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Amazon Prime is probably one of the best online marketplace memberships out there with endless perks that make up for the hefty annual membership fee of $99. With loaded features like free 2-day shipping, exclusive access to their Lightning Deals, free Amazon instant streaming, unlimited photo storage and etc, $99 doesn’t seem like such a bad deal. But if you’re like us, we’re always on the lookout to cut costs wherever possible so we’re going to tally up all of Amazon Prime’s membership benefits (which are not always visible as they have so many!) and potential Amazon Prime hacks to help you save on your Prime membership.
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With Amazon Prime Day 2017 right around the corner - July 11th, to be exact - it's important for interested, non-members to know exactly what the Prime membership entails. To learn more about Amazon Prime Day 2017, read our blog post. First, here’s a list of everything that is included in an Amazon Prime membership (click here to visit the Amazon Prime website):
That's 23 amazing perks that come with a membership. Amazon Prime has two payment options for the membership - $99 annually (equivalent to $8.25/month) or $10.99 monthly (equivalent to $131.88 annually) if you're not ready to fully commit to Prime. Moreover, if you are a student, you can try Amazon Prime for 6 months absolutely free, and if you decide to keep it after your free trial, pay only 50% of the annual cost; that's only $49 for the entire year. Qualifying customers with an EBT card can get Amazon Prime for as low as $5.99/month after confirming eligibility.
: What You’re GettingFirst off, you get free 2-day shipping. Gotta have it and gotta have it fast right? Amazon offers free 2-day shipping on millions of items on their site and no minimum order size required. Prime members in select metro areas (listed below) will also get free same-day shipping on eligible items.
The following select metro cities also qualify for free Same-Day Delivery and One-Day Delivery on millions of items as well: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas / Ft. Worth, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle / Tacoma, Tampa Bay Area, Washington, D.C.
Amazon Prime Now offers 2-hour delivery service to select metro cities on tens of thousands of goods. You can easily check if your location is eligible for the Prime Now delivery by downloading and shopping from the Amazon Prime Now app. Don't forget that free Release-Date Delivery is also included in your membership, which is free delivery on eligible pre-order items including popular video games, books, movies, and more.
Sure, Amazon lightning fast shipping is the stuff of convenience. However, if you’re in no rush to get your items, you can select no-rush shipping at checkout and receive a promotional credit toward a future purchase. Shoppers will receive a $5 reward toward their next Prime Now purchase when choosing this option.
Did you know that you can share your Amazon Prime benefits with another adult in your household at no additional cost? There is a limit to a number of benefits you can share but for the most part, your added partner gets the best of Prime like free shipping, instant streaming, Prime photos and much more. That’s almost like 2 Amazon Prime membership for the price of one. You can head over to Manage Your Household to share your membership with a loved one right now!
With your membership, you’ll get access to thousands of movie and TV show titles, not to mention original and exclusive Amazon Instant Video Originals that you can easily stream on Smart TVs, Roku, Xbox, Amazon Fire TV, mobile devices, and tablets. In addition to all that Amazon Instant Video has to offer, if you’re still missing some of your cable TV shows, they also enable the option for add-on subscriptions to networks like Showtime, Starz and more.
Prime members can stream a Prime Video for the first time on their TV and get a free $10 credit. Offer ends July 7th and promotional credit must be spent by Prime Day, July 11th.
You’ll have access to over two million songs and ad-free playlist including personalized radio stations. Your Prime Music collection will be stored in the cloud so you can listen to music from anywhere, anytime and on any device plus, they have offline download options. Moreover, this Prime benefit also allows Alexa voice-integration, so you can listen hands-free. For even more music options (we're talking tens of millions of songs), try Amazon Music Unlimited and get an exclusive Prime member discount.
Right now, Prime members can get a 4-month subscription to Amazon Music Unlimited for just $0.99. Act fast! $7.99/month after the 4-month trial.
Love books? As a Prime member, you’ll also have access to hundreds and thousands of free Kindle eBooks. Kindle also has an Owner’s Lending Library where you can borrow 1 book for free. Lending library books can be accessed via your Kindle e-reader, Fire tablets or Fire phone. Kindle First is an Amazon Kindle program where Kindle editors select 6 top new releases books for the month. If something catches your eye, you can choose 1 of the 6 for only $1.99! Amazon also recently opened its first brick-and-mortar location in New York, so read all about that here.
Prime Reading also allows Prime members to read as much as they want, whenever they want from a library of over a thousand books, magazines, comics, Kindle Singles, and more on any device. You don't need a Kindle to enjoy the perks of Prime Reading, and you can switch seamlessly from one device to another with Audible Narration.
Want to try an Amazon Kindle Unlimited subscription? Get it now for up to 40% off with options for 6 months ($59.94 $44.95), 12 months ($119.88 $80.32), or 24 months ($239.76 $143.86).
Get unlimited photo storage through Prime Photos and easily access your saved photos from any device. Give free photo storage to up to five friends or family members and share it with them in the Family Vault.
If you haven’t browsed MyHabit.com, it’s basically like Amazon’s version of Zulily with more designer selections. You’ll likely find something here since they update event sales pretty often. Lightning Deals on Amazon are offered to Prime members 30 minutes before they are offered to non-Prime members, and these are hot, limited time offers that sell out quickly and usually last until the scheduled end time or once entire quantity for that deal has been claimed.
For non-Prime members, Audible Channel costs $60 a year. For Prime members, this feature is absolutely free. Listen to exclusive original audio series and playlists tailored specifically to your interests.
Another little-known perk, Twitch Prime offers exclusive discounts on pre-order and newly released video games as well as free game content monthly for Prime members! You also get free release-day delivery and pre-order price guarantee. More perks include ad-free viewing and a free monthly Twitch channel subscription to support your favorite Twitch streamer.
Prime members also have access to Prime Pantry where you can purchase snacks, kitchen items, home essentials, personal beauty and health and much more at discounted prices. We often spot Prime Pantry coupon codes too. In the spirit of upcoming major holidays, you'll also find additional coupon codes you can use on select Prime Pantry items.
Prime Pantry also has their own separate section for coupons and deals so you might want to take a look and see where you can save. You can stack their promotional code on top of Prime Pantry clippable coupon for even greater savings. Amazon also has their Subscribe & Save program where you can get an extra 5-15% off your pantry purchase with free shipping on each subscription (you also have the option to cancel anytime).
Amazon Fresh is an on-demand grocery delivery service that guarantees fresh grocery deliveries. They offer same day delivery service with early morning delivery on orders that exceed $50. A small downside is that you’ll have to pay a little more for access to Amazon Fresh.
“Prime Fresh membership is required to shop AmazonFresh. After your free trial, you will be charged $299 for the next year and annually after that. Existing Prime customers who upgrade to Prime Fresh will be refunded for their Prime membership on a prorated basis.”
Eligible Prime members using their Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card or the Amazon Prime Store card can earn 5% back on their purchases on Amazon.com. Learn more about the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card from our blog post. Every single Prime member can earn 2% rewards on their debit spending with their Amazon Prime Reload.
A lesser known Amazon project, they’ve launched their own line of everyday items! Elements is similar to Pantry, just with all Amazon exclusive line of baby wipes. Plus, exclusively for Prime members only.
Formerly known as Amazon Mom, Amazon Family offers exclusive Prime member discounts on diapers, with 15% off Baby Registry, coupons and deals and more.
If you regularly shop on Amazon for basic necessities or just to check up on a product review, have you noticed that Amazon has coupon code offers now? You don't even need to be a Prime member to use these promo codes. When Amazon first started offering coupon discounts, offers were rare and few in between. However, lately, they have really amped up their coupon promo frequency so you'll find multiple ongoing Amazon coupon deals going on nearly every week.
Wow, that's a lot of perks. Did we miss anything? Amazon has some promotions or perks that can be hard to locate right off the bat so if you have any additional tips or experience to include, feel free to let us know in the comments below!
