A friend, and regular reader of DadisLearning.com, asked me to look into the savings that are possible with the Amazon “Subscribe & Save” feature that is available to Amazon Prime members.  If you haven’t heard, Amazon Prime is bumping up in price from $79 a year to $99 a year.  Many members are trying to figure out if Prime is still a good deal for them.  In this post we will take a quick look at the basics of the “Subscribe & Save” program and conclude with a calculator that estimates the value you are getting from your Amazon Prime membership…

Subscribe & Save

Amazon has a variety of innovative features that might not be known too well among consumers.  One such features is the “Subscribe & Save” program.  Items can be setup on a schedule for delivery every 1 to 6 months.  When a consumer subscribes they save 5% on the purchase price of the item.  Once you reach five subscription you save 15% on all items.  (There are some items in the Amazon Mom program with savings up to 20%.)

The trick with the “Subscribe & Save” program is finding the right item at the right price.  Let me give you a few examples…

We keep Fiber One Oat and Chocolate bars on hand for a quick snack or breakfast on the run.  I pick them up at Sam’s Club for $8.48 for 24 bars ($0.35 per bar before tax).  The same bars are available in a variety of options on Amazon but the best deal is 45 bars for $21.12 (pre-tax and before subscribe and save discount).  That is $0.47 per bar.  With the 15% discount (assuming you have 5 subscriptions) that price drops to $0.40 per bar pre-tax.  If we consume 300 bars per year that is additional $15 annually if we use subscribe and save.

I prefer Old Spice Sweat Defense deodorant…walking and working at a treadmill desk can be stinky business.  They are $3.99 regular price at Target.  A 4-pack of my deodorant is $15.88 or $3.97 per stick before discount.  With subscribe and save that price reduces to $3.38 per stick.  If I use 15 per year that is a savings of $9.15 with the subscribe and save program.  (Note:  My incredible couponing wife picked up 3 of these deodorants and a body spray for $3.50 TOTAL at Target last week.  But couponing takes a lot of time and some money.) 

I could keep running through items but the basic theory is that it takes a bit of research to find out if “Subscribe & Save” is something that would simplify your life and save money.  I ran a few other items and found that the pricing with “Subscribe & Save” and the regular store price were quite similar.  If you’re stretched for time or always running out of the same item and forgetting to pick up more, “Subscribe & Save” could be a good fit for you.

Is Amazon Prime Worth It?

Citing increases in fuel prices and subsequently shipping expenses, Amazon announced last week that the Prime annual membership fee would bump up from $79 to $99.  Slate.com put together a simple widget that can calculate if you’re saving enough with Prime on shipping alone to justify the price bump.  In 2013 we made over 100 purchases on Amazon for our family and the church.  The Prime membership dropped shipping expense from $3.99 per item to $0.79 per item with the new rate.

Of course Prime has other benefits like access to an ever expanding library of instantly streaming movies and TV shows and a vast library of books available for free through the Kindle app or device.  Those features are more challenging to quantify for the average user.

Still a big fan…just not as much

I still think Amazon is pretty amazing.  I buy items for our family through Amazon all the time, do product research using their vast library of user reviews, and enjoy their streaming services.  Lately there are a few things that Amazon has done that I don’t like.  The price bump of the Prime service was inevitable so that doesn’t bother me.

I don’t like that Amazon signed an agreement with the State of Texas to start charging sales tax on a large number of transactions that I make.  It seems like a bit of a sellout since they received huge incentives from the state to build new distribution centers in Texas then signed a deal to start collecting sales tax.  Of course this puts Amazon on a bit more even playing field with the brick and mortar stores.

I’m also not a fan of the Sunday delivery service.  I know that Jeff Bezos prides his company on getting product to consumers immediately, but I think one day off would be OK.  Many items are already available for delivery on Saturday.  Yesterday afternoon some books I had ordered arrived at our door on a Sunday afternoon.  Everyone needs a break.

What are your thoughts about Amazon, the Prime price increase, and the “Subscribe & Save” program?