But it’s basically free considering that we all pay for Prime anyway. :)

It's a value add to make it feel better when you realize the Prime price is often the price + shipping.

The problem comes when they raise the price because of all the "added value". And I just want the "free" shipping.

... I don't... walks into a corner

I don't either. Although Prime is getting to the tipping point for me. Before I didn't order enough packages or watch enough tv for it to be worth it.

Hey, check this guy out! He waits 5 business days for packages!

Prime is reaching a primarily-digital-services point that I half-expect them to split-off the free-shipping 'benefit' into another package, or quietly drop it.

Actually I wish they would, so that I could check-out physical orders twice as fast without the tedium of deselecting the defaulted 'Yes give me the 30-day Prime trial!' checkboxes. It is quite odious how much upselling they now load into the checkout process.