Stop & Chat is a weekly discussion here at Read. Sleep. Repeat. where I pretty much talk about whatever tickles my fancy.
This week’s topic was actually inspired by a twitter conversation I had of Jessi of Novel Heartbeat! THANKS HUN!!!
I REALLY don’t like Amazon
Now I do want to say that this discussion was a JOINT effort between my co-blogger Shelly and I. Shelly is a valued and appreciated part of Read. Sleep. Repeat. and is my partner. I appreciate any recognition Stop & Chat receives but please remember it’s not the Octavia show. It’s the Shelly and Octavia show. 🙂
Now…ON TO THE DISCUSSION!
For those of you who saw my tweets with Jessi I got a little (aka A LOT) hot under the collar. Jessi was tweeting about how Amazon was raising their Prime membership to $100 and that their reasoning was “Prime has been the same price for 7 years”. I don’t know about you but that pissed me off! Not only are you raising your already high and not (in my opinion) worth it price now you’re going to remind me that it was the same price for 7 years?! Thanks for shoving that in my face Amazon. Thanks a lot.
But of course they didn’t stop there! Of course not. They decided to throw salt in the wound by raising the price of shipping too. Now I can see raising shipping prices to increase profit from those who DON’T have a prime membership. It’s like saying “hey shipping is really expensive why not just grab Prime!”. But you’re not going to convince the people who don’t have Prime to get Prime just because you raised shipping. Nope. Those people are going to see that you raised Prime and shipping and tell you to go jump in a lake. Or at least I did.
I’m also a “I love reading but I would never buy a Kindle” kind of person too. Yes I know you’re going to yell at me and tell me how much you love your kindle and all the cool features on your kindle but guess what? I seriously do not care. That thing could fly to the moon and back and I still wouldn’t grab one. Yes this is how deeply my dislike of Amazon runs. So Shelly and I sat down to talk about Amazon and while Shelly was completely neutral I think we found some cool points.
Shelly: WHY DO YOU HATE THEM
Shelly: like why are they awful? Please explain
Octavia: Amazon is a huge company that has been in the spotlight for good (the are the innovators of online shopping) and bad (umm how many times have they been sued but publishers?!) reasons. But the reason I don’t like them is actually complicated and it all started with the Kindle
Shelly: I need the back story before i form an opinion
Octavia: I love e-readers and I love people who love e-readers, and while I believe the kindle is a GREAT device with amazing features I feel as though Amazon has gotten so big for it’s britches that the Kindle just isn’t enough for me to support Amazon alone.
Octavia: But it’s not just the kindle. Even though they do have you pay more NOT to have adds on your device, which is crazy to me, it’s the Amazon Prime sham too!
Shelly: I know!
Octavia: 80 bucks a year for free 2 day shipping…not bad for some but seriously think about that. If you use Amazon for more than books “maybe” that free 2 day shipping would come in handy around Christmas or birthdays but those are huge events you order for in advance
Octavia: If you use Amazon just for books I will admit that their prices are cheap and 2 day shipping is fabulous but I would much rather go to my local independent book store and pay 20 bucks for a book and interact with that book store
Shelly: that’s true
Shelly: I also think it’s a little excessive because (at least for us Canadians) shipping becomes free after $25 in a cart for most books and when I buy online I tend to buy a lot so I wouldn’t need prime for myself
Octavia: EXACTLY Shelly! I mean if you can get free shipping for an order over 25 bucks why am I giving you 80 bucks a year?! WHY?!
Shelly: that’s true
Shelly: I tend to buy from Indigo (the B&N of Canada) because their online discounts are phenomenal and it usually takes 3 business days for all my packages to come to my door anyway a
Shelly: amazon seems excessive
Octavia: I had a B&N membership (25 bucks a YEAR) where I get 20-40% off coupons, free 3 day shipping and 10% off in store. And to top it off I get to go to a store, walk around, enjoy the place, grab a cupcake and just relax!
Octavia: And now that Amazon is raising their Prime membership to 100 dollars a year and also increasing their ground shipping price from 3.99 to 5.99 it just seems like it’s all about money
Shelly: WOAH
Shelly: why don’t we have that here?!?! (the B&N thing because I want that)
Octavia: and as a customer I know you want my money but I don’t necessarily want that shoved in my face every time I step in your establishment
Octavia: It’s the best membership EVER!
Shelly: but I am not speaking from experience because shipping is 5.99 here as a flat rate-SHIPPING IS EXPENSIVE for Canadians
Shelly: (unrelated: WE DO HAVE THAT HERE, IT’S a $35 annual fee though, DO I WANT IT?!?!)
Shelly: (I am thinking yes)
Octavia: So yes…I hate Amazon. But not because of their products, or services. I don’t approve nor appreciate their business tactics and for that reason alone I just can’t ever support them fully
So what are your thoughts on Amazon? Share them in the comments!
