Prime Day Done Right

Last year most viewed Amazon Prime Day as nothing more than a ploy as the online retailer didn’t really offer up any of the amazing deals that everyone was expecting. While I didn’t have as strong a response last year, there was clearly room for improvement as I only found a few items that were of interest with most of those small purchases being for my son. When all was said and done, the real deals were on items that only a few people were looking to purchase while the rest of us not finding any discounts beyond that which we have been seeing for years in the daily deals. This was the expectation that many of us had when Amazon announced that they would, once again, have an Amazon Prime Day on July 12^th.

This was probably why it wasn’t until later in the morning when I decided to log into my account and see if there was anything that piqued my interest. Scrolling through the pages upon pages of discounted products I did find a couple that I considered purchasing and subsequently added them to my cart. However, none of those things I would qualify as anything that I needed to purchase so I decided to take a closer look at some of the things that my wife and I had been looking to purchase that were, at the time, saved in my cart for future consideration.

It was in these items, varied as they may be, that I noticed the huge difference between the flop last year and the vastly improved experience this time around. While I couldn’t find anything that was singled out as a deal, I did find that most of the products and items in my cart were part of a larger category or collection of items that were being offered at 10, 20, and 30 percent off. This is the kind of sale that many of us were looking for last year and were now ready to take advantage of this summer.

And this didn’t just apply to the new items. I also noticed that many categories in the “Amazon Warehouse” carried with them the same discount. The compounded savings on a few items finally pushed me to purchase some of the things that I had been thinking about for some time and now, at nearly 70 and 80 percent off, it was definitely the time to buy.

It may not have seemed likely but Amazon did actually learn something from the tepid response that they received the first time around and now, it is safe to say, most of us are looking forward to how they will improve the experience in the years to come. Of course, those beyond the 1 hour delivery areas are just waiting for our packages to arrive. And some of us are just letting them take their time so that we can further our frugality just a little bit more with the digital credits we are earning because we are willing to wait. Safe to say that next week should be an interesting UPS experience.

Mixed Opinion About Amazon

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.

You Can’t Help But Watch

Maybe it stems from watching too much Three Stooges when I was younger. Maybe it is because I am a rather simple individual. Maybe it is all comes down to intellectual laziness. For whatever reason, there are some movies that when you see them on television, listed on Amazon Prime or NetFlicks, or sitting on top of the 99 cent bin at the store you can’t help but watch them. Not because they are some cinematic masterpiece but because you don’t have to think when the movie is playing… it is all about being able to laugh for the sake of laughing. Some call it comedy in its purest for but I like to take a more honest view and see them as so stupid they’re funny.

Everyone is guilty of having that little list of movies in their mind that when they are playing you almost instinctively stop flipping through the channels or scrolling down the page. Three Stooges still gets me to this day although I have only caught myself watching a few minutes at a time. However, if I hear a familiar Clark Griswold line, a Mel Brooks melody, or Tackleberry’s overly intense and naïve take on a situation I immediately stop searching and enjoy the mental break. I even recall the rare moments when UHF was in constant rotation. However, there is one recent movie that I find watching more than any other which falls into this category… Super Troopers.  

I guess this one can meow be seen almost like the modern day Police Academy but I think it is much better. While there are few lines that I can recall from the 80’s franchise, Super Troopers has provided a variety of one liners that are burned into our brains (along with some unfortunate visuals). Meow that is a classic movie. However, while they made 7 Police Academy movies of varying quality, there has only been one Super Troopers movie. That is, until meow.

While scrolling through my Facebook feed I came across a post by Broken Lizard (the group behind the movie) about an announcement that they were preparing to make. When I checked back in a couple of days later I read about the interesting approach that they were taking to finally deliver on a sequel. As it turns out, they have decided to crowd fund the new project and they are offering some rather unique incentives to those who donate. 24 hours after launching their campaign to raise $2 million for production they far surpassed their goal. It looks like the sequel will soon be a reality and Bimpus sized at that. Of course, you can still grab a perk and make the movie even better. I guess I am not the only one who can’t help watching the movie.

Are You Prepared For Valentine’s Day?

I have never been a huge proponent of Valentine’s Day. Maybe that is why I have always been a little light on the celebration of this day in the past few years. I have never fully neglected the day, which is why I am still alive, but it has never been a square on the calendar that got a huge amount of attention and planning. In fact, this year, my wife and I exchanged gifts for the first time in three years now that we have the ability to purchase gifts. Nothing big but things that we will both enjoy (i.e. Wizard of Oz DVDs and Chocolate for my wife and Amazon Prime membership for me).

This year in particular, while it was nice to exchanged gifts we didn’t have much energy for much else as the weather and other recent events have drained us of much of our energy. But, in the end, it makes you think about the real purpose of the day. Why should this day be different than all the others? Why isn’t love part of the daily experience and a way of living?

Let us take a moment to stop and take a look at the history of the holiday. Here is the listing from Wikipedia:

Saint Valentine's Day, also known as Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is observed on February 14 each year. It is celebrated in many countries around the world, although it is not a holiday in most of them.

St. Valentine's Day began as a liturgical celebration of one or more early Christian saints named Valentinus. Several martyrdom stories were invented for the various Valentines that belonged to February 14, and added to later martyrologies. A popular hagiographical account of Saint Valentine of Rome states that he was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians, who were persecuted under the Roman Empire. According to legend, during his imprisonment, he healed the daughter of his jailer, Asterius. An embellishment to this story states that before his execution he wrote her a letter signed "Your Valentine" as a farewell. Today, Saint Valentine's Day is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion, as well as in the Lutheran Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrates Saint Valentine's Day, albeit on July 6 and July 30, the former date in honor of the Roman presbyter Saint Valentine, and the latter date in honor of Hieromartyr Valentine, the Bishop of Interamna (modern Terni). In Brazil, the Dia de São Valentim is recognized on June 12.

The day was first associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. In 18th-century England, it evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). Valentine's Day symbols that are used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.

Now to answer the previously posed questions. Actually, one answer should suffice. Valentine’s Day, like many other days noted on the calendar, is a time which reminds us of what we have and what can be possible when love is made a central part of our lives. It is in this spirit that we should all embrace this day regardless of its origins.

It should also serve as motivation for us all not only live a positive life but also appreciate and show our appreciation of those in our lives. Love, in all of its forms, is too often overlooked and relegated as a secondary emotion. Today is a reminder of its proper position as the primary purpose and motivator for a better life.