OK, I admit it–I was an Amazon Prime subscriber for a few years.  I took advantage of an attractive student discount where I paid half the normal Prime rate.  When my last renewal came up, it would have been for the full $99/year subscription rate.  Looking at it for more than a few minutes, I realized what a poor offer it really is for me.

Amazon Prime offers both free two-day shipping and now, access to certain video programming.  It offers other benefits I’m sure, but I really only wanted to have access to the fast, free shipping.

The problem is, I never watch video on Amazon, nor do I use any other Prime services, so I am paying for something I never use.  Two day shipping?  Only in rare cases have I ever needed something in two days.  The way Amazon has been opening up distribution centers lately, most of my orders from their warehouses have been arriving in two days anyway.  As for the free shipping, it takes me almost nothing at all to come up with a $25 order to meet their minimum.

If I am in a situation where time is of the essence, I could pony up for a single month’s Prime subscription.  So it is not like it is totally inaccessible.  But otherwise, Amazon has improved enough in other areas that I really don’t need to pay for a full-blown yearly membership.

What I would really like to see is a service called Prime Shipping.  Offer it for $39 or $49/year and I may just resubscribe. And it might bring others on board who feel the $99 price is too steep and, like me, have no use for the other Prime benefits.