Author Topic: Amazon Prime Day  (Read 8368 times)

zephyr911

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Amazon Prime Day
« on: July 15, 2015, 07:47:53 AM »
Amazon just invented a new "shopping holiday".

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/tompor/2015/07/15/amazon-prime-day-tips/30179321/

I'm going to celebrate by not buying anything, and deleting as much shit as possible from my Amazon wish lists.

partgypsy

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #1 on: July 15, 2015, 07:53:30 AM »
know someone on facebook that posted about this, and others posted as well about this, with one saying they are going to get up at 3 am to check what is on sale, etc. Had to ask them what it was about.

acroy

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #2 on: July 15, 2015, 08:03:02 AM »
I cashed in on the gift card deal ($10 off a three-pack of $15's)

I also keep a running list of crap I need to buy, and hit the $100 point at which I get another $10 credit (stocked up on car oil filters & socks!)

Smart Mustachians can leverage Shopping days. No need to buy $hit you don't need - but great times to stock up on $hit you DO need! I think MMM had a nice post about cheese going on 50% off sale for our odd Canadian friends - you buy 100lbs of cheese! bam!

Chris22

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #3 on: July 15, 2015, 08:22:50 AM »
I'm trying to buy a stupid HDMI cable for $7 and the site is sloooowwwwwwww.

HairyUpperLip

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #4 on: July 15, 2015, 09:25:00 AM »
I'm trying to buy a stupid HDMI cable for $7 and the site is sloooowwwwwwww.

Maybe it needs some VTEC?

cjottawa

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #5 on: July 15, 2015, 09:55:00 AM »
I ordered a couple of cleaning products that were on my shopping list; they were not subject to specials but I'd run out and it was cheaper than buying locally.

Looked at what was on sale: crap nobody needs.

Coincidentally, I nuked a bunch of wish list items too. :)

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #6 on: July 15, 2015, 09:56:51 AM »
I missed out on the gift card deal, which was apparently over by ~9 AM. Everything else is crap.

zephyr911

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #7 on: July 15, 2015, 10:13:50 AM »
I cashed in on the gift card deal ($10 off a three-pack of $15's)
I'd have done that if I'd known, but I was wilfully avoiding it for the first part of the day out of spite. Lesson learned!
I do use Amazon regularly, and much of it is for business. I drop-ship supplies to rentals to reduce my hauling needs in my compact car, for example. But this stuck in my craw. I'm trying to reduce my responsiveness to URGENT ADVERTISED SAVINGS.
Quote
I also keep a running list of crap I need to buy, and hit the $100 point at which I get another $10 credit (stocked up on car oil filters & socks!)
Wait, how does that credit work?
Quote
Smart Mustachians can leverage Shopping days. No need to buy $hit you don't need - but great times to stock up on $hit you DO need! I think MMM had a nice post about cheese going on 50% off sale for our odd Canadian friends - you buy 100lbs of cheese! bam!
I remember that. Didn't he calculate 12 packages could be consumed before the cheese would go bad and they'd go back to paying retail price? Anyway... agree 100% about capitalizing on savings.

zephyr911

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #8 on: July 15, 2015, 10:14:59 AM »
Looked at what was on sale: crap nobody needs.
Isn't that usually what's on sale? High-margin luxury/novelty items?
I never see sales on broccoli and rice at the grocery store... only occasionally on protein, but always on processed bullshit.

Chris22

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #9 on: July 15, 2015, 10:31:38 AM »
I'm trying to buy a stupid HDMI cable for $7 and the site is sloooowwwwwwww.

Maybe it needs some VTEC?

What doesn't????

sunnyca

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #10 on: July 15, 2015, 10:34:40 AM »
Looked at what was on sale: crap nobody needs.
Isn't that usually what's on sale? High-margin luxury/novelty items?
I never see sales on broccoli and rice at the grocery store... only occasionally on protein, but always on processed bullshit.

My local Ralphs has pretty decent sales on staples, although the best is the local Korean supermarket.  They always have great sales on produce (3lbs of Persian cukes for $1, 3 cauliflowers for $1, etc. etc.)

madamwitty

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #11 on: July 15, 2015, 10:44:28 AM »
What a great idea to use this "holiday" as a reminder to delete crap from wish lists. I just deleted about half the stuff on my (already fairly short) wish list, including a book I realized I can get as an ebook from the library.

bostonjim

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #12 on: July 15, 2015, 10:46:45 AM »
Monoprice is doing a sale in response.  There's a great pair of headphones that I have been hemming and hawing about buying for the last month (hey, $23 is $23...)  Today they were down to $18 with free shipping.  Sold. Glad I H&H'd so much...

Chris22

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #13 on: July 15, 2015, 10:48:32 AM »
Monoprice is doing a sale in response.  There's a great pair of headphones that I have been hemming and hawing about buying for the last month (hey, $23 is $23...)  Today they were down to $18 with free shipping.  Sold. Glad I H&H'd so much...

I had my personal information (credit card) stolen from monoprice once.  I don't do business with them any more; I have hundreds of transactions with Amazon and never had a problem. 

forummm

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #14 on: July 15, 2015, 10:51:08 AM »
I'm trying to buy a stupid HDMI cable for $7 and the site is sloooowwwwwwww.

Maybe they should contract out to Google Web Services or Facebook Web Services if their servers can't handle the demand.


Nerd humor.

Sam E

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #15 on: July 15, 2015, 10:51:56 AM »
What a great idea to use this "holiday" as a reminder to delete crap from wish lists. I just deleted about half the stuff on my (already fairly short) wish list, including a book I realized I can get as an ebook from the library.

Libraries have ebooks now? How does that work?

slugline

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #16 on: July 15, 2015, 10:55:54 AM »
Libraries have ebooks now? How does that work?

Basically, the publishers use a system that attempts to mimic the scarcity of physical books. Typically an app is put on the patron's e-reader that automatically deletes the title after a certain amount of time. During that time period, that "copy" of the title is unavailable for downloading by other patrons.

Probably the most common platform is Overdrive. Contact your local library to find out if they use Overdrive or something similar!

bostonjim

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #17 on: July 15, 2015, 10:56:46 AM »

Libraries have ebooks now? How does that work?

https://www.overdrive.com/  - just see if your library participates.

Edit: Slugline beat me to it.

HoosierGirl

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #18 on: July 15, 2015, 10:57:15 AM »
Libraries have ebooks now? How does that work

I use the Indiana Digital Download Center and use my local library card number and their password. Check with your local library and see if they participate in something similar.

I can check out up to 10 eboks/audio books at a time and I can put books on hold. I've learned that if there is a new book out that I really want to read, I just need to wait 2-4 weeks before I will see it in the online library for checkout. I rarely purchase books anymore and have plenty of great books to read.

HoosierGirl

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #19 on: July 15, 2015, 11:02:15 AM »
Amazon just invented a new "shopping holiday".

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/tompor/2015/07/15/amazon-prime-day-tips/30179321/

I'm going to celebrate by not buying anything, and deleting as much shit as possible from my Amazon wish lists.

I decided to not renew my prime membership back in march a few months before I found MMM. I was seriously buying way too much stuff because I had free 2 day shipping. I haven't missed it at all and I am putting away so much more money now. I don't miss their video on demand service and I'm trying to declutter so its a win-win for me.

zephyr911

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #20 on: July 15, 2015, 11:25:17 AM »
Amazon just invented a new "shopping holiday".

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/tompor/2015/07/15/amazon-prime-day-tips/30179321/

I'm going to celebrate by not buying anything, and deleting as much shit as possible from my Amazon wish lists.

I decided to not renew my prime membership back in march a few months before I found MMM. I was seriously buying way too much stuff because I had free 2 day shipping. I haven't missed it at all and I am putting away so much more money now. I don't miss their video on demand service and I'm trying to declutter so its a win-win for me.
I do actually buy lots of useful things so I'm keeping my membership for now. The aforementioned wish lists are a product of the early phases of my awakening. I was making even more money than now and spending all of it, and one of my first ideas was to wishlist things so I could think about each purchase for a while and decide how important it was. I've realized that the important things will come back to me if I really need them, and wish lists just increase the odds of my buying shit I don't need.

Here's a good example:
Jumpin' Banana Doody Head Velcro Cap Poo Flinging Game
For those uninterested in clicking, you wear Velcro hats and throw poo-like fabric balls at each other.
I thought the idea was hilarious so I wishlisted it, and if I leave it there long enough, I'll probably get bored (or drunk) and buy it. So, I'm removing it today, with only a small wistful sigh for those simple spendypants days... xD

zephyr911

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #21 on: July 15, 2015, 11:35:04 AM »
19 items whacked so far. \m/

golden1

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #22 on: July 15, 2015, 11:42:16 AM »
I logged in, checked to see if any of the stuff on my wish list was discounted.  It wasn't. 

It looks like they are mostly trying to unload crap. 

Chris22

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #23 on: July 15, 2015, 11:43:36 AM »
I find the Amazon wish list enormously useful.  I use it 99% for books, every time I'm out somewhere and hear of a good book from someone (often in a business context) I log into my smartphone and add it to my wishlist.  My family loves to give each other books for gifts (helps that my dad and I have the same taste in books, so I can buy one for him and know I'll get it a month or two later) and therefore having a list of books I want that they can access at any time is a benefit for everyone.  Not as frugal as using the library, but they're going to want gift ideas regardless.

Bob W

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #24 on: July 15, 2015, 12:10:30 PM »
Haven't bought anything on Amazon in a very long time.  It was only books then mostly but I can order any book I want from the library and some very cool ones that are out of print and unavailable on AZon.

I was interested to hear recently that Amazon actually doesn't even make a profit?   After what, 15 years in biz,  they still aren't making money?   Is that true.   

Chris22

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #25 on: July 15, 2015, 12:16:31 PM »
Haven't bought anything on Amazon in a very long time.  It was only books then mostly but I can order any book I want from the library and some very cool ones that are out of print and unavailable on AZon.

I was interested to hear recently that Amazon actually doesn't even make a profit?   After what, 15 years in biz,  they still aren't making money?   Is that true.

They have made some very small profits (relative to their revenues).  They have the mentality that profits are to be reinvested into diversifying the business, and (so far) shareholders agree.  Personally, I'm not a shareholder, and I don't know that i agree, but no one asked me.

eljefe-speaks

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #26 on: July 15, 2015, 12:58:10 PM »
Haven't bought anything on Amazon in a very long time.  It was only books then mostly but I can order any book I want from the library and some very cool ones that are out of print and unavailable on AZon.

I was interested to hear recently that Amazon actually doesn't even make a profit?   After what, 15 years in biz,  they still aren't making money?   Is that true.

I read that they sell their Kindles at cost or even a loss for the sake of later sales through them. Also the Fire Phone was an EPIC fail.

zinethstache

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #27 on: July 15, 2015, 01:53:09 PM »
I knew this silly Prime Day would all be electronics so didn't bother to look this morning. Now reading this post, folks talked about checking their wishlists. So I did! I just got my special craft paper for 45% off, no tax and of course prime shipping... I don't think it was a prime day deal, it was happenstance but I am now a happy camper. This ream of paper should last me 5 years, no more buying it 10 sheets as a time for waaaaay too much!

Sometimes its the little things that make us happy.

HairyUpperLip

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #28 on: July 15, 2015, 03:05:46 PM »
I'm trying to buy a stupid HDMI cable for $7 and the site is sloooowwwwwwww.

Maybe it needs some VTEC?

What doesn't????

Touche.

ginastarke

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #29 on: July 15, 2015, 10:31:19 PM »
I haven't bought a thing yet, but I'm loving watching all the retailers react. I'm just hoping a sport/bicycle site joins the fray. I need a LOT of parts! Plus, who doesn't need inner tubes?

bludreamin

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Re: Amazon Prime Day
« Reply #30 on: July 16, 2015, 03:19:11 AM »

Also, NYC people: if you live anywhere in the city you can get a NYPL card and they have a huge ebook and audiobook library. I borrow ebooks from both the Queens and NYPL branches.

If you live in NYS you can get a NYPL account number to use although I think it's good for a shorter period of time (<1 yr IIRC) before you have to renew. Still worth it based on the e-selection they have.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!