Amazon Prime Eases Rural Alaska’s Pricey Shipping Woes
People in rural parts of the state say they’ve seen Prime’s popularity soar in the last two to three years. Many hear about the service via word of mouth and then sign up.
Kristy Robbins started using Amazon Prime when she heard that her friend had had a table saw delivered to Alaska with no extra shipping fees. Now Robbins uses Prime regularly both at home and in her job as a school principal / teacher in Eagle, an 86-person town about 370 miles east of Fairbanks.
She just ordered $4,000 worth of school gym supplies through the service — everything from roller skates to tennis shoes to hockey equipment. She also replenishes the school’s art supplies during the year via Amazon Prime.
“It’s kind of nice for us because if we see we’re running low in the middle of winter, we’re not stressed because we’re going to run out,” Robbins said. “Before, we would just run out and do without.”
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