Amazon raised it's free shipping order amount to $49 yesterday. Some say it's a way of getting more people to subscribe to Amazon Prime for $99 per year, which offers free shipping and video options.
Amazon raised free shipping order amount from $35 to $49 yesterday
- Thread starter Shaveathon
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It totally is. Supply and demand, or capitalism at work.
I started a similar thread on this topic here: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...-free-shipping-minimum-order-to-49?highlight=
- Thread starter
- #4
If I saw it, I wouldn't have started this one. There are times when my Shopping and Deals forum posts don't seem to be sorted by "last post" and I have to click the top column to resort the posts.
No problem ... we've all started duplicate threads. Maybe a Mod can merge the two.
I just wanted to call it to your attention since the other thread has a lot more discussion in it already.
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- #6
I've already contributed to it or at least I thought I did. I don't see my post there which asked for more information about Amazon Prime.
Could it have been taken down?
If it was, you would have gotten a PM from a Mod.
I've done the same thing ... I think I've posted but I get distracted and go to another tab and I forget to hit the "Post Quick Reply" button.
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- #9
I checked awhile ago and saw it was posted but for some reason I didn't see it when going back to the thread several times. 10 minutes later it was there.
Are you serious? As a casual Amazon customer that doesn't use prime, this is a huge disappointment. I often found stuff cheaper as a total on Amazon over other sites due to the $35 and free shipping. I doubt I'll be shopping around on there much after this. 
I'll still be an Amazon customer. The higher free-ship threshold just means it will take me longer to fill my basket between orders.Are you serious? As a casual Amazon customer that doesn't use prime, this is a huge disappointment. I often found stuff cheaper as a total on Amazon over other sites due to the $35 and free shipping. I doubt I'll be shopping around on there much after this.
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- #12
If Amazon would offer a bunch of actual free streaming broadcast channels with Amazon Prime like the news channels and sports channels, it would be worth the $99 because then I might drop my cable TV package. I find it tough enough just to find what's actually included with Amazon Prime. I don't care for just selecting from a bunch of available shows or series.
The TV portion of my cable bill runs about $180/year. I get local channels plus a handful of others, most of which I don't watch.
$99 would be a real bargain if I could get the same program, particularly local news and Prime-Time network channels.
I had a Netflix subscription for about a year ... but it only took about 3 months before I had seen everything I wanted to see and there was nothing new anymore.
My biggest hurdle is my ISP ... I'm at $54 a month for 30M/sec, which is more than enough speed, plus I can use HotSpots all over town with my account. Stepping down to their next lower tier would cut my at-home speed by 90%, and I'd have to give up the HotSpots. I'd only be saving about $5 a month that way, so its not worth it.
I did just drop my VerizonWireless bill by more than $30 a month, and I'm getting MORE service(s) for that amount.
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- #14
The TV portion of my cable bill runs about $180/year. I get local channels plus a handful of others, most of which I don't watch.
$99 would be a real bargain if I could get the same program, particularly local news and Prime-Time network channels.
I had a Netflix subscription for about a year ... but it only took about 3 months before I had seen everything I wanted to see and there was nothing new anymore.
My biggest hurdle is my ISP ... I'm at $54 a month for 30M/sec, which is more than enough speed, plus I can use HotSpots all over town with my account. Stepping down to their next lower tier would cut my at-home speed by 90%, and I'd have to give up the HotSpots. I'd only be saving about $5 a month that way, so its not worth it.
I did just drop my VerizonWireless bill by more than $30 a month, and I'm getting MORE service(s) for that amount.
It sounds like you no longer have a VOIP or landline connection. That $180 TV portion of your bill sounds like you might get nearly the same number of channels or more with a digital antenna and one of the streaming services.
I'm pretty good at finding things when searching but I find it impossible to get a handle on what the streaming service actually offer in terms of full channels.
Out where I live, I'd need a full-blown roof antenna to pick up OTA broadcasts. I'd probably need 2 of them, so I could point one to Philadelphia and one to New York. (Rotors are NOT a good idea.) I've ballparked it and it would run me a minimum of $400 to put one up myself, and that's not going to happen. Probably about $1,000 to have one installed by a pro. No thanks, I'll stick with my $15/mo. basic package from Comcast.
I do have VoIP ... I'm on my second MagicJack with a bill that's a measly $29.95 a year. I could drop it even further by getting a 5-year plan for $99.95. I get unlimited calls to CONUS and I think Canada, too. I give out my cellphone for a contact number, and use the VoIP line for outgoing calls.
I did have a Comcast VoIP line years ago, and the sound quality was outstanding. MagicJack sounds a little distant and tinny, but to go back to ComCast just to get clear, loud audio would raise my bill tremendously. Its just not worth it for the few voice calls I make and receive. If I were running a business or working as a telemarketer and clear audio would make me money, I'd definitely go back. But in the meantime, no thanks.
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- #16
I've been thinking about one of these Magicjack or Ooma connections. Are there any others?
There probably are, but I haven't investigated.
MagicJack has an initial one-time purchase of around $69.95 ... the annual fee is $30/yr or $100/5yr. Be sure and get the MagicJackPLUS ... it plugs into your wi-fi router or other Ethernet port. The cheaper version plugs into your computer USB and really drags down your RAM and other resources, and the sound-quality on the cheaper one is horrible. I had that first, but when it gave out, I upgraded and I'm glad I did.
DO NOT USE the MagicJack Android App. It wears down your phone's battery really fast and is a monstrous hog of your data-plan. It keeps checking for new incoming calls constantly and that really adds up to a lot of 1's and O's going through the air that you have to pay for.
MagicJack has its own VoiceMail system, so if I miss a call when I'm at work, it goes to the voice-mail and that will send me an eMail that says I have a message waiting and what number it called from. It also attaches a .WAV file with the contents of the message, but I can't play that on my phone. I can dial from my cell-phone and access the voice-mail box directly, but I generally don't bother, I'll just call the person back directly if its someone I want to talk to or just ignore if I don't recognize where it came from.
I don't know a lot about Ooma ... I think it is a one-time cost of $180 to buy the equipment and then there are no monthly or annual fees after that. But I'm not sure. Check their website for more info, or read reviews on Amazon or other shopping site.
There are probably other systems out there, but I'm happy with my MagicJackPlus and I don't need to look any further.
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- #18
Thanks for the detailed information and the suggestion of Magicjackplus. The one thing that would worry me about a 5 year plan is that we're dependent on the continued success of the company and their solvency from year to year. The same would go for Ooma and that one time fee. Obviously $180 is nothing compared to even the low end $30 per month VOIP cost of a triple play cable deal, however.
