this post was submitted on 07 May 2024
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But do you actually need it? How often is 2 days fine, but 5 days unacceptable? Are there local stores you could use instead to fill those needs?
Yeah, 2-day shipping is nice, and we had prime for years largely for that, but prime has steadily gotten more expensive and we eventually stopped seeing value. We cut it a couple years ago, and we've seen our spending shift to local stores, though we still use Amazon a fair amount. But at $15/month or $140/year ($11.67/month), we just weren't ordering enough to make that worthwhile. Overnighting something occasionally is cheaper than subscribing to prime.
I've ended up shifting a lot of stuff back to brick and mortar just because Amazon can't be trusted on anything that isn't a brand you already know. I was looking for gym shorts with the sewn in compression shorts and all of it was just the exact same image under many stupid brands. Just a quick glance the same image is being used by Leidowei, Surenow, NELEUS, Ultra Performance, Aolesy, JWJ, Born Tough, Pudolla. Like how can you trust any of those? Went to Dicks and just bought their in store brand (DSG) and they've been working out great. Plus I can actually inspect them and try them on before buying. Unless you're buying a known brand/commodity, Amazon is just filled with drop shippers and you can't trust their reviews at all. We're letting our Amazon Prime membership go this year because I just don't need it anymore.
Yup, that was our experience as well.
I found that Target had most of the low quality crap we were buying on Amazon anyway, and I could get something of better quality also locally. I would spend a ton of time doing research to avoid the worst of drop-shipped crap on Amazon.
Now I only really buy name brand stuff at Amazon that I can't find locally. We do maybe one order/month, if that, and I could probably eliminate Amazon entirely if needed.
Yeah I've actually been happy with the clothes I've gotten from Target too. Their All In Motion line or whatever it is has been nice for quarterzips for golfing. Found 32 degrees stuff at Costco and their website has all the basics I need (Polos/Casual slacks/underwear/socks) for cheap and its comfortable.
Yup, we get most of our stuff from Costco and Target, Amazon fills in the gaps and is a minuscule part of our spending (like maybe $50/month?).
To me it's worth it. I order a ton of Amazon, unfortunately it's usually the best option to find niche items for my hobbies that can't be found locally.
That's too bad, because Amazon is really hit or miss.
I don't know what hobbies you have, but my wife and I have better options than Amazon. My wife is into watercolors and fountain pens, so she buys from specialty shops. I'm into computers and MTG, so I'm a better fit for Amazon, but I usually buy from Newegg and local game shops. We both like board games, which he generally get from local game shops.
We do need to buy a fair amount from Amazon though to fill in the gaps, but it's rarely urgent, so it can wait a week if needed.