Newegg Launches Premier Service Similar to Amazon Prime

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The service is called Newegg Premier that could save you loads of money if you're a repeat customer.

On Wednesday, popular electronics e-tailer Newegg launched its Newegg Premier customer-benefit program. Like Amazon Prime, the company will provide free shipping on qualified products in exchange for a yearly subscription, only without the video streaming content. This solution is also cheaper than Amazon, costing $49.99 per year, whereas Amazon charges $79 per year.

According to Newegg, membership benefits include free expedited shipping for three days or less, discounted rates on 2-day and next-day shipping, and special alerts to give members early notice of upcoming sales. The new subscription service also enables free returns with complimentary shipping and no restocking fees, exclusive deals, and a dedicated customer service telephone number.

Members will also have a custom shopping experience thanks to exclusive backgrounds and information panels.

"Newegg's customer base has grown to more than 25 million registered users. Newegg Premier's white-glove treatment offers substantial value not only to frequent customers, but also to any customer who desires a personalized, streamlined shopping experience," reads the company's press release.

Newegg customers who sign up for the Premier subscription plan by February 18 will receive a free 30 day trial.

To see if an item qualifies for Premier, simply click on the device listing and look for the button sitting next to the price. As an example, Lenovo's IdeaPad Y510P laptop qualifies for free shipping via the membership, otherwise shipping can cost between $10 and $39 USD without the membership.

How about the Seagate Barracuda 1 TB hard drive selling for $60? Shipping alone could cost between $4 and $24 USD, depending on how fast you need this drive. Thus, if you purchase more than one item on Newegg per year, the Premier membership could save you loads of money.

"We always seek ways to improve the customer experience and implementing a benefit program is the latest example of how we're making it easier and more rewarding to shop at Newegg.com," said Soren Mills, Chief Marketing Officer of Newegg North America.

To sign up for Newegg Premier, head here. Does this membership sound like a good deal to you? Or is this just a gimmick to drive sales?

Kevin Parrish
30 Comments Comment from the forums
  • mamasan2000
    Whats next? Paying subscription for going to the toilet? "You can now follow your !"

    Watch the language. - G
    Reply
  • SinisterSalad
    I've been using ShopRunner for a few years now. It's a bit more than Egg's fee, but it's free 2-Day on most items, free return shipping and can be used on multiple participating companies. A better deal IMO. Now, if Newegg ends up dropping from ShopRunner, I'm not going to be very happy with them.
    Reply
  • vir_cotto
    I buy so much crap at newegg I'm gunna try it out and see how it is!
    Reply
  • bombebomb
    Most of my items arrive in two days via ground from newegg anyway.... I hope they don't start slowing down their normal operations..... on the other side, I have had shoprunner for YEARS and never paid a dime for it. I suspect that will continue through 2015 when my "trial" runs out.
    Reply
  • Achoo22
    Newegg's shipping has been awful since they moved from FedEx to UPS - not because UPS is necessarily superior, but rather because they negotiated the cheapest possible service. Even with the premium shipping plan, the service will lag far behind Amazon's amazing shipping and service. Unless Newegg can manage much better prices than Amazon (which they haven't been able to do for a very long time), they're not going to get any of my business.
    Reply
  • TriBeard
    Or you could just buy most of what they have on amazon for the same price or less, and in my experience, better customer service if something goes wrong. Newegg isn't bad, and I still shop there from time to time, but I prefer to buy from Microcenter when I can, and amazon when I can't.
    Reply
  • philly27
    Most of the membership benefits are things Newegg already does, thats kind of why they are so great.
    Reply
  • hotroderx
    As a amazon prime customer I am really curious about this and might make the switch. I loved Amazon prime but lately there shipping has been slow. Also one of the shipping providers (lasership) has been nothing but trouble for me.They have added so many items to the add-on program where you have to spend at least 25 dollars to order certain item's. Also there was a talk of a price hike to Amazon prime in the near future raising it 20-40 dollars. I think Newegg might be on to something I do agree newegg's customer service isn't as good as Amazons but at the same time. The only thing amazon does when you call there CS is give you a credit on the account which is kinda nice but I have had to personally contact them 4 times this month for different issues which is really annoying. I would be a much happier if I didn't need to contact them at all.
    Reply
  • ewok93
    I live 20 miles away from their facility and get overnight shipping most of the time even with the cheapest/free shipping. Might go for it anyway because I order so much, though, could just pay once for shipping in the future.
    Reply
  • Au_equus
    Haven't shopped any big ticket items from newegg lately. However, the aspect of computer parts retail that newegg does better than amazon is technical specs. For example, its much easier to compare clock speeds on several brands of the same GPU on newegg than amazon. Nowadays, I go to newegg to shop and amazon to buy.Now, if amazon can buy newegg...
    Reply