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Comment by creepydata | Hacker News Reader

Stupid question but what exactly about Amazon gave you a shot of dopamine in your 20s?

Others have said it, but Amazon's free two-day shipping with $25 (or was it $50?) purchase felt nearly magical.

As a student, I could take a $40 cab ride, or spend all day Saturday on train schlepping a shower curtain from Bed Bath, music from Best Buy, and a cheap dorm fridge from Wal-Mart. Or I could order it from Amazon at competitive prices, and it showed up on my door step in two days. Amazon was the equivalent of finding entire extra days in your schedule.

(Note, Prime came later. The original magic was two-days, $25 minimum, no membership.)

Assuming we're talking like 10+ years ago, it was the hassle free speed of ordering, the cheap, fast deliveries (and accurate delivery time estimates), the product selection, the live inventory and ease of returns. Compared to everyone else doing e-commerce at that time, Amazon was in a league of its own (at least in the UK).

Free two-day shipping, presumably. I know that gave me a shot of dopamine when I first discovered it.

This is sad--you people need to come to grips with your materialism and cut...that...shit...out. There's nothing you can buy that will actually make you happier. I'm just as guilty as anyone, quite honestly, but am trying to get better. I look at my neighbors just filling up their houses with shit they don't need. Yesterday, I was driving through a neighborhood and lo and behold there was a house with two full Bagsters out in front full of--you guessed it--shit they didn't need!

I wonder if I can order a Bagster on Amazon? Ayup!

> cut...that...shit...out

> I'm just as guilty as anyone

> trying to get better

> trying

Do as I say not as I do?

You know that Amazon sells stuff other than materialistic bling, right? I mean, I buy soap and toilet paper and stuff like that on Amazon. No, that doesn't make me happier, but it makes my significant other happier which I guess in a round-about way does make me happier. :shrug:

> There's nothing you can buy that will actually make you happier.

Nothing? Lots of things I buy make me happier.

The stuff I buy that doesn't make me happy is often stuff that I need anyway (like dog food and toilet paper).

Ummm... What? I don't consider $80/year free.

Maybe it's just me but I can't imagine getting a shot of dopamine from paying money to shop. $80 is pretty pricey at that.

You're not paying money to shop; you're paying money for shipping and unlimited access to their video library (and a bunch of other stuff, I'm sure). I'm not sure what the average shipping cost is, but if it were $5 then you should get Prime if you are going to buy more than 16 things from them.

The video portion was only added in 2011 and I really, really don't see the appeal of prepaying for shipping. Especially $80/year worth.

I either upgrade to 2 day if I need it earlier and if I don't I'll use the saver shipping and get it in a week.

The appeal is that the shipping cost is much cheaper the more you buy.

Do you not understand the appeal of any membership service? Costco is the same idea, for example. Or gym memberships, etc.

For several years before Prime, Amazon offered free two-day shipping on most $25 orders, no extra fees or membership. Maybe it started out at $50.

Super Saver shipping was never 2-day, it was always 5-7 day, at least since 2002 which was the first time I've ordered from Amazon. Prime also started at $80/year, I looked it up. Paying $80/year to get my items slightly earlier sounds like a terrible deal.

In the context of students, Prime Student is 50% off. It appears to still be that way. This built up a lot of loyalty for early Prime members who were students. That loyalty appears to have continued for close to a decade for many people.

Remember that way back when it was business as usual to pay $10+ for shipping if you bought online. This meant that if you bought online more than 4 times throughout the course of an entire year, you were ahead. It also allowed you to buy at any time without worrying about the minimum purchase total, increasing buying frequency.

I think he is specifically talking about the free two day shipping that came with a relatively low minimum purchase, not the free two day on any purchase via prime subscription.

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