Amazon Prime Pantry

noffgurl · December 2014

Has anyone tried it? I noticed you have to be a Prime member. I'm not but I'm wondering if it would be worth it to do it. I already order most gifts from Amazon and I hate, despise, crowds.

hoffse · December 2014

I've looked into it but haven't done it. You have to pay a small extra shipping fee, and that defeats the entire point of prime to me. I am a prime member and I order a LOT of stuff on Amazon. It saves me tax, shipping costs from other retailers, and time/gas. Prime pantry might save tax, but since you are paying an additional shipping fee and you still have to go to the grocery store for perishables anyway, it doesn't seem as great of a deal to me.

I do have to give a plug to prime. Their movies and TV shows are as good or better than netflix. It costs $3 more per year than netflix, and then you get the free, 2-day shipping perks too. Our prime membership more than pays for itself each year in terms of stuff I DON'T buy to be over the free shipping limits that everybody can use.

dragonstarjk · December 2014

I'm also a Prime member but haven't tried Prime pantry yet. I think it could be worth it if you really filled up the box since it's $5.99 per box. Some of the items are better prices than I could find locally, but a lot of items I already buy from Amazon aren't eligible so I don't think I'd see a savings. Maybe I'll try it when they've added more choices.

I'm going to second @hoffse and give a shout out for Prime though. It has a LOT of features that aren't really known to people I don't think. For example, if you have a Kindle, you can get a free book each month through their Kindle First program. You can also 'borrow' books for your kindle at no charge from the Kindle lending library. This is, of course, in addition to the free 2-day shipping, $3.99 one-day shipping, tons of free movies and tv shows, music storage, photo storage, etc. If you are a frequent Amazon shopper, Prime is pretty fabulous! I don't think it would be worth it if you aren't a big Amazon user though.

formerlyGDaisy09 · December 2014

I am also a prime member, we order most our household goods on prime to save on time, gas, and I think in most cases we save a little money. I order all our paper goods, cleaning products, soap, and pet supplies on prime.

we watch tons of movies, we also have Netflix, the two services share a lot of titles, but both have things we like that the other doesn't. I've also started taking advantage of the option to decline 2 day shipping on things I don't need in a hurry in exchange for credit at the kindle store or on instant videos.

Amazon seems to continue upping the perks you get as a prime member.

als1982 · December 2014

I am a Prime member, but we use it to stream tv and movies, and I like the free monthly books. Otherwise, we use it very rarely, most often for work-related purchases. (I always wonder what people are buying to make paying $99 just for the free shipping a good deal?!)

We get our household goods at drugstore.com. They offer free shipping for any order over $35. Plus, I like that I can buy through a portal and earn United/Southwest/Upromise points (whichever offers the best earn rate at time of purchase). And with each purchase, you also get 15% back through them to spend during the next quarter. I usually accumulate $20 or so in these drugstore dollars every four months. Also, I don't have a pay tax when buying through drugstore.com, but I do at Amazon (presumably because there's a large distribution center in my state).

hoffse · December 2014

als1982 said:

I am a Prime member, but we use it to stream tv and movies, and I like the free monthly books. Otherwise, we use it very rarely, most often for work-related purchases. (I always wonder what people are buying to make paying $99 just for the free shipping a good deal?!)

We get our household goods at drugstore.com. They offer free shipping for any order over $35. Plus, I like that I can buy through a portal and earn United/Southwest/Upromise points (whichever offers the best earn rate at time of purchase). And with each purchase, you also get 15% back through them to spend during the next quarter. I usually accumulate $20 or so in these drugstore dollars every four months. Also, I don't have a pay tax when buying through drugstore.com, but I do at Amazon (presumably because there's a large distribution center in my state).

For us it has to do with stuff we don't buy. Before prime came out I used to add small items to my Amazon purchases to get the total over $25 (I think it's now $35) to get the free shipping. We buy lots of small-ticket items through Amazon, and since I no longer have to hit purchase minimums to get free shipping it pays for itself that way.

brij2006 · December 2014

I finally caved and signed up for the free trial of Amazon Prime. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up keeping it and paying the $99. However, we live an hour away from Target, and 30 minutes from a Walmart. I am really liking that if I need something, then I can just order it and it's here in 2 days.

Just the other day we went to Dicks Sporting Goods (an hour away) to pick up basketballs for H's basketball league. We got in there and they only had 1 of the type of ball H needed. So then he had to search for a different one that would work since he needed 2. When we got to the checkout line, it was halfway through the store and the wait was 30 minutes. We got on Amazon and found the ball he wanted, in stock, for $10 cheaper on each. So we ordered them using prime on a Sunday afternoon, in the checkout line, and they were delivered yesterday. Sorry Dicks, but you just lost out on a $120 sale.

Sorry but our time is valuable to us, and I would rather order something off Amazon and have it in 2 days than drive an hour each direction just to find out a store doesn't have what we need or enough of it and stand in line for 30 minutes to buy it. Amazon won a lot of points with H and I on Sunday, for that reason alone.

formerlyGDaisy09 · December 2014

we're in the same basket as @brij2006, there are very limited shopping options near us. The walmart in town is one of the really small walmarts, it doesn't have a great selection and lines are always horrible, the closest target is an hour and 20 minutes away. even if we aren't saving money being able to order and hae things delivered to our house in 2 days saves us tons of time.

and if I inevitably forget something before I check out, it is not a problem to just go and order one small item.

bnunn03 · December 2014

I have the prime trial right now, but we will probably end up keeping it. Example: bought $120 running shoes at the local running store--found them on Amazon for $60 cheaper--with prime I will get them tomorrow. Plus they did have different shows than netflix--which I can apperciate since we are getting rid of cable in Feb.

lifeonthehill · December 2014

This is making me really want Prime.

We are a half an hour from any shopping area so we are always put out when we forget something. We end up buying something silly like maple syrup for $8.50 a bottle at the country store up the road. Ridiculous.

brij2006 · December 2014

So I did some searching on the Prime Pantry. Me personally, I will probably never use it. It's mostly for staple items, but the prices aren't substantially cheaper than what you would get them for at the store. However, if we used more organic products and had a hard time finding them, then I could see where this would be worth it.

According to the description of the shipping, it's $5.99 for up to 45 pounds of goods in a crate. One thing I would mostly use this on is dog/cat food and cat litter. So really, for that many pounds of goods, that's cheap shipping. But those are things I would rather just grab at the store when we need them.

formerlyGDaisy09 · December 2014

brij2006 said:

So I did some searching on the Prime Pantry. Me personally, I will probably never use it. It's mostly for staple items, but the prices aren't substantially cheaper than what you would get them for at the store. However, if we used more organic products and had a hard time finding them, then I could see where this would be worth it.

According to the description of the shipping, it's $5.99 for up to 45 pounds of goods in a crate. One thing I would mostly use this on is dog/cat food and cat litter. So really, for that many pounds of goods, that's cheap shipping. But those are things I would rather just grab at the store when we need them.

Have you tried Wag.com? before we did prime we'd order cat food, litter, etc from there. you have to spend $49 to get free shipping..but if you're stocking-up on litter, food, etc. it's not hard to get there.

brij2006 · December 2014

Gdaisy09 said:

brij2006 said:

So I did some searching on the Prime Pantry. Me personally, I will probably never use it. It's mostly for staple items, but the prices aren't substantially cheaper than what you would get them for at the store. However, if we used more organic products and had a hard time finding them, then I could see where this would be worth it.

According to the description of the shipping, it's $5.99 for up to 45 pounds of goods in a crate. One thing I would mostly use this on is dog/cat food and cat litter. So really, for that many pounds of goods, that's cheap shipping. But those are things I would rather just grab at the store when we need them.

Have you tried Wag.com? before we did prime we'd order cat food, litter, etc from there. you have to spend $49 to get free shipping..but if you're stocking-up on litter, food, etc. it's not hard to get there.

Now now, this would create a monster. I'm one to bulk shop because I would rather have what we need sitting in the house rather than needing to run out and get small amounts. If I check this out, then it may end badly.

Before Amazon turned to Prime and Pantry exclusive items, I used to order all of our bulk pet items from them. Our UPS guy was amazing and would even bring it into the house for me. Now I have to get it from the store, and it's quite comical since I do most of the shopping by myself.

dragonstarjk · December 2014

als1982 said:

I am a Prime member, but we use it to stream tv and movies, and I like the free monthly books. Otherwise, we use it very rarely, most often for work-related purchases. (I always wonder what people are buying to make paying $99 just for the free shipping a good deal?!)

We get our household goods at drugstore.com. They offer free shipping for any order over $35. Plus, I like that I can buy through a portal and earn United/Southwest/Upromise points (whichever offers the best earn rate at time of purchase). And with each purchase, you also get 15% back through them to spend during the next quarter. I usually accumulate $20 or so in these drugstore dollars every four months. Also, I don't have a pay tax when buying through drugstore.com, but I do at Amazon (presumably because there's a large distribution center in my state).

Yeah, I'm in the same category as hoffse and others. My town only has Walmart and Kmart to buy anything such as clothes, shoes, household goods (unless looking for specialty items in downtown boutique shops). I've ordered piles of things on Amazon that I just wouldn't be able to buy without driving two hours. One example is bar soap. I use a certain type of all-natural, hypoallergenic soap because it's the only thing that doesn't make me break out. I have driven all over town looking for it and now I just buy it five bars at a time on Amazon. Same with most of my personal care products, actually. I have extremely sensitive skin that is allergic to everything.

I also run a small baking business out of my home on the side, and Prime pays for itself just with this alone! There is nowhere in town to buy baking supplies such as fondant and fondant tools; I buy all of those on Amazon too.

They have a ton of options for organic and all-natural foods that I never even knew existed because I don't have access to those things where I live. Even things such as canned pumpkin or fruit snacks or....just about anything you could think of. I'm not super into organic eating but I do like to have the option to get some healthier things that I wouldn't be able to purchase otherwise.

They have much cheaper prices on K-cups for our Keurig than anything I've found locally.

They have hundreds of options for household décor such as rugs, small furniture, linens, etc. Again, I like having an option whereas otherwise I would be limited to what Walmart and Kmart sell.

Add to that all of the other features I already mentioned, and I could be a paid spokesperson for Amazon Prime :-D

blondie42107 · December 2014

We use Prime all the time. Diapers, wipes, etc are great prices with the subscribe and save program. We also order personal care items: shampoo, soaps, etc. I use Avalon shampoo but the two Targets closest to me quit carrying it. They also offer coupons on these items, you just have to click "clip coupon."

Paper towels and toilet paper are great buys as well.

I put things I'm looking at in my wish list, if the price goes down, it tells me.

There are some natural/organic items I really like and I can get them locally but it's so much more expensive. They are easily 30-50% cheaper on Amazon. And I don't have to make a special trip.

I also do most of my Amazon shopping at 1030pm in my jammies.

TV is great too!

KatieCutie05 · December 2014

I had no idea you can get free movies and tv shows instantly with prime? We're cancelling our cable in February and we were just going to get netflix but if we can get the same thing with prime and get free shipping- then maybe we should be looking at prime instead. We love amazon but don't purchase from it unless we're already spending over 35 dollars. It would definitely save us money at christmas time tho with all our gifts needing to be shipped.

hoffse · December 2014

Not going to lie... we live in a town (city) that has plenty of amenities. I can walk to the local Publix and there is a Target and a Walmart less than 2 miles from our house.

I still order stuff from Amazon, mostly because I don't want to spend my limited free time shopping for boring stuff.... or worse, having to go out again once I get home because we need something. I don't usually get home until 6:30-7:00 and it's a blessing to have stuff we need during the week arrive on my doorstep.

Amazon is also often cheaper and we don't pay sales tax on Amazon purchases in my state. My state's sales tax is exorbitant, so we save ourselves a lot in that category as well.

Also remember you can use your prime membership through Amazon Smiles. Amazon will then donate 0.5% of the purchase price of items you buy to the charity of your choice. If your charity isn't listed, you can request that Amazon set it up. I had Amazon contact our local humane society to get on the list and it was done within a week. Obviously this is no substitute for outside giving, but every little bit helps, and if you're going to buy that stuff anyway.... might as well get a small cut for your favorite charity in the process.

blondie42107 · December 2014

KatieCutie05 said:
I had no idea you can get free movies and tv shows instantly with prime? We're cancelling our cable in February and we were just going to get netflix but if we can get the same thing with prime and get free shipping- then maybe we should be looking at prime instead. We love amazon but don't purchase from it unless we're already spending over 35 dollars. It would definitely save us money at christmas time tho with all our gifts needing to be shipped.

I'd suggest going online and looking at the prime options. We use Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. Some shows on Amazon are free some are a fee but it's working well for us!

hoffse · December 2014

Oh and you can get cash back on Amazon purchases in rotating categories through ebates and befrugal. Befrugal does up to 8% back. For our soon-to-be-moms, I'm pretty sure baby gear is on the cash back list this month (though maybe at a lower percentage)...

And if you set up a baby registry through Amazon and have a prime account, you get 15% off of your items that are purchased directly from Amazon. I think you have to do it all in a single purchase, but that could potentially save a TON. I think they have a similar thing for wedding registries too, though the completion discount started after H and I got married so I'm not sure about that part.

Basically, Amazon operates on razor thin margins to offer all of this stuff.

vlagrl29 · December 2014

I love prime as well. Amazon mom was awesome when dd was a baby. It was great getting diapers delivered to the door. The fee use to be $79 but they upped it last year. We got rid of Netflix because the variety is better on amazon streaming.

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