katybee
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,378 
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Post by katybee on Feb 1, 2024 5:31:21 GMT
But you can pay $2.99 per month to go ad free. Not having cable is getting more and more expensive..  |
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Post by katlady on Feb 1, 2024 5:33:29 GMT
So, you are already paying extra for Prime, and now they are charging you to be ad-free?? That really sucks!
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Post by gramasue on Feb 1, 2024 13:31:03 GMT
I received this email a while ago -
Dear Prime member,
We are writing to you today about an upcoming change to your Prime Video experience. Starting February 5, Prime Video movies and TV shows will include limited advertisements. This will allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time. We aim to have meaningfully fewer ads than traditional TV and other streaming TV providers. No action is required from you, and there is no change to the current price of your Prime membership. We will also offer a new ad-free option for an additional $2.99 per month* that you can sign up for here.
Prime is a very compelling value. Prime members enjoy a wide range of shopping, savings, and entertainment benefits, including:
More than 20 million items are available with free Prime shipping and millions of the most popular items are available with free Same-Day Delivery or One-Day Delivery.
Access to Prime Video exclusive streaming video content including The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Boys, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Citadel, The Wheel of Time, Reacher, and The Summer I Turned Pretty, as well as movies such as Air, Creed III, and Candy Cane Lane with Eddie Murphy and exclusive live sports including ONE Championship).
Access to Prime Video Channels, which provides an unmatched selection of subscription channels like Hayu, Paramount+, Sportsnet, STARZ and STACKTV, No extra apps to download, and no cable required. Customers only pay for the channels they want, and can cancel anytime.
Exclusive deals and shopping events like Prime Day.
Ad-free listening of millions of songs and podcast episodes with Amazon Music Prime.
Unlimited photo storage with Amazon Photos.
Gaming benefits with Prime Gaming.
Thousands of books with Prime Reading.
A free, one-year DashPass membership trial valued at $120 per year, offering $0 delivery fees on eligible orders, 5% back in DoorDash credit on eligible Pickup orders, and exclusive promotions and deals.
And, you can expect additional features and programs added in the future for our Prime members.
As mentioned above, no action is required from you. If you wish to sign up for the ad-free option, you can click here to sign up. And, as always, if you have questions about your Prime membership, you can manage your account here.
Thank you for being a valued member of Amazon Prime.
Sincerely,
The Amazon Prime team
* Live event content such as sports will continue to include advertising.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Feb 1, 2024 13:42:42 GMT
So, you are already paying extra for Prime, and now they are charging you to be ad-free?? That really sucks! I always just think of the Prime Video, Prime Reading, Amazon Music, etc. as extra perks and that the subscription is for getting free Prime shipping. We order enough through Prime annually to make the subscription worth it just for that. |
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peppermintpatty
Pearl Clutcher
Refupea #1345
Posts: 3,842
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Post by peppermintpatty on Feb 1, 2024 14:10:10 GMT
Yeah and Netflix started their ads yesterday as well. I don't pay for Netflix since I get it through Tmobile but I am not going to renew Prime later this month. It keeps getting more and more expensive and there really isn't that much to watch on their platform. If I want to really watch something, I can find it online. I also don't need the ability to order everything as I need it and then have it show up in NOT 2 days. I think it would be better for me to have to wait to make a larger order because then I will realize that I don't really need the item!
I don't care about the free books because they are rarely something that I enjoy and I don't use Amazon Music. When I listen to music, I want to listen to what I want and not have them put some stupid song that isn't my style into the rotation.
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iowgirl
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,133
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Post by iowgirl on Feb 1, 2024 15:55:51 GMT
So, you are already paying extra for Prime, and now they are charging you to be ad-free?? That really sucks! Prime is losing it's shine for me! I never get same day or next day shipping - most of the time is is 4-5 days or longer. But I can order the same or similar item from Walmart or Target and get them in no more than 2 days. |
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breetheflea
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,917
Location: PNW
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Post by breetheflea on Feb 1, 2024 16:00:41 GMT
I hate that 'sure we have this movie you wanted to watch, pay us more!" I rarely find anything free to watch on there.
DH insists the shipping and Amazon music (which he uses, I don't) are worth it, otherwise it would be gone... I refuse to pay even more to be 'ad free.'
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Post by myshelly on Feb 1, 2024 16:04:34 GMT
I’ve never seen the appeal of prime…pretty much everything has free shipping anyway with a very low dollar amount minimum.
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Post by Merge on Feb 1, 2024 16:09:10 GMT
So, you are already paying extra for Prime, and now they are charging you to be ad-free?? That really sucks! I always just think of the Prime Video, Prime Reading, Amazon Music, etc. as extra perks and that the subscription is for getting free Prime shipping. We order enough through Prime annually to make the subscription worth it just for that. I agree with this. I'd probably feel differently if I lived in a rural area and couldn't really get the fast shipping, but we can frequently get same-day or next-day here. It's worth it to me. We don't really even watch Prime TV that much, so I won't notice if they do have ads! |
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Post by fotos4u2 on Feb 1, 2024 17:52:17 GMT
But you can pay $2.99 per month to go ad free. Not having cable is getting more and more expensive.. While I agree that every service seems to be nickel and diming us lately and driving up cost, I'm not clear how paying for ad free would be more expensive than cable? Do cable shows no longer have ads? I've been cancelling services that we don't use much because it really does add up. Just re-added Hulu after taking a couple month break but decided to go back to having ads because it's not worth an extra $10 a month (I'm pretty good at tuning out the ads, it helps that the analytics seems to think I'm an old Spanish speaking man). That said I think we pay about $50 a month with all our services which is much better than the $150 I was paying back when we had cable. |
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Post by cadoodlebug on Feb 1, 2024 18:08:59 GMT
Do cable shows no longer have ads? Some do but we record everything and generally FF through the ads. There are a few shows that don't allow FF. The letter gramasue posted said the ads start on Feb 5th. They started for us last week. BUT, they aren't very long and are generally just one ad. |
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Post by papersilly on Feb 1, 2024 18:11:19 GMT
to me, it's worth it to go ad free.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Feb 1, 2024 19:01:18 GMT
I always just think of the Prime Video, Prime Reading, Amazon Music, etc. as extra perks and that the subscription is for getting free Prime shipping. We order enough through Prime annually to make the subscription worth it just for that. I agree with this. I'd probably feel differently if I lived in a rural area and couldn't really get the fast shipping, but we can frequently get same-day or next-day here. It's worth it to me. We don't really even watch Prime TV that much, so I won't notice if they do have ads! We almost never watch anything on Prime Video so I wouldn’t notice either. |
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Post by littlemama on Feb 1, 2024 19:48:56 GMT
We do watch some series on Prime and we like that they have newer movies (for a small fee, usually). Am I annoyed by the ads? Yes. Amd I going to cancel my membership over them? No. But Im also not paying an extra $3/month to get rid of them.
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Post by Scrapper100 on Feb 1, 2024 20:18:38 GMT
I am not happy about it but wonder how many commercials they will have. I have the ad version of Max and it’s really not bad 2 30 second commercials here and there. The commercials are for their shows so not bad.
I just looked and mine renews in a couple of days. $140 is a lot but I know we use it quite a bit but yes many items are much more than 2 days. Occasionally it’s same or next day but it’s rare. There are more shows we watch on prime than a few years ago.
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Post by workingclassdog on Feb 1, 2024 20:29:42 GMT
Shoot at this rate, I'll cancel everything and just go back to Directv only. LOL.. Seriously though.. there was a time not that long ago when I said I would never pay $100 a month for phone service. Now look at me.
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Post by dewryce on Feb 1, 2024 22:12:29 GMT
I’m waiting for the details on the sports channel(s) they just purchased. And I’m wondering if this will impact that.
My initial reaction is when signing up for something if I get an option between the two with a different cost, that’s one thing. But to tell me the thing I’m already paying for will lose value but the price will not go down is another. I also wonder if the ads will be specifically placed, because if they appear randomly like they do in YouTube videos that would be extremely annoying.
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Post by AussieMeg on Feb 2, 2024 1:30:14 GMT
Well that's annoying! Not annoying enough to cancel the service, and I'm sure as hell not paying extra to go ad free, but still annoying. I had forgotten how annoying ads can be, until DSO and I started watching something on free-to-air catch up TV last week. It was weird to get ads during a show, I guess I've been spoilt up until now.
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Post by lisae on Feb 2, 2024 1:40:45 GMT
I’ve never seen the appeal of prime…pretty much everything has free shipping anyway with a very low dollar amount minimum. We've had it at times but mostly we just keep a list of things we often need to restock and add those to orders to meet the minimum. I definitely would not pay extra for their videos. So much of what they offer is really old stuff. |
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Post by mollycoddle on Feb 2, 2024 2:32:08 GMT
So, you are already paying extra for Prime, and now they are charging you to be ad-free?? That really sucks! I always just think of the Prime Video, Prime Reading, Amazon Music, etc. as extra perks and that the subscription is for getting free Prime shipping. We order enough through Prime annually to make the subscription worth it just for that. Same. I watch on an iPad and just pull up Threads to glance thru it when an ad begins. I use Amazon for the free shipping and am not paying more to get rid of ads. |
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katybee
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,378
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Post by katybee on Feb 2, 2024 14:41:42 GMT
I’m not going to cancel….it’s just annoying. I’m generally angry at large corporations right now because I feel like they’re making enormous profits and still making up excuses to keep squeezing us—but that’s a whole other thread. |
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pantsonfire
Pearl Clutcher
Take a step back, evaluate what is important, and enjoy your life with those who you love.
Posts: 4,762
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Post by pantsonfire on Feb 2, 2024 14:58:41 GMT
Our ads started last month. And so far it is only at the beginning and you can skip after so many seconds. Nothing anywhere else right now.
Seems similar to YouTube. But to be ad free for that, it us $14 a month.
When I had Discovery + I paid $1 or $2 extra for ad free.
We have no issues with delivery as we are close to a bazillion warehouses. I get items same day to next day with the rare occasion of 2 days.
We don't order a lot but even paying $16 a month and ordering 1 item, we basically covered shipping.
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naby64
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,931
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Post by naby64 on Feb 2, 2024 15:59:54 GMT
I love Prime and actually get pretty quick service. I have even gotten some orders by 8am on a Saturday, overnight shipping. We use Prime for the shopping, reading, viewing so it is worth it to use. I have Paramount+, AcornTV and BritBox through Prime. I think with P+ I have had ads. Doesn't really bother me as watching live TV has ads. I don't think ATV and BB commercials.
I wasn't going to pay but ODS called me last night and asked me to find out how much it was. I knew what it was and told him. He said well, I'll pay it so just do what you gotta do to make them stop. So as long as he wants to pay that, so be it.
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Post by Scrapper100 on Feb 3, 2024 2:48:59 GMT
I watched Northern Exposure last night snd there were long a few really short commercials granted it is an old show and maybe they put more in more popular shows but so far it’s not bugging me enough to pay more.
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rickmer
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,123
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Post by rickmer on Feb 3, 2024 12:06:57 GMT
i am annoyed and not paying any more. they need more money to continue to produce high quality shows but as a company made 30b in 2023?
crave has ads too and i will prob drop it after drag race season wraps. the ad for this hockey movies is 100 decibels louder and they play it constantly. the ad for prime drives me nuts cuz you are selling prime streaming - which i am *already subscribed to*, like you don't need to convince me?! both these ads are played repeatedly during the same show.
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Post by peano on Feb 3, 2024 14:26:27 GMT
Commercials harsh my mellow, so of course, I paid Amazon.
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Gennifer
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,003
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Post by Gennifer on Feb 4, 2024 4:44:32 GMT
When they announced this in December, I immediately pre-registered. (I happily pay for the ad-free version on all of my streaming services since I hate commercials.) I got an email on Monday saying that I had been selected to continue to receive ad-free at no charge, as part of their “ongoing testing.”
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