OT:Amazon Prime (less)

[michael adams]

As is well known Amazon, is the spawn of the devil, are tax dodgers, grind their workers into the ground. them and Ryanair, Tesco, etc. etc. blah, blah, blah.

However...

Up until a few weeks ago I thought that any items in the Amazon listings which were flagged with the Prime symbol, automatically enrolled the buyer in Prime whether they liked it or not. Which was a pity as Amazon, unlike market place sellers, offer click and collect from lockers etc.

In fact this isn't the case. When checking out on Prime flagged items, its still possible to opt out as usual simply by clicking the greyed out option at the foot of the page - "order without Prime" or some such. I know this is the case as I've done this three times without ill effect.

michael adams

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[Chris Hogg]

Yes, I only used Prime free trial for a short while, by accident. Now I make sure I click on the "order without Prime" option every time, but it is in small print and you have to be sharp-eyed to notice it!

[GB]

I'm obviously a fool, as I bought a year's Prime membership. At the time, it was the only way to get some stuff I needed pretty quickly.

I do use it to deliver stuff to people. For example, I sent my brother a

70p bar of chocolate.

[michael adams]

On amy items with the Prime Symbol, I'd never even dared put any of then in my basket, never mind going anywahere near the chackout page; in case there was no way back.

As Amazon are always pestering buyers to join Prime on the checkout page, I've never seen the point of putting the Prime Symbol against certain items in the listings. Which is why I was carefully avoiding them.

michael adams

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[michael adams]

Not really. That depends on whether you also like their TV offerings for a start

That too.

I just don't like Jeff Bezos, with his maniacal laugh. Well its a toss up between him and Zuckerberg; the distance tool on Google Maps along with Streetview gets that pair off the hook.

michael adams

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[michael adams]

Free shipping is totally independent of Prime, Lunkhead.

Read and learn.

Assuming of course, that's still possible in your case.

michael adams

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[alan_m]

Prime isn't free shipping - it cost £100+ per year for next day delivery. You can still get shipping at no extra cost if the order is over £20 and you are prepared to wait up to a week. I'm sure that Amazon deliberately hold back processing non-Prime orders where the customer selects delivery at no extra cost, apart maybe at busy times when many orders arrive the next day irrespective of Prime.

Their ordering system is the spawn of the devil when it comes to avoiding Prime and a PITA to always have to select "You are a fool if you don't want Prime" box but I order quite a lot without having to subscribe to Prime irrespective of the listing.

Note: Many Amazon Market Place sellers also have Ebay shops where the price and delivery timescales may be better.

[Max Demian]

At the moment I am carefully avoiding Amazon.

[Dave Liquorice]

Or their own online shop and occasionally a physical one as well.

[alan_m]

So paying £100+ per year extra for the delivery of goods makes it "free"?

Cancel your free trial to avoid the automatic ongoing subscription and you will not be offered the zero cost trial again for many months, only a subscription at full price. It then reverts to a reduced cost offer as a months trial. After about a year they may offer the zero cost trial again. The point of attempting to sign you up is the ongoing automatic subscription until you take the action to cancel. I don't use Amazon enough, nor require next day delivery as a guarantee to need to spend an extra £100+ per year.

I guess that you may be able to obtain ongoing free Prime trials if you change your account details every month but for me life is too short to start playing these games when Amazon also provides free delivery options without using Prime if you are prepared to wait a bit longer for delivery. I have a few items that I use on a regular basis, and which Amazon can supply at a competitive price, that I can add to any order to reach the minimum order threshold for free delivery.

I have no interest in extra TV channels/music etc. that also comes with prime.

[NY]

It never occurred to me that the Prime flag might mean that membership of Prime was compulsory or that it would automatically enrol me onto Prime. I'm intrigued where that misconception has arisen.

I interpreted it in the way that Amazon actually intend it: that the item was *eligible* for the privileges that Prime membership gives - for example, faster one-day delivery by courier as opposed to slower delivery by Royal Mail. In general, items that are dispatched by an independent "market place" seller (who just uses Amazon to handle the placement of orders) are not eligible for Prime, whereas items that are dispatched from an Amazon warehouse are eligible for Prime and so offer faster delivery, and delivery to lockers and post offices etc.

I can't see any "order without Prime" option on the Checkout page which has the Buy Now button, where I can choose delivery address and delivery speed (one day versus no rush). Maybe it isn't displayed because I already have Prime membership.

[Theo]

I use it as a handy filter to remove sent-from-China stuff, since Amazon CBA to provide such a filter for themselves.

I'm getting increasingly annoyed by the way Amazon's search attempts to railroad you into particular products and blatantly refuses to do the things you ask of it. Still, it can be better than ebay when you need something in a hurry (although prices can be 2-3x ebay for small widgets). And the reviews are occasionally useful when you /are/ buying a dubious bit of Chinesium.

Theo

[Brian Gaff (Sofa)]

Not only this, I've found opting out of a free trial far more simple in the last few months. None of this baiting to make you stay etc any more. Brian

[Andrew]

It's the way women 'save' money. Buying two of items that they don't actually need or want.

[John Rumm]

Prime is ~£80/year in the UK - and that includes all the prime services not just the "free" shipping.

[Bob Eager]

I gave up because the "free" shipping was all I wanted.

[alan_m]

As a non-Prime buyer I first get the option early in the checkout process to sign up for the Amazon credit card to save a one off £20 AND to continue with a Prime one month trial (or not)

If I say no to both the following itemised list always contains a shipping charge BUT I have then the options to change it (assuming qualifying order value above £20)

i) Prime (trial) next day free delivery ii) Free delivery (3 to 5/7 business days) iii) Next day delivery (at a cost approaching £5) iv) Time slot delivery at a greater cost (next day before 1pm etc)

The free 3 to 7 business days is often much shorter. The delay seems to be in the dispatch time rather than delivery time. Once I get the "your item has been dispatched" email notification the goods usually arrive the next day.

The Prime logos littering their listings seem to be just an indication that the goods are dispatched from an Amazon warehouse rather than from a Market Place sellers premises. Market Place sellers often include delivery at no extra cost.

It's much like all Amazon packages arriving with Prime packing tape.

[#Paul]

This is usually the case for everybody, because you generally have to seach quite hard for the non-prime ordering option -- last time I ordered, the no-prime option wasn't even a button, but instead was some rather faint grey text on the left side of the page; whereas there was not one, but *two* right hand side order-now-while-also-signing-up-for-prime buttons, one of which was slightly less obvious than the other. I presume the second one was to trick the less-focussed buyer into thinking *that* was for no-prime ordering.

#Paul

[Dave Liquorice]

Like wise. IIRC I did sign up once when the next day "free" shipping was pretty much all it offered for about £30. Have absolutely no interest in streaming video or music services.

Those that keep getting signed up aren't paying attention when clicking buttons IMHO.

I'm happy with the 3 to 5 business days free delivery, provided I spend over £20. But then Parcelforce or Royal Mail 48 is almost always 24 to here.

[michael adams]

Because in the past it was possible to order stuff from Amazon themselves ( which I've been doing for over a decade now at least) which didn't show a Prime logo in the listings (which I have always avoided like the plague).

Are you saying that this doesn't *already* apply to all items sold by Amazon themselves then ? That all such items aren't eligible ? And that that hasn't always been the case, ever since Prime was introduced ?

But my point is that just because items are eligible for Prime doesn't mean the buyers *has* to use Prime for that item. And that even without opting for Prime its still possible to take advanatge of the lockers etc.

As you're a memeber of Prime I can't quite see any possible reason for your wanting to "order without Prime". That said I'd imagine the page layouts that Amazon buyers see may differ according to their status.

michael adams

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