ZeroGrav – Nov 2018 – amazon, whatever

I have done the unthinkable, I have ‘logged off’ of amazon’s Prime service, and no plans to return.  What!?  I have used amazon prime for years, thanks to bro for sharing, and have utilized the free 2-day shipping service quite extensively.  Anything from games to books to clothing and gifts, and over the past year trending towards even more generic household items like cleaning supplies, food, and basically anything I didn’t feel like picking up at a retail store.  Why would I travel to a store when I could receive ‘free’ two-day shipping?

From a financial and business sense, what started me down the path of cancelling was the increase in annual membership cost to something like $125.  I remember when it was $60 years ago, which seemed easily justified at the time, and then it somehow crept up to $100, and if I am not mistaken is indeed closer $125 now.  Amazon also recently cracked down on family memberships, multiple credit cards no longer being allowed on one account, and restricting certain items and pricing to Prime members only.  Amazon been getting’ greedy!  Also, I was only using the service for the free 2-day shipping, no interest in the prime music or prime streaming that they push as member ‘benefits’. Overall I think $125 is way too high a price point to pay for expedited shipping.  Amazon gives free standard shipping on I believe orders over $25 or $30 (unless that has been increased as well), which works just fine.  Additionally, from a competitive landscape, retailers like Target.com offer free 2-day shipping on most items, and the same has been trending with a lot of the other companies trying to grab back consumer goods market share.

So far as the experience of ‘quitting Prime’, it was completely mental, and I can only say that now after having been through it.  At first I am like No way Not cancelling Not happening, I love amazon prime, I need items quickly, I need 2-day shipping.  Amazon does a good job keeping their customers loyal, I will say that.  I even ended up signing up (again!) and giving myself the free trial month to truly evaluate the service.  I think it was actually day 40 or so that I cancelled, as it was not a quick and easy decision, and ended up paying for that entire month of service.  However once the membership was dropped, I brushed it off, and haven’t looked back since.

The free/fast shipping really does seem to be some sort of behavioral dependency developed by marketeers, based on instant gratification.  People want stuff ‘now’, where they want it, when they want it, at the push of a button (i.e. amazon 1-click shopping).  It is everywhere in our culture today – Immediate info on our smartphones, immediately google everything and anything, look at your phone, look at your computer, be connected 24/7, go fast, be productive, be efficient, multi-task, socialize, share……… Know and have everything and anything.  And if anyone tells you no then find a way around them…

I think it is important to forget about technology sometimes.  Literally just forget about it and don’t go near it for a while.  And forget about getting what you want, I think we all need to be told No sometimes, to put more value and gratitude on what is already right in front of us.

I have been making a lot of changes to find more ‘balance’ this past year, and some of those changes seem to be naturally trending towards minimalism.  Although I am leagues leaps and bounds away from being able to claim a minimalist lifestyle, dropping Prime has helped me understand there are a lot of things I just don’t need, and don’t want, and that being a mass consumer isn’t aligned with where I want to be.  ‘Stuff’ just doesn’t fall off a tree – It is manufactured, packaged, and transported, all of which eats up natural resources and creates waste and pollution.  Not to mention terrible working conditions which can be found all over the world if you look closely enough, in the name of low-cost labor sourcing and capitalism.

Although it was amazon’s cost increase that pushed me to cancel prime, doing so has led to some very cool revelations.  I am enjoying planning out what I need as far as gifts/entertainment/items/etc., and ordering those things a couple weeks in advance.  It makes things more real.  And just saying no, I actually don’t want more stuff, I want less.  Less is more – think about it.

Zer0

p.s. – Alexa is legit spying on you.