[Stuart]

Considering Amazon as a company as a whole turns over more than the GDP of a lot of countries, I fail to see how they can use the "To continue investing" argument to justify this.  This company across all its arms and operations probably has more money than they know what to do with.

If you use the bulk of the other Prime benefits beside Video and free delivery, it's not that bad a deal in itself, though of course its all about shifting stock.

I suspect the advertising will be a copy of the Freevee model/way of doing it.

It's important to realise the difference between turnover and profit.  They actually operate on a very low profit margin for their main business.

They do invest a great deal, which is not subject to tax as with any other company doing the same. They also provide Prime Video/Freevee to customers like me who only paid originally just to use their rapid delivery service.

I can put up with adverts. I just make a cuppa or have a trip to the bathroom while they're on.