Make sure to get all your children added to your account if that option's still available. Like an early Christmas present for them!

you can actually call amazon for help, and select for them to call you right back, and they actually do!

It makes buying a lot quicker, and Amazon even recommends it if your on Prime.

they emailed me back, but the response didn't answer my question.

Sounds like eBay!

it says "household members" though, and my kids don't live with me.

Or Bellsouth's DSL support.

I would assume that the fee is for the handling part of shipping and handling. They still have to pack it all up in the warehouse.

Correct.

right, but they don't say that anywhere, or give info on how they calculate it.

It's calculated when you actually buy something. For example, 3 weeks ago, I bought 5 DVDs. The cost of each DVD + one day shipping @ $1.99 for each totaled $76.95. My shipping & handling total was $9.95. Total Cost: $86.90.

Now, if I had chosen two day shipping, which is free on Prime, my cost would've been $76.95 since my s&h charge would've been $0.00.

I've essentially been shopping with amazon.com since they started. I recently saw something on their site that shows my date of first purchase as either 1995 or 1996.

I haven't paid any shipping or handling fees (outside of amazon marketplace purchases, which come from third-party vendors) since they started the free shipping on orders over $x ... 25 or 30 bucks, which is not a difficult target to hit. I don't get why you're being charged handling on some items. because of my proximity to the amazon.com East Coast warehouses, I've yet to have anything take the "up to two weeks" for delivery. Most stuff I get within two days after I place my Super-Saver Shipping Orders.

Ah, I didn't realize that. It would appear you are more honest than my mother. :)

Honesty has little to do with it -- they look a the billing address on the credit card you use. ;)

Not very closely, apparently. I've been on my mom's Amazon Prime "household members" account for about three years now, through two different billing addresses (neither of which were ever hers.) *shrug* I dunno, maybe they started checking it later but didn't want to bother kicking existing people off.