I was poking around on Amazon and noticed they have some new service as part of their Prime membership called Prime Pantry, which they only charge a flat rate of $5.99 per 4' x 4' box or up to 45lbs weight, that you can order whatever you want to be shipped in it, whatever will fit. So you can order a bunch of soups, perhaps some cleaning products, pouches of tuna, cookie mixes, etc... and have it all shipped to you for one low price. What I am really wondering is if you actually save anything overall by doing this. Have any of you tried this and priced it out? In general, I've never ordered food and pantry items from Amazon because they were always much more expensive than my grocery store to begin with, and that's not even factoring in shipping. Only if it was a really rare item that I could not get around here would I consider it.
I haven't tried it out yet, and I doubt that I will because by the end of the month our prime will run out and we're not in any rush to renew it given their price increase. I did peek around the amazon pantry option, though and was really excited when I first saw it. Unfortunately there isn't a huge selection or variety to choose from, though maybe they'll end up expanding it more. I don't really think it would be worth it for me unless, like you said, there was something that I really wanted that was hard to find in my area.
This may have made a difference for me a few months back. When my son was a newborn, it was hard to get out- even to go to the grocery store. Now, it probably would not save any money since I live near a grocery store. For those who live in remote areas, the savings on shipping may make it worth it versus paying for gas to get to the grocery store.
I didn't know that they now had a Pantry service. It sounds good, but I think they may be a shade too late as I've used Soap.com and they have free delivery no matter the weight. They raised the minimum purchase amount from when they first started, but it was perfect for me to do for my mother as we could order all the non-perishables for her and all she had to worry about lugging around was her food.
I doubt it. There are great discount food stores like Food4Less and such that have really good bargains. I would not expect online food selling to be that good in comparison because you still have to pay someone to fill the order and ship the box. I don't think it is going to come out to much of a discount if any at all. Prime is not something I think pays for itself anyway unless you are buying large quantities of things for a business or something.
I would think it would save you money if you have a large family, and you live relatively far away from the main store or a large warehouse store like Costco or something like that. If it's for just a small amount of people like my fiancé and myself, it would definitely not be worth it unfortunately.
I haven’t tried it yet but I’m pretty sure that you wouldn’t save anything. In fact you might even come out on lose depending if you have coupons for market sales or not. I am not sure I want to try this, I prefer going to grocery.
I would not because I only shop loss leaders with coupons and I don't think there's any way Amazon would be able to beat the prices I currently pay. Don't get me wrong if I was rich I'd probably have everything delivered especially in the winter, but alas I am not. Besides I don't even have Prime - too rich for my blood. Maybe if I get another Kindle and they have another free month of Prime...
I have one full-time, and two part-time jobs. I have shopped using the Amazon Prime for groceries for a few years. I run out of pantry items , such as Wolffe's Kasha. I can generally point and click. Then those items are delivered within two days or usually by Tuesday of Friday. However, I noticed that if I order canned items, or items that weigh more than boxed items then I have to pay extra charges because o f the heavy weight of those items. Therefore, paying an extra $5.99 on top of the yearly Prime costs would be worth the extra costs.
I live across the street from the grocery store. I would have to be sick and not able to get out of the house and no one around to help me out for me to shop for food online. I can see where it could help some people but not me at this time.
There are some food items that I can only find on amazon so I order those but not enough for regular large boxes. Several local grocery stores offer the option to order online and just pick up the bags at the store. My sister, who has a young child, often uses that option because the convenience is worth it for her. For me, I shop frequently for fresh items and often grab things on sale to use that day. The convenience of not shopping wouldn't be worth the additional price.
So, you have to pay for Amazon Prime, then on top of that, you have to pay another $4.99 per box, plus you're paying for whatever they have that you want/need? It doesn't sound worth it for me. I do most of my grocery shopping in person, but do a Walmart.com order about once a month, and spend enough so the shipping is free.
So true, I don't see the point to buying at amazon prime pantry when Walmart does the job more efficiently, and you can even go there to check the products if you are not convinced of whatever you see online announced. As far as I know, there is not way to go to your nearby Amazon shop to check for those products, plus pricing is totally out of context.
I don't know if it is worth it or not. I am not a prime member, but I think what Amazon should do is offer different levels of Prime membership. I think this would encourage more people to use it. One of the levels for membership would be just for pantry or grocery items. I had the Prime trial membership and I enjoyed it but not 80 dollars a year or more, actually, I think the price has just gone up.
me, too I have no idea how this Amazon Prime Pantry works but I think it wouldn't let you save, maybe it's not what it seems.
I think that Prime Pantry is probably the only thing i haven't tried. But to have a box full of things you want or need for a flat fee of 5.99 isn't bad at all! I think i will def try out this new promotion and will def post about my experience and rather or not i think its worth the cost or not. But so far from the sounds of it, it isn't a bad deal at all!
Although, it sounds like it could be a good deal. But, then again as others have mentioned there are some really good discount grocery stores that might be a lot less expensive. I think I might consider it, if I was unable to get up and about, other then that I'm not too sure if it would be worth it. I guess it all depends on your personal situation.
Amazon Prime Pantry isn't designed to be valued as a money-saving service. It's designed to provide convenience at a fairly low price, which is exactly what it does. The $5.99 shipping cost per box is reasonable, and the size of the box is rather large considering it can fit two 16lb bags of cat food inside itself. You can save money compared to more expensive grocery stores, but the prices won't always beat Walmart or some store like that. It's still an affordable convenience thing rather than an actual money-saving service.
That's a good point, while the $5.99 shipping sounds reasonable considering a USPS $5.99 flat rate box is only big enough to hold a small book, these are 4' x 4' which is much bigger. However I would also look at it another way, you still have to factor in the yearly Prime membership, which someone on here mentioned is around $80 per year. I guess you would have to consider how many times you would actually be ordering from them in a given year. I probably wouldn't order more than once a month, and to keep things simple let's assume I only ordered 8 times out of the year, so $10 a month, plus the $5.99 for each order - the real cost of shipping those items to you is $16 each time, which is still not bad for a box that size, but it's not as cheap as it initially sounded either.
I was wondering about the Pantry too, but it is not available in my area yet. I too noticed most of the items were cheaper in the store than on Amazon. I suppose it's good for those who are unable to get to the store, would prefer to have items delivered, and don't mind paying the extra cost. I guess it's kind of like having a personal assistant go get some items for you, bring them back, and then you pay her/him for running the errand. I can see the service coming in handy when you least expect it.
