I subscribe to Amazon Prime because it ends up being cheaper overall than paying shipping on the individual orders I make throughout the year. What I didn’t realize is how good of a deal Prime really is:
While sending off something as a light as an 0.8-ounce pack of feathers doesn’t cost the company much, analysts say Amazon may lose hundreds of dollars covering the cost of lugging around heftier items, such as 149-pound sofabeds or 300-pound treadmills. Shoppers, on the other hand, can more than make up for that $79 Amazon Prime enrollment fee with a single purchase.
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So what’s the heaviest item Amazon will ship for free? The company declined to say, but the makers of a 1,509-pound safe (shipping weight: 1,672 pounds) claim the prize for biggest bang for one’s 79 bucks. See Cannon Safe CO54 Commander Series Premium 90 Minute Fire Safe
$79.00 to ship a 1,672 pound safe is quite the deal:
“We charge customers around $700 to ship this safe, but when they buy it through Amazon they get it shipped for free,” says Pasquale Murena, marketing manager for Cannon Safe. “As a result, we get orders through Amazon every day.” In fact, Amazon will pick up the tab for shipping the safe even for non-Prime members, if they are willing to wait a few extra days for delivery. Like many items priced over $25, it qualifies for “Super Saver Shipping,” which usually take five to eight days to arrive.
If you’re in the market for a Canon gun safe you can’t go wrong with an Amazon Prime subscription apparently.
I usually go with the “Super Saver Shipping” instead, but I also have a lower time preference, I guess.
My orders from Amazon are often below the $25.00 threshold for Super Saver Shipping. I guess I could wait until I had $25.00 worth of stuff to buy but that becomes a hassle as well. On top of that I also use the Kindle lending library that Prime members get free access to and sometimes stream media from Amazon so in the end that Prime membership gets a workout.