Online shopping wasn’t a new phenomenon in 2005, mind you - eBay had been around for nearly a decade by that point - but it was more or less understood that buying something on the Internet meant waiting a week or so for it to be delivered unless you paid for premium shipping.
$79 per year for 2012 and 2013 $99 per year for 2014, 2015 and 2016 $105.93 ($99 plus tax) for 2017 and 2018 In 2019 I’ll have to pay the newly increased rate of $119, plus tax
Without factoring in extra shipping expenses - in other words, only using Prime’s free two-day shipping - on average in most years, I’m paying around $1.75 in shipping per item ordered (and during especially busy years, about $0.70 per item ordered). Being less patient and paying extra for one-day shipping (usually $3.99 extra per item) certainly skews the average shipping cost per item metric but then again, you’re getting your item in just one day. Other fun facts:
Total lifetime Prime orders placed: 341 Total lifetime Prime items purchased: 578 Total lifetime paid in Prime membership fees: $745.86 Total lifetime paid in expedited shipping: $427.63 Total lifetime paid in Prime fees + expedited shipping: $1,173.49 Lifetime average shipping cost per item with Prime two-day shipping: $1.29 Lifetime average shipping cost per item (including expedited shipments): $2.03 Average orders per year (2012-2017): 49.67 Average items ordered per year (2012-2017): 83.16
Personally, with a lifetime average of $1.29 per item shipped with two-day shipping, it’s hard to argue that Prime isn’t worth it. The added flexibility to get something delivered overnight for a few extra bucks is also nice but the most attractive aspect of Prime is by far the convenience it affords.
