We've talked before about Amazon's Prime Service, which allows customers to get free two-day shipping on eligible items, access to their video library and many other privileges by paying $99 per year.
I reviewed our first year with Prime to see if we were actually saving money over that time. And it turned out that it was a good deal for us. But, it may not be for everyone – especially if you don't do a lot of online shopping (though having Prime could cause you to shop more than you typically would, so there is an argument that it could cost you more money!).
The 2-day free shipping and access to videos aren't the only benefits of the service. Here's a rundown of others:
- FREE Same-Day Delivery in eligible zip codes.
- Prime Instant Video: unlimited streaming of movies and TV episodes for paid or free trial members in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
- Prime Music: unlimited, ad-free access to hundreds of Prime Playlists and more than a million songs for members in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
- Prime Photos: Secure unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive.
- Prime Pantry: Access to Prime Pantry, where members can purchase and ship to addresses in the contiguous U.S. low priced grocery, household, and pet care items for a flat delivery fee of $5.99 for each Prime Pantry box. Prime Pantry orders cannot be shipped to addresses in Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.
- Amazon Elements: Access to Amazon Elements products, Amazon's own line of everyday essentials.
- Prime Early Access: Get 30-minute early access to Lightning Deals on Amazon.com and new events on MyHabit.com.
- Kindle Owners' Lending Library: access to members in the U.S.
- Kindle First: Early access for members in the U.S. to download a new book for free every month from the Kindle First picks.
- Deals and Discounts, Compliments of Amazon Mom: These include 20% off diapers through Subscribe & Save and 15% off eligible products from your baby registry. For more information go to Get 20% off Diaper Subscriptions.
- Membership Sharing: Two adults living in the same household can create an Amazon Household to share certain Amazon Prime benefits.
Prime used to cost $79 per year – but they raised it a year or so ago to $99. It's not cheap – but if you use Amazon a lot, it can be worth it.
Today only (9/25) Amazon is offering Prime for $67 per year. They are probably gearing up for the Christmas season and they may be getting a little worried about a new competitor coming onto the market (Jet.com) who is giving them a run for their money.
Do you use Prime? If so, how do you like it?
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3 Comments
Bah! I’m late to this deal! Fortunately I do know Prime is pretty awesome. Much better than driving to traditional stores. Definitely worth the $99 price.
I signed up for Prime! I had a free trial before and really liked it but couldn’t justify the price when I don’t order from Amazon often and usually would order over $35 to get free shipping anyway. I convinced my husband to dump cable – and during pre hockey season too! – by using this deal for movies and TV shows. Looking forward to see how we use it and how much money we save by using Prime and getting rid of cable.
Thanks for letting us know Mandi – hope you get more use out of it this time around. You’re husband must really love you to dump hockey just before the season :)