# Amazon ups their game with new Prime Pantry (groceries!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 24, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885 "2014-04-24T19:55:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885/1 "2014-04-24T19:55:24Z")
Amazon just announced that they will be selling groceries to Prime members for cheap with cheap shipping. Hooray! Now I’ll get even more stuff from Amazon! [ > [@](#): > > NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is taking aim at grocery stores and discounters like Wal-Mart with a grocery service that lets its Prime loyalty club members fill up to a 45-pound box with groceries and get it shipped for a flat rate of $5.99. > > The mega online retailer says the service, called Prime Pantry, will offer Prime users an expanded selection of items that they usually pick up in grocery stores, in addition to larger in-bulk groceries more commonly ordered online, at competitive prices. Some items now available are single boxes of Cheerios, a six-pack of Bounty paper towels and Coca-Cola fridge packs. > > Amazon calls the offerings “low-priced, everyday essentials in everyday sizes.” > > When Prime members shop through Prime Pantry, it shows how much space each item takes up in the grocery box, and how much room is left. Items are shipped within one to four business days. ]([http://bigstory.ap.org/article/amazon-launches-grocery-service-prime-members](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/amazon-launches-grocery-service-prime-members)) Anyone else think this rocks and is likely another internet retailing game-changer? ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885/2 "2014-04-24T20:20:59Z")
If they don’t raise their prices on items like Dennison’s can Chili they are going to lose a lot of money … Rural area people could save some money though this I will agree with, but not big city people with access to box stores like Sam’s Club and Costco. I wish Sam’s Club would follow suit … can you imagine a drone dropping 45lbs of canned chili on your door step, ouch? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885/3 "2014-04-24T20:43:56Z")
Amazon apparently also has a program that if you schedule a regular monthly order of the same item you get a 5% discount. If you schedule a monthly order of five or more items, you get a 15% discount. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885/4 "2014-04-24T21:37:25Z")
Sounds like a game-changer for people’s waistlines. While I am sure some people will use this to order brown rice and seltzer water, the reality is that this is a great way for Americans to get more bottles of Coke and boxes of cookies with zero effort, and without the hassle of having to skirt around the produce aisle. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885/5 "2014-04-24T21:39:15Z")
Repost ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885/6 "2014-04-24T22:02:13Z")
Not just that…they have a beta website up and running - [http://www.amazonsupply.com](http://www.amazonsupply.com) Office supplies; materials management items; medical consumables; hardware items (think Grainger and Harbor Freight)… ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885/7 "2014-04-24T22:12:55Z")
To give an example consider sugar. Pantry has a 5 pound bag for $1.76 ($3.52 for 10 pounds)–which is roughly comparable to supermarkets. Otherwise the cheapest I find is 10 pounds for $10.35 Prime or $9.83 Subscribe and Save. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885/8 "2014-04-24T23:37:11Z")
I have used an online grocery delivery service in my area called Peapod with more than satisfactory results. The first time I ordered, I included a green pepper and a cucumber, to test the quality of the produce. It was good stuff, and it was delivered. America! F Yeah! ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885/9 "2014-04-24T23:40:58Z")
Companies like Peapod are only in metropolitan areas. Pantry will provide an option for rural America. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885/10 "2014-04-25T00:15:35Z")
It’s a beautiful thing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885/11 "2014-04-25T00:24:30Z")
Red! It’s the new Blue! ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885/12 "2014-04-25T00:40:19Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Sounds like a game-changer for people’s waistlines. While I am sure some people will use this to order brown rice and seltzer water, the reality is that this is a great way for Americans to get more bottles of Coke and boxes of cookies with zero effort, and without the hassle of having to skirt around the produce aisle. Yeah man cuz you can’t buy cookies and Coke anywhere but the grocery store. Not like they are at places like bodegas, vending machines, country stores or gas stations. We’re lazy and hungry, we don’t have time to wait 2 days for Coke and pay $6 extra when there’s a Seven Eleven literally down the block. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885/13 "2014-04-25T00:44:27Z")
I’m pretty happy with FreshDirect, but I may give this a try. God knows I can’t get boxes of cookies anywhere else in this town. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885/14 "2014-04-25T00:55:55Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Sounds like a game-changer for people’s waistlines. While I am sure some people will use this to order brown rice and seltzer water, the reality is that this is a great way for Americans to get more bottles of Coke and boxes of cookies with zero effort, and without the hassle of having to skirt around the produce aisle. Alternatively, it can give folks in rural areas access to speciality items, ethnic ingredients and organic products. Looking through it, they have fish sauce, nori, chipotles in adobo sauce etc. Items like that are not always available in small markets. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885/15 "2014-04-25T01:38:41Z")
I think I may have been too harsh. It’s a neat service and I do 90% of my grocery shopping online, so I am all for this. I am just slightly saddened that a service that is entirely packaged foods can be considered “groceries.” I am frustrated at a new way that it’s become easier to eat junk food rather than produce. Yeah, you can load the cart up with junk at Safeway. But at least there is the option to grab a carrot there. In my dream world, there would be fruit and veggie stands on every corner, and store runs for the other junk would be rare. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885/16 "2014-04-25T01:43:13Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > I think I may have been too harsh. It’s a neat service and I do 90% of my grocery shopping online, so I am all for this. > > I am just slightly saddened that a service that is entirely packaged foods can be considered “groceries.” I am frustrated at a new way that it’s become easier to eat junk food rather than produce. Yeah, you can load the cart up with junk at Safeway. But at least there is the option to grab a carrot there. > > In my dream world, there would be fruit and veggie stands on every corner, and store runs for the other junk would be rare. Happily, looking through the offerings, there are bags of dried beans, quinoa, couscous, baking staples, paper goods, tons of organic versions of common pantry items, high quality canned tomatoes, whole grain cereals etc etc. Sure there’s pop tarts and spaghetti o’s, but there are a lot perfectly common dry goods that folks need to buy as groceries. I’d see this as complementing regular shopping, not replacing it entirely. Who knows? It might encourage someone to try something different that an adventurous item or a healthier version. ---
**Author:** ![emcee2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emcee2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emcee2k)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885/17 "2014-04-25T06:41:38Z")
I might be interested if they get some generics. Three buck might be okay for a box of Kellogg’s cornflakes, but not really for just a box of cornflakes. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885/18 "2014-04-25T07:08:55Z")
Amazon and other on-line retailers have gained some attention for the utterly inhuman medieval treatment of their warehouse workers who collect the items you’ve ordered from the shelves. One article among many similar: [I Was a Warehouse Wage Slave](http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/mac-mcclelland-free-online-shipping-warehouses-labor) by Mac McClelland in Mother Jones, March/April 2012. (Article also contains links to earlier articles on the topic.) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885/19 "2014-04-25T16:26:37Z")
zomg. Somebody complaining about a shitty job in Mother Jones. Stop the presses. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885/20 "2014-04-25T17:45:15Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > I think I may have been too harsh. It’s a neat service and I do 90% of my grocery shopping online, so I am all for this. > > I am just slightly saddened that a service that is entirely packaged foods can be considered “groceries.” I am frustrated at a new way that it’s become easier to eat junk food rather than produce. Yeah, you can load the cart up with junk at Safeway. But at least there is the option to grab a carrot there. > > In my dream world, there would be fruit and veggie stands on every corner, and store runs for the other junk would be rare. I don’t know. I can get a week’s worth of produce (and ice cream) in one short trip and maybe one reusable bag or two. Buying the bulky nonperishable stuff online might save me time and frustration at the store. It might also be nice for people who rely on public transportation or walking between the store and home. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-ups-their-game-with-new-prime-pantry-groceries/686885.md?page=2)