So I figured my first step towards blogging more often would be an easy post. Baby steps…

I tried Amazon’s Prime Now! Service just began in Raleigh. Last night, I realized that I needed to buy cookies for Zachary’s class’s Valentine’s Day party this afternoon. Since it was 11 p.m., going out to the store then was out of the question. I didn’t want to be bothered with stopping along the way to work (because getting out of the house early with a 20-month old is never a realistic option) and since I was planning on leaving early for the party, I hadn’t planned on taking a lunch break. So, I decided to see what Prime Now was all about.

How was it? Good! I only ordered groceries, so I can only speak to what that is like, but here are some pros and cons.

Pros: Well, ordering was super easy, and it was delivered to my office this morning within the time frame that it was supposed to. Success. It was nice to be able to follow a little map what tracked where the driver was as they were on their way with your delivery. They were packed pretty well, and used dry ice to keep the perishables cool. Using Prime Now definitely saved me what would have been an inconvenient trip to the store, which is what it’s all about at the end of the day.

Cons: The first downside is that you can only order it using an app on your phone. If I have a choice between using an app on my phone or using my computer, I will almost always choose using my computer. I hope one day, you can order through a computer. The other con is that it’s a $20 minimum per order. I totally understand this requirement. After all, it has to be worth the driver’s trip out there. The downside to this is that if you’re using it for groceries, their selection for the Raleigh area is still somewhat limited. The costs are generally comparable, but tend to be slightly higher than if you were to buy from Target or Walmart. The one thing that was cheaper through Now was Horizon’s Organic Whole Milk with DHA. I think it tends to run about $5.30 in stores out here, but was only $4.79 on Now. They also don’t have fresh produce such as salad or blueberries. So, while it saved me a trip to the store, it still didn’t save me a trip to the store, if that makes sense. I think if I had ordered things that I am always running out for at the last minute, like diapers and whole milk, I would have felt like it did more for me in the long run, haha.

Misc:  At checkout, Prime Now offers suggested tips for the driver. We never do delivery services for food and I have no real reason to take an Uber or taxi anywhere, so tipping was something I would have completely forgotten about if it hadn’t been suggested. That’s just something to keep in mind and factor in if you are shopping on a budget.

I definitely think that Prime Now is worth checking out and if you can find $20+ of what you need on there easily (and it isn’t going to wreck your budget), then it’s worth it. One thing to note, however: You get $10 off your first purchase if you use a promo code. I forgot the promo code, so I canceled my order within 45 seconds of placing it. I tried to redo the order and enter the code, but was rejected because it was technically not my “first” order. I admit, I was a bit put off by that. If it hadn’t been so late at night, I might have contacted customer service and contested that a bit. Oh well.