Is the New Amazon Add-On Item Program Good or Bad for Business?

     As an avid Amazon Shopper I am wondering if the New Amazon Add-On Item Program is Good or Bad for Amazon's Business?  Will this new program affect their Amount of Prime Memberships?  I have paid for a Prime Membership for years for many of the benefits and features, but one of my favorite "Perks" of being a prime member was catching something "Super Cheap" and having it arrive in 2 Days with NO Shipping Charge... But now, so many of the "Inexpensive" items on Amazon are part of their New "Add-On Item" program which forces me to buy $25.00 worth of items at a time just to get the item at the Low Price and have it shipped free... I am now wondering - if they are going to do this - then WHY am I paying for Prime?

     Let's Take a look at this New "Add-On Item Program",,,

When You come across an item on Amazon that has this picture to the side - You have found an "Add-On Item"...



The Add-on Program The new Add-on program allows Amazon to offer thousands of low-priced items that would be cost-prohibitive to ship on their own. We've kicked off the Add-on program with thousands of new Add-on Items, and we're adding more each day. Add-on Items ship with orders that include $25 or more of items shipped by Amazon, and you can get them delivered to your doorstep with free shipping.

 Exploring Add-on Items

Add-on Items are products of all different sorts at a low price point. Previously it was only possible for us to offer items like these in large multi-pack sizes (which for many families would have been too much of an item).

Identifying Add-on Items Add-on Items are marked with a special icon when searching for items, viewing items, and during checkout:

Add-on Items and FREE Super Saver Shipping If you're not a Prime member, you can combine your Add-on Items with other items and . For example, you could include a $6 bath sponge that's an Add-on Item with two $10 paperbacks and receive FREE Super Saver Shipping on all three items.

Checking Out Without Add-on Items If you have an Add-on Item in your cart but less than $25 of items shipped by Amazon you can still check out with the rest of your items. When you proceed to checkout we'll give you the choice either to keep shopping or to check out with the rest of your items and save your Add-on Items for later. We'll keep your Add-on Items in the "Saved for Later" section of your cart so that you can easily add them to a future order.   

Now - As a Prime Member it tells me...

Add-on Items and Amazon Prime When you add an Add-on Item to an Amazon Prime order of more than $25, your Add-on Item will also receive Prime shipping benefits, including FREE Two-Day Shipping. For example, if you ordered five $5 pacifiers, each of which was an Add-on Item, your order would receive FREE Two-Day Shipping. As a Prime member you can continue to choose from the over 14 million (and growing) Prime-eligible items sold on Amazon.com, plus access Prime Instant Videos and the Kindle Owners' Lending Library.

In Conclusion...

     Now, Granted - I still get to enjoy the many other benefitsof my Prime Membership - but somehow feel cheated with this New Add-On Item Program and being forced to spend $25 (Like a Non-Prime Member) to get these Low Priced items.

    What are Your thoughts on this - will this Add-On Item program ultimately Help Amazon (by making even their Prime Members buy More to get the great Prices) or Hurt Amazon by making their Prime-Members feel cheated and perhaps cancel or not renew their Prime Membership?