Let the cart sit until it ships free

Not on the orders people actually place — and the waiting turned out to be the point. Many people say that after cancelling, any order over a set total ships free for anyone; some people say that since they were reaching that total anyway, the membership’s shipping was paying for nothing. The number itself is argued: some people say the threshold is lower than another person claimed and that it differs by country, and one person warns the checkout defaults to paid shipping and you have to pick the free option yourself — so read your own checkout page and do not trust a figure from people or this one. Then the part many people found: the membership removes the pause between wanting something and owning it, and without it you wait or you bundle, and the impulse purchases fall away. Some people say they buy less since cancelling, some say they spend less overall, one says only necessities now, and others say they forgot items in the basket and saved money by accident. Some people warn prices on items can move while you wait, sometimes several times a day; one person says the retailer sometimes charges members more than non-members for the same item, some people say they have seen it, and one person warns the single observation is unverified — this page carries it as theirs. A trick some people use — putting an expensive item in the basket to reach the line and cancelling it after — is not carried here: one person warns accounts get penalised for it, and it is gaming a rule rather than using one. One person says the free five-to-eight-day shipping usually arrives early, and some people say the paid speed was never the difference it was sold as.

Less than you were, people say, and they are specific about what was taken away. Many people say the video service that came with the membership now carries advertising and the music service has had features removed, so the entertainment half of the price buys less than it did; others say shows they had were moved behind extra payments, that searches return rentals rather than things they own, and that the ad breaks run long. Some people say the fee rose to a level that stopped making sense at the same time as the ads arrived. Some people say the retailer is no longer reliably the cheapest — big-box chains and local shops match or beat it, and some people say checking prices elsewhere turns up better deals; others say buying direct from a maker is cheaper even with the membership. Some people say the promised two-day delivery routinely takes most of a week, and others say returns have become inconsistent, with long refunds and different rules at different drop-off points. Many people say the marketplace is full of knock-offs and counterfeits — the safety line above carries which categories to avoid. Two points tidy the small print: the retailer’s credit card pays non-members only a little less cash-back than members, not nothing; and cancelling a free trial is not instant — one person says the trial takes a few days to appear in your account before you can cancel it, and one person points out the trial’s cancellation delay is designed to make you forget, and some people warn the process has a delay. One person says the deal-day discounts are often marked up first. One person defends the arithmetic: seen as a monthly cost against other streaming services, the fee is comparable — until the ads. And one person keeps it for a bundle with their insurance, which people asked about and left unexplained.

Some people, honestly, and people name them without sneering. People argue it: some people say the retailer is useful or necessary where local shops are thin or specific items are cheaper there, and some people say it no longer earns its fee, because prices are matched elsewhere, delivery is unreliable and the perks have shrunk — and people’s deciders are where you live and what you buy. One person says the membership earns its keep for people in rural areas and small towns, for specific brands, sizes or organic goods no local shop carries; some people say the fast delivery is real and reliable even in some rural places, and one person says packages now take weeks. Some people say it pays for itself in time when something is needed urgently — medicine refills — and some people add emergency baby supplies — and some people weigh exactly that against the markups. Some people say that fast delivery of hard-to-find items, the repeat-order discount and the card’s cash-back together make the fee worth it for them, and some people answer that prices have risen, quality has fallen and the membership encourages spending; many people say a frugal person can batch orders and use local shops instead. People argue whether even a heavy shopper — hundreds of orders a year, some people say — comes out ahead: some people say yes, and some people say the higher prices elsewhere on the site eat the saving. Some people warn delivery speed depends on how close you live to a warehouse: same-day for some, a week for others, whatever the membership says. One person keeps it for four months of a season’s sport. One person used it for a wedding and cancelled after. The reader this question is for: if you live far from shops, order often, and have checked that the items really are cheaper there — keep it, and people would not argue.

Cancel, keep the days you have paid for, and let the free months come to you when you actually need them. One person says cancelling takes three clicks and you keep the remaining paid days, without a refund for the rest. Some discussions then use the membership the other way round: they take the one-month free or discounted offer only when a heavy month of ordering is coming, and cancel before it renews — one person warns the offers keep arriving after you leave and need some self-control, and others say the trial cancellation is built to be forgotten, so set a reminder the day you start it. Making new accounts to repeat free trials, and borrowing a friend’s login for the video service, come up and are not carried here — people warn, one person each, they break the terms, and one person warns that abusing refunds can end an account, and this site does not carry ways round a company’s rules. One person says to watch the card statement after cancelling, because they were charged again or re-enrolled without asking. One person says a discounted tier exists for people on government assistance — worth checking if that is you before you cancel. One person shares the membership across a household so the fee splits several ways. For the video and the books: one person uses the library’s lending app for e-books and audiobooks, with one person warning that popular titles have queues, and free ad-supported video for the rest. One person warns shipping speed may slow even before your paid days run out.

Many people in several places say no — and this page carries the ones who did. People are unusually one-sided on this: some people say they cancelled or paused and are fine or better off, many say they have cancelled or are planning to over the changes, many say they cancelled in the past year and do not miss it, and some say they suspended it and never noticed. Against that, some people say some people simply prefer the shop — better service, a warranty that means something, a small business supported — and people argue whether a warehouse club is any better, some people on each side, with one person pointing out the club’s prices are not always lower either; people’s answer is that swapping one membership for another swaps one trap for another. Some people cancel for reasons that are not about money — the company’s treatment of workers, its practices, and — one person adds — its market power — and this page carries that as their reason without weighing it. One person says the retailer’s whole model is built to make leaving feel costly; many people who left say they are fine or better off. What nobody here could give — and they asked — is the sum: how much a typical household actually saves in a year after cancelling, beyond the impulse buys that stopped. This page cannot give it either; the arithmetic in the first question is the closest thing.