Newegg has announced a subscription plan for shoppers offering free three-day shipping, discounted expedited shipping, and free returns with no restocking fees for $49 a year. Dubbed Premier, it's essentially the retailer's version of Amazon Prime, except targeted at a geekier audience interested mainly in technology products.
"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," Soren Mills, Chief Marketing Officer at Newegg said in a statement. "Free expedited shipping is in itself a great benefit, but beyond that we're including many other perks to enhance the shopping experience."
Aside from the aforementioned shipping benefits, subscribers will also get in advance notifications of upcoming sales and events, exclusive deals, and a dedicated customer service line.
The announcement comes just days after an Amazon executive admitted to be considering a $20 to $40 price hike for Prime, bringing the service's yearly cost up to $99 or $119.
Of course with Amazon you'll get access to a much more diverse product catalog and extra perks like Prime Instant Video or free Kindle books, but if you are mostly interested in tech products, Newegg Premier could emerge as a serious competitor. Plus you can always spring for a couple of streaming services separately and still pay less than Amazon Prime at its current price.
Newegg Premier is rolling out as beta and there's a free 30-day trial if you sign up by February 18.