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I
have been shopping on Amazon for years now and to date really haven’t had any
issues with the items that I have ordered. Actually, it has been a great
resource to find some of the more obscure items that most stores don’t carry
particularly when it comes to hard to find books. Additionally, the shipping
has always been reasonable which is why I have preferred Amazon over other
sites like Abe Books.
It
continues to be a great place for one stop shopping offering a wide variety of
items across numerous categories and from multiple vendors. When comparing one
item over another or even on brand over another has been a great resource and,
at least in the past, the prices have been the best around. However, things
change and Amazon is slowly becoming just another place to shop with not
guarantee as to best price and soon without the same variety that I have
enjoyed up to this point.
Over
the last couple of months, there have been a few stories that have come to
light that have but a slight damper on the current and future shopping
experience on the site. In addition to the general flux regarding the
marketplace (non Amazon products) and whether or not the storefronts will
remain beyond this year, there was recently a price fixing scheme uncovered that explained, at least on some products, the lack
of competitive pricing of those items not offered directly from Amazon. Makes
sense, with price no longer the main driver, why many retailers are willing to
price match products sold and shipped by Amazon but not in the general
marketplace. I guess this is a big reason why there are other sites that are
easily beating the Amazon site as a whole in the pricing game.
However,
with all of that said, I still find myself purchasing a good amount from the
site (and my coworkers can attest to the piles of packages that I get on
occasion). There are still some moderately priced items, the general
availability is still good, shipping is free (most of the time), and the
convenience of being able to order a quick item or two while at the office is
still key to my continued use. Actually, this is only one of the two main
drivers of my continued patronage with the other being the benefits of Prime
membership.
I am
generally not a big proponent of the membership services offered by Amazon and
the like but the video and music benefits have been worth the $100 per year (it helps that a lot of the movies have been watched on a free Kindle).
The free video content has been utilized not just at home but on the road
during business trips as well. I don’t mind waiting a year or two to watch a
‘new’ movie so it is nice to have free access to the entire prime library. I
have also found that when I have ordered DVDs during the holidays that it, many
times, comes with free prime access as well. An ancillary perk has been that of
free 2-day shipping which has come in handy when I order that occasional item.
Overall,
while things have changed and it is no longer the site that I first started
using years ago, it is still a decent place to find the items that you are
looking for and it is a good resource to compare prices (and match prices).
While the purchasing of physical products may no longer be my primary use of
the site, the value still exists in the access to a tremendous library of
digital content through my prime membership. There are other sites that I go to
if I want to find a better deal and in some instances there are a few physical
stores where I know the prices will be better. It really is amazing to think
about how much has changed over the years and where we now find the value at
different places such as on Amazon.
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