Amazon Prime Pantry: first impressions

[passatdoc]

On Wednesday, I was checking Amazon for prices on Borax. I'm down to my last box, Target is the only reliable local source and I live twelve miles from the nearest store, and I thought I'd check Amazon. I discovered a service known as "Prime Pantry", which I later learned debuted that same day.

The basics:

1. Service is open to Amazon Prime members. Don't know whether others are eligible.

2. You buy familiar household products, at Target-level prices, and without having to buy a Costco-sized package (or four-pack, as those who have shopped amazon in the past well know). I bought three boxes of the normal size Borax for $3.50---but I could have bought only one box, there was no requirement to buy more than one

3. For $6, they will deliver one large box (about 16 x 18 x 30 inches) to you with two-day delivery. As you add items to the box, it tells you what percent full the box now is. If you fill the first box and spill over into the second, I believe there is a second $6 charge to deliver.

4. There is no minimum purchase, but the $6 delivery fee is easier to "amortize" if you have purchased a full box of items rather than just a few items.

In my case, I bought a six pack of paper towels, four packs of napkins made of recycled paper, three boxes of Borax, two six packs of Hansen's diet soda, and two jumbo packs of Q-tips, for $37.75 plus $6 delivery. This was a 96% full box. Borax was $3.97, same as at Target. Hansen's was $3, same as at Trader Joe's. What I really liked was that when I buy these items locally, I have to go to three or more stores. Amazon didn't save money---it was comparable to buying at Target or Trader Joe's---but it saved me time/gas not having to shop at multiple sources. You don't reap the cost benefits of a bulk pack from Costco (or a four-pack from Amazon), but the system lets you buy normal sizes and quantities if that fits your needs.

I didn't know at the time I was an opening day customer, but it seemed to go smoothly. I'd certainly consider using it again, with gas at $4.50 a gallon (premium) here.

PS they had both Gain HE powder and Tide HE powder at seemingly reasonable prices, particularly for those who can't find these products locally.

 

[retropia]

We were just discussing this new service this evening. I agree that if the product pricing is competitive, a $6 delivery charge for a "large box" of stuff seems reasonable, given time and transportation costs of regular shopping.

 

There are certain stores I shop at because they are the only ones that carry certain items. It would improve the use of my time if I could order those items online and have them delivered to my door.

 

 

[passatdoc]

As an Amazon Prime member, I am noticing price creep (upwards) on lots of household products that receive free shipping. Example, I use Krusteaz Heart Health pancake mix (for waffles) and I used to get four-packs from Amazon for maybe $12-13. That four pack is now priced at $25 ($6/box) so unless you live in Nome, Alaska, you'd do better at your local supermarket. The four-pack deals on detergent or pantry goods used to be a deal, now Amazon is rolling the cost of shipping into the price so now it is non-competitive with local stores, unless the product simply is not available.

Borax is usually stocked at my local supermarket....at $6/box. Target sells it for $4/box (used to be $3/box until Henkel bought Dial), but I live twelve miles from the nearest Target. The only way to match the price on the Hansens I bought was at Trader Joe's. The only way to beat the price on Q-tips was at Costco.

We'll see how long Prime Pantry lasts, but I did like being able to buy normal-sized quantities and I think $6 is reasonable when I consider I did not have to run to three different stores to buy what was delivered on Friday. I think my time plus the gas saved are worth $6. Amazon Prime recently bumped their annual membership fee to $100, but I get way more use out of the membership (free shipping, free video and book content) than I do with my similarly-priced Costco membership. Our local Costco recently expanded/remodeled, and in doing so they eliminated their experimental self-check-out lanes. I had been shopping more frequently at Costco because of this feature, to save being stuck in line behind shoppers with $500 carts of goods. After this store eliminated self-check-out, I drastically reduced my shopping at Costco, unless I have a large bundle of goods to buy. I keep the membership going because I have several of my employees on my membership and they still like to shop there.

 

[frigilux]

Jim-- What is the advantage of Amazon Prime? It seems I order more and more through them, so maybe I should check it out. I hate to see brick & mortar stores suffer and close, but I do most of my shopping between the hours of 1:00-4:00 a.m., which makes Amazon and other online retailers far more convenient for me. And I don't have to drive to Mankato, Sioux Falls, or Minneapolis to shop.

I do purchase everything I can locally, as the businesses in my little village need all the support they can get. Most other things: Amazon.

 

[passatdoc]

1. Free two-day shipping on items stocked/sold by Amazon. Vs free shipping that takes a week if you buy $30 of merchandise. Items marked with a check mark and "Amazon Prime" get the free two day shipping. For HI and AK residents, they don't get two-day shipping but they do get free shipping (five days or something) which is BIG for them, given the high local retail costs they normally face.

2. Free access to 10,000 Kindle book titles and 40,000 movie/tv titles...much of the Amazon Instant Video library is free to Prime members. The initial $80 cost was competitive with Netflix, even without the free shipping.

I signed up initially for free shipping, unaware I was buying access to their Kindle and AMazon Video libraries. Then I got a Kindle and a smart tv with the Amazon app, and discovered I was eligible to use a lot of free content.

 

[passatdoc]

example of Prime's usefulness

Last year my father's computer broke. I ordered a new desktop from Dell, sans monitor since he had a 19" (analog) flat screen monitor connected via VGA cable.

At the office, I had an unused 22" widescreen digital monitor that is now surplus. Since dad is in his 80s, I decided to install the 22" on his home system and he can donate the 19" to Goodwill or give it away. I am driving to see him tomorrow after work to swap out the monitors. However, last night I remembered that I don't have a digital/HD cable to connect the two devices. His computer has HDMI out, and the monitor has DVI in, so I needed an HDMI male to DVI male cable. I suppose I could have run down to Radio Shack and purchased it at a premium, but the days of Radio SHack being a discount store are long gone. They're more like a convenience store that likely has what you want, in your own neighborhood, but you pay for the convenience.

Amazon had a house-brand "Amazon basics" 3 foot HDMI-to-DVI cable for $5.99, which likely beats anything Radio Shack might carry, and I get free two-day shipping to any address in the 48 states, so I paid $5.99 and it arrives tomorrow at my father's (vs. if I ship to me and have to leave for dad's before it arrives, we're screwed), ready for the install (and if it doesn't arrive until 6 pm, no problem because it's going to dad's and not my address).

Prime is also useful for when you need to send a gift at the last minute, since the two-day shipping is available to any mainland USA address. Also, rates for one-day shipping are reduced. Had I placed the cable order today for delivery tomorrow, the extra charge would have been only $3.99.