


JKG
 
JGoodish said:
I think the last full year we were Prime members, we had maybe 6 or 7 orders total.
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Yeah, that's more than $10 extra per order at the current $99 annual fee. Unless you really like the other perks, it's not worth it at that level unless you regularly pay more than $10 to ship stuff or really need everything second-day.

I find there are a lot of vendors now that sell stuff there that is still "Prime" but it'll take a week and a half to get here, too. Those aren't that great.

The absolutely amazing stuff is if you're an electronics tinkerer. Stuff from China shipped USPS shows up in two maybe three days and it's so incredibly cheap it's unheard of. I can't beat Chinese electronics anywhere.

I'm sure some slave somewhere is making it all, and I feel a little twinge of sadness about that, but in the end, I'm a hobbyist and cheaper is better. If I were building a product I might worry about having a US supplier to yell at when components didn't meet spec.
 
denverpilot said:
Yeah, that's more than $10 extra per order at the current $99 annual fee. Unless you really like the other perks, it's not worth it at that level unless you regularly pay more than $10 to ship stuff or really need everything second-day.

I find there are a lot of vendors now that sell stuff there that is still "Prime" but it'll take a week and a half to get here, too. Those aren't that great.

The absolutely amazing stuff is if you're an electronics tinkerer. Stuff from China shipped USPS shows up in two maybe three days and it's so incredibly cheap it's unheard of. I can't beat Chinese electronics anywhere.

I'm sure some slave somewhere is making it all, and I feel a little twinge of sadness about that, but in the end, I'm a hobbyist and cheaper is better. If I were building a product I might worry about having a US supplier to yell at when components didn't meet spec.
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I feel kind of the same way, but hey, if you buy it from a so-called "American" company, the stuff will still be made by the same slave, working on the same assembly line, in the same sweatshop in China. You'll just pay 20 times more for it.

The way I see it, if something I buy is going to be made in China anyway, I'd rather buy it directly from the Chinese. A lot of "American" companies are no more than PO boxes these days anyway. The products are made in China and the customer service is in India, so the only ones benefiting from purchasing from the "American" companies are the CEO and the shareholders, neither of whom I give a **** about. So screw 'em. If they want to send the jobs to China to pad their own pockets, I'll just buy the stuff from China and knock 'em out of the loop altogether.

The trick with China is finding quality products. It's no secret that a lot of their stuff is cheap ****. But there's a growing number of Chinese manufacturers who are trying to change that reputation by focusing on quality and good customer service, just like Japan and South Korea had to do. Their stuff was considered cheap ****, too, not very long ago.

Rich
 
Prime is bad for me since I'm an impulse buyer but I don't like browsing in stores. But then I have no qualms about sending stuff back.

I bought some binoculars on Prime Day but I chose "slow shipping" or whatever it's called since I won't be home in time for the normal Prime two-day. So now I have $5.50 credit in something called "Prime Pantry" whatever that is. I guess I need to investigate.
 
Everskyward said:
Prime is bad for me since I'm an impulse buyer but I don't like browsing in stores. But then I have no qualms about sending stuff back.

I bought some binoculars on Prime Day but I chose "slow shipping" or whatever it's called since I won't be home in time for the normal Prime two-day. So now I have $5.50 credit in something called "Prime Pantry" whatever that is. I guess I need to investigate.
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I think the Pantry thing is where you fill a specific sized box with "pantry goods" (their computers know what will fit in their standardized boxes) and it ships for free. What I've noticed is it's always brand name stuff and not the cheapest, but when I played with the interface the box would hold a lot of crap. They must be big.

We rarely need that much stuff to store in the pantry so it's kinda like Costco which we cancelled... Too big for the two of us.

I did however buy a mass quantity once of paper towels and TP through Amazon just to do it. I figured it'd be a few boxes. Nope. That box was big enough I could have used it as a redneck snow sled. Pretty funny sitting on the doorstep. Looked like someone had delivered an airplane kit on the porch. LOL.

Way bigger box than the "pantry" boxes. Yuuuuge, even. Haha.

They also push on the pantry stuff to "subscribe"... Once they figure out what you buy and how much, they try to get you to sign up to just have it delivered on a regular basis.

As compared to the whole crazy Prime "button" thing where you stick buttons all over your house (or yell at Alexa) to reorder stuff you're almost out of.

Have to give them credit. They try really hard to find ways to get you to buy through them.

Friends at work bought some of the buttons to just try to hack them to use them for other things/notifications. I haven't heard how that project is going. Haha.
 
denverpilot said:
Yeah, that's more than $10 extra per order at the current $99 annual fee. Unless you really like the other perks, it's not worth it at that level unless you regularly pay more than $10 to ship stuff or really need everything second-day.
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Actually, I was way off on our order history. When we had Prime, we did 20+ orders a year, a couple of years 40+ orders, although not all of them were Prime-eligible orders (i.e. some were from third-parties). Last year when we dropped Prime, we did 12 orders, either from third-parties with free shipping, or batch orders which met Amazon's free shipping threshold (which they've now raised to $49).

Even at 20 orders per year, if ground shipping costs $6-7 per order, we're still ahead with Prime. The convenience is probably worth it.


JKG
 
Anyone else here totally addicted to looking through the cheap toy junk on banggood.com ? ( get your mind out of the gutter, it's a cheap direct from China sales site with all sorts of gadgets and stuff... )

I mean, who can resist a good cheap $7 bicycle warning light?

http://www.banggood.com/Cycling-Nig...B-Bike-Rear-Light-Heart-Design-p-1058852.html

(Your mind can go back into the gutter... That ain't no "heart shape"...)

Seriously though, fun site. Crazy/weird stuff all the time.
 
denverpilot said:
Anyone else here totally addicted to looking through the cheap toy junk on banggood.com ? ( get your mind out of the gutter, it's a cheap direct from China sales site with all sorts of gadgets and stuff... )

I mean, who can resist a good cheap $7 bicycle warning light?

http://www.banggood.com/Cycling-Nig...B-Bike-Rear-Light-Heart-Design-p-1058852.html

(Your mind can go back into the gutter... That ain't no "heart shape"...)

Seriously though, fun site. Crazy/weird stuff all the time.
Click to expand...

I think that's where I ordered the turn signals for my ex's broom.

Rich
 
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