Rather than prime adding value, it’s simply providing the regular service, while they intentionally give non-prime members a manufactured worse service to entice them to pay.

I mean, I suppose you could say something like that. But the problem is that nearly every other non-Amazon online retailer has ungodly slow shipping and you often have to pay an extra fee for shipping on top of it.

I know Amazon is a horrifyingly large mega corp, but there isn’t a decent alternative. They actually do provide a good service for the pricetag. (Unless we’re talking their digital services which I’ve never used and are trash.)

Maybe I’m just lucky because I don’t live in a rural area. So my packages actually come relatively quickly. Other retailers make me wait over a week and pay for the privilege to wait forever.