Amazon vs Jet vs Thrive Market

For years, people have used stores like Costco and Sam's Club to save money by being members of a buying group. More recently, Amazon introduced a different kind of membership for the internet age, first giving us free 2-day shipping on all Prime items, and then expanding into things like free videos, photo storage, and music as well as a free "borrowed" Kindle book each month.

(If you're not already a member, you can try Prime for free for 30 days.)

Amazon has also offered deals and discounts in a variety of ways, including its monthly subscription service, where you get automatic shipments of certain products you use all the time. You can save 15% on these items if you order at least 5 items in a given month.

Today I received a price alert on one item I was subscribed to, and I thought I would stack it up against two others stores. But first, some context.

Other Membership Sites

I recently discovered Thrive Market. Here's another company asking you to become a member ($59/year) in exchange for exceptionally low costs on products, but they're focused on healthy living. If you buy in this category, I recommend that you get a TRIAL membership (I think it's good for 60 days, and you have all the benefits of being a member) and look at their prices. You'll see some in this blog, but it's best to check on the items you buy to see how much you can save. I was originally blown away by how much I saved in my first order, even when comparing to other discount stores online. But after this review, I'll be reconsidering its value for my buying habits, seeing what Jet is offering. Thrive gives free shipping when you order at least $49 in an order.

The other store we'll talk about here has been BIG NEWS as Amazon's upcoming competition. With major investments being made, Jet anticipates having MILLIONS of subscribers by the end of 2015 even though they're just in Beta right now. Ambitious indeed. Their business model is to make little to no money on products, focusing on income from memberships. ($50/year after whatever trial they are offering.) Many products come with 2-day delivery, but not all. You get free shipping at $35 per order.

Jet also lets you shop at a ton of others places and, if you forward your e-mail confirmation to Jet, you'll get points to spend on Jet's site in the future. (Yes, you are sharing your shopping habits with them if you do this, and I presume helping them to know where they need to expand.)

At the time of this writing, Jet is giving away free 6-month memberships obviously to get people to try them, and certainly to try wresting them away from Amazon. So with my own membership in place, it was time for me to explore and see how prices stacked up between Amazon, Thrive, and Jet. Here are my examples.

NuGo FREE Chocolate Bar

This is the product I got a price alert on from Amazon Subscribe & Save. It's gone UP to $15.96 for a box of 12, which includes my 15% discount. I checked it against the other stores. Thrive does NOT offer it, but has another NuGo product at $15.45 for a box of 12.

Jet is the winner at a price of $13.56 for one box, and less if you buy multiple boxes.

Update

Jet says it will further discount products as they're packaged together, and even gave me another .25% off for paying with Visa. After paying for everything, I have to update this entire blog, because I paid LESS than you see in my original images. So after each section where I actually ordered something in my first order, I'm adding an update. I ended up getting the boxes of NuGo bars for just $11.47.

Skinny Pop

This seems to be a popular product. You see it everywhere. Amazon's prices are terrible on this product. Even if you buy 5 cases of 10 from Jet, you pay $3.71 per bag. You can buy just ONE bag from Thrive for $2.95. Thrive is the winner.

Jet, however, did have a "sweet" flavor of this as a single-bag option, and buy two bags at a time brought the price down to $2.79 each. So if you can match up flavors on the two sites, Jet might be the winner on price.

Charmin Toilet Paper

Thrive doesn't even carry toilet paper at the time of this writing. So we look at the other two stores. Amazon's price for 40 double rolls is $29.71 without any discounts. Right now they offer a $2 coupon on it, and if you buy it with 15% off in your Subscribe & Save, it's just $25.25. So it ranges from 63 to 75 cents per roll on Amazon.

On Jet you can buy just 16 rolls at a time for $11.75 or less. Without going crazy and buying a ton of packages, Jet's price is 69 to 73 cents per roll at 1-3 packages.

Jet and Amazon roughly tie on this one.

Erin Baker's Chocolate Granola

This is a natural granola, and I was surprised that Thrive isn't carrying this yet. Both the other stores do. On the left we have Jet's listing; on the right, Amazon's. The base price at Amazon is $25.05, so if you're not on subscription, Jet is the better price. But on subscription, Amazon wins with prices as low as $21.29 (15% off) for a 6 pack. That's about $3.50 for a bag of granola. The same bag would sell for $6+ in a retail setting.

I'll call this one another tie for Jet and Amazon because pricing depends on how you buy it.

Way Better Chips

This is a brand of chips I like, and I thought I'd let you see the value that Thrive offers on these, along with plenty of other snacks. (Amazon's price is so high it's not even worth showing.) Buying just one bag at a time, Thrive wins a bit on price, though Jet has a better selection of flavors -- 6 vs. 2. But if you're buying more than one bag at a time -- which I do when buying online once a month -- Jet's price wins by dropping to $2.41 or less. I would say that Jet wins this one.

Update

After checking out, my "Way Better" price was ... no, I'm not going to use the pun. I'll just say the price was "Even Lower" than before. $2.15.

Krave Beef Jerky

Beef Jerky is pretty popular these days, so I thought I'd compare it. Thrive didn't have a huge selection, so I went with the brand and flavor below, figuring both other companies would carry Krave. But Jet only had two Krave flavors and only offered this smaller bag.

Amazon and Thrive are selling a 3.25 ounce bag vs. the 1.5 ounce at Jet. So ounce for ounce, Jet's price is $6.43 for a comparable bag. Amazon's 4-pack is $24.95, or $6.23 per bag. Right now, Thrive wins big on price, but Amazon has the best selection.

Having said that, Jet has a bunch of other beef jerky options, and if you're into this kind of food, you might want to know about Tanka, which mixes meats and fruits in bar and stick form and looks WAY healthier to me than beef jerky. Jet easily beats both Amazon and Thrive on Tanka pricing.

Rainbow Light Chocolate Protein Energizer

If you've ever wondered why someone can't make a truly healthy protein drink that tastes good, then you haven't tried this one. And since I drink this every day, this is one area where I felt I could save a lot of money with Thrive. I had been buying on Amazon, but it's $15/bag when I buy two at a time, and it's $2 less per bag on Thrive. But when you buy at least two bags on Jet, you get the same price, and you can pay a little less at 3 bags. I'll say that Jet and Thrive tie on this one.

Eneloop Rechargeable Batteries

Next I thought I'd look at general things people use, and started with a great brand of rechargeable batteries. Jet is the winner over Prime.

Bounty Paper Towels

There was no exact packaging match on this one. Both are Bounty Select-a-Size. I chose Amazon's 2=5 package, which is a best seller, and it comes as a 12 pack. So if I'm reading this correctly, you effectively get 60 single rolls for $30, or 50 cents per roll. On Jet, you get the equivalent of 20 single rolls for $20, or $1 per roll. So again, if I'm reading it correctly, Amazon wins on price.

Update

Amazon still has the better price if I've read the above information correctly, but my final price for paper towels from Jet was $17.63.

Conclusion

Going into this, my initial glance at Jet had told me they weren't as well priced as the hype suggested. But going product by product against Amazon and another membership site, I'm actually pretty impressed with their early selection and pricing. Especially after I saw my prices further discounted once I checked out.

I'm not convinced Jet's making little to no money on all products, but these definitely seem like good deals. And although Costco has greatly improved its healthy product selection over the years, you still have to buy in bulk with them, and have to adapt to what they have on the shelves. It seems like Jet will bring you a better selection without buying in bulk.

I won't give up Amazon Prime any time soon -- we use more than just Prime shipping, and Prime lets you order things as you need them rather than saving up to $35 at a time. $35 isn't much, but sometimes you just need something small shipped.

On the other hand, it looks like I'll keep my Jet membership once it's a paid membership. There are a lot of savings to be had here, and Jet seems to have undone my interest in Thrive Market.