Feature
The Gist
- Free shipping alternatives. Amazon offers free shipping without Prime for orders over $35.
- Prime's psychological grip. Many view Prime as indispensable despite viable alternatives.
- Diverse streaming choices. Canceling Prime opens doors to other streaming platforms.
Last June, on a whim, I canceled Amazon Prime. I’d seen the FTC’s lawsuit claiming the company “sabotaged” people’s attempts to disenroll and thought it might be worth experiencing firsthand. Within a few clicks, I was out.
Life Without Prime
I planned to return to Prime soon after canceling, but then never did. At first, I figured I’d wait to pay its $139 annual fee until I had something to buy or watch. But within a few months, I realized I didn’t need it. I still regularly buy things from Amazon with free shipping, but I’m happily out on Prime. And if you’re among its 200+ million members worldwide, you probably can be, too.
Related Article: How Amazon Prime Created a Bad Customer Experience for Everyone Else
Prime Ascends as Lifeline During Lockdown Era
I was a Prime subscriber back in 2019 — when it was already more popular than church, voting, and guns in America — but the service took on a cosmic importance in 2020. That year, in-person retail shut down, and Amazon became a lifeline. I bought an exercise bike via Prime, along with plenty of essentials, and pedaled away the lockdowns. More than 50 million people joined Prime during the Covid era. And we all became accustomed to hitting “buy now” and seeing our stuff delivered free within the next day or two, or even a few hours.
Related Article: How the 'Amazon Effect' Has Impacted Ecommerce
Post-Prime Life: Embracing Patience, Curbing Impulse
After canceling Prime, I’ve been able to reevaluate the necessity of that ultra-fast, free shipping and have found it mostly unneeded. Amazon still ships free when your cart is above $35, albeit a few days slower. After leaving Prime, I’ve been happy to wait. The products still arrive relatively fast, and the selection is still excellent. I’m also less inclined to make impulse purchases. If the tech giants can have their years of efficiency, I guess I can too.
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New Streaming Horizons
Leaving Prime also meant the end of free Amazon Prime Video, but I’ve been able to bear it. I’d been paying for a combination of Prime Video, Netflix, and Max beforehand and couldn’t scratch the surface of their content libraries. Since canceling, I’ve kept Max and sporadically used Netflix’s ad tier to catch up on shows. I haven’t yet come close to running out of things to watch. And I finally took in "The Sopranos." Which is terrific, by the way.
Related Article: Why We Need to Evolve From Customer Experience to Customer Obsession
Readers Rethink Prime's Value, Consider Canceling
When I asked Big Technology readers whether Prime was worth it, I found a number considering dropping it as well. “I’ve actively been considering canceling,” wrote one reader. “I don’t use the music, video, or other additional features and pay for it almost exclusively for shipping. Hard to justify the price simply for shipping convenience.” Others expressed similar ambivalence. After reading through the replies, it appears many can drop Prime and not miss it at all.
Prime's Fast Shipping Still Charms Many
Still, I don’t expect a mass exodus. I was surprised by how many people love Prime’s fast shipping in particular, as well as the ease of returns. Moms and caregivers wrote in with notes about how crucial it is to get a wide variety of items in the home — and fast. “You can often hear me say that if I could marry Amazon Prime, I would,” wrote one. To them, I would make no argument to cancel.
Related Article: FTC Dings Amazon for Poor Customer Experience on Amazon Prime
Prime's Grip Strong Despite Easy Exit Options
Still, many of us, tens of millions of us, came to see Prime as indispensable in 2020. And we hung onto it afterward, maybe — like in my case — forgetting that Amazon will still ship things free without it. If Amazon Prime members started reconsidering and discarded the service en masse, it would be trouble for the company. And perhaps that’s why it built a confusing exit flow that caught the FTC’s attention. But a habit is hard to break, and Amazon likely has little to worry about despite how easy it would be to leave.
