What Is Amazon Prime: Benefits and is it Worth it

If you’re not an Amazon member of Prime, you’re probably thinking about exactly what is Amazon prime. 

Amazon Prime is more than expedited shipping. It’s a subscription-based service that allows members to enjoy various Amazon benefits. Benefits include:

• Quick delivery.
• Access to exclusive Prime Day deals and streaming movies for free.
• Access to various other services.

Amazon Prime is an obvious choice for many shoppers because of the benefits of shipping by itself. But, Amazon recently raised its rates from $119 annually to $139 yearly. The month-to-month rate was also raised to $12.99/month and now $14.99/month. When people cut back on their spending, selling isn’t easy.

You can join the other two million Amazon Prime members anytime.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. What is Amazon Prime?
2. What Does Amazon Prime Cost?
3. What Are The Benefits Of Amazon Prime?
4. What is Amazon Prime Day?
5. Why Should I Subscribe To Amazon Prime?

What is Amazon Prime?

Amazon Prime is a paid subscription. Its members can avail of an assortment of benefits. However, the most significant benefit is a free one or two-day delivery on most products sold by Amazon. The company announced it has more than 200 million paying Prime customers worldwide. This is the answer if you’ve ever thought about what Amazon Prime is.

What Does Amazon Prime Cost?

The cost of an Amazon Prime membership depends on the plan you choose. However, you can test the service for free for 30 days.

Here’s a rundown of the payment plans and what they contain:

• Prime Video: $8.99 per month. This membership limits your perks to unlimited TV shows or movie streaming. It will cost you about $108 for a year.
• Prime: $14.99 per month. You can purchase a Prime membership at $6.99 monthly if you’re eligible for government aid.
• Prime Annual cost: $139. Paying a lump sum to cover the entire membership will save money in the long term.
• Prime Student: If you’re a college student who has an email address that is valid for school, you’ll be able to get an initial trial period of six months for free. Also, you will have a reduced annual membership fee of $69 for the calendar year following the trial period ends.

It is vital to know that Amazon keeps your credit card details on file once you sign up. So if you do not want the service when the trial is over, ensure that you access your account and cancel it. If you don’t, you’ll be charged the cost of membership automatically.

RELATED TOPIC: What is Amazon Digital Charge? [2022] 

What Are The Benefits Of Amazon Prime?

Amazon Prime’s primary benefit is offering free two-day Delivery for millions of eligible items. Although Amazon provides free shipping on purchases of $25 or more for customers who are not Prime members, it can take five to 8 business days to get orders delivered. In certain cities, you may receive same-day Delivery for qualified purchases.

The Amazon Prime Benefits include:

Fast, Free Delivery

FREE One-Day Delivery

1. You can shop from coast to coast for over 15 million items, with no minimum purchases.
2. Filter your search by “Get this tomorrow” while shopping. The selection and cut-off for orders depend on the area.
3. Receive your items before 9 p.m. the following day.

FREE Same-Day Delivery

1. In Philadelphia, Dallas, Orlando, Dallas, and Phoenix, customers can place orders till 5 p.m. and have them delivered in as little as 5 hours. On qualified items, you will see a mark “Today” or “Overnight.”
2. In many other towns and cities across the US, if you place your orders at the beginning of the week (typically before noon), you will receive them by 9 p.m. Orders made in the afternoon will be delivered the following day. On qualified items, you will see the mark “Prime Same-Day Free.”
3. Free Prime members can get a discount on purchases that contain at least $25 worth of eligible products.

FREE 2-Hour Grocery Delivery

1. Find a large selection of grocery items, including fresh food and produce.
2. Enjoy free Delivery for two hours from Fresh.
3. Available in certain US cities.

Amazon Day

1. Available in the US Exclusive to Prime.
2. Choose a day of the week that best suits you.
3. The items you select will be delivered at Amazon Day, which is Amazon Day each week.
4. Delivery is free, and there are no minimum order requirements.

Amazon Key In-Garage Delivery

In-Garage Delivery refers to:

1. Convenient: Receive delivery notifications whether at home or on the go.
2. Secure: Store your packages in your garage.
3. Simple to use: Drivers receive one-time verification access to their package by scanning it. No requirement to divulge the garage’s number.
4. Flexible: You can select in-garage Delivery or Delivery to your door with every order.

Additionally, it’s free for Prime members.

Whole Foods deals

Prime members enjoy an additional 10 percent discount on sale products at Whole Foods Market, in stores, and on the internet.

Unlimited movie and TV streaming

You can watch hundreds of TV shows and films on a free basis with Prime Video. Members can also join channels such as HBO and Showtime for a fee.

Prime reading

Members can choose from more than 1,000 magazines, comics, and books to read at no cost. The service is accessible through Kindle and Fire tablets, in addition to any iOS and Android device running a Kindle app.

Prime Music

You can stream over two million tracks and access the Prime Playlists free through Amazon Music Prime. Prime members can also avail of discounts on subscriptions for Amazon Music Unlimited, which includes more than 90 million tracks. You can have 1 or up to 3 months of free trial; after that, the subscription costs will be $8.99 per month. For no Prime members, the price is $9.99

Prime Gaming

Through Prime Gaming, you can access free PC games, in-game content, and an annual Twitch channel subscription.

Each month you will have the opportunity to download 5+ new PC games. And you can have them forever.

Prime Day and Prime Early Access

Prime members enjoy the advantage of shopping annually for Prime Day deals. For the remainder of the year, Prime members will have access to Lightning Deals with a 30-minute advance on other Prime members.

Unlimited photo storage for free with Amazon Photos

A Prime membership provides unlimited, high-quality photos and 5GB of video storage. If 5GB is not enough, you can pay $1.99 monthly to have 100GB of storage. 

Images will be uploaded to the cloud using the Amazon Photos app, accessible from your smartphone and computer.

Amazon Elements

As an Amazon Prime member, you can access Amazon’s consumer-focused line of everyday items like baby wipes.

Amazon Family

For all Prime subscribers, Amazon Family provides family-friendly coupons and offers, which include as much as 20 percent off diapers if you create five subscriptions to Subscribe and Save each month, as well as a 15% baby registry discount upon completion.

Share Prime Benefits

Prime members can enjoy certain benefits with someone else from the Amazon Household. 

Prime Student and other subsidized plans do not offer the sharing of benefits with your household.

Amazon Prime prescription savings

You can save up to 80% on prescriptions. How?

This Amazon Prime prescription savings benefit will save you money on the price you spend on prescription drugs if you don’t use or have insurance. The benefit is available in more than 60,000 retail pharmacies across the U.S. and Puerto Rico and includes Amazon Pharmacy. This is not an insurance benefit. It’s included in your Prime membership at no additional cost. 

If you order through Amazon Pharmacy, the Prime prescription savings benefit will be automatically applied. You’ll be able to see the price of your order with and without insurance before ordering and paying. To avail of the Prime prescription savings benefits in other retail pharmacies, you must present your digital Prime discount card to the pharmacy while filling your prescription.

Note that this benefit isn’t equivalent to a prescription. It is required to present the proper prescription to obtain any medications.

What is Amazon Prime Day?

Prime Day began in 2015 as a means for Amazon to commemorate its 20th birthday. The event was so popular that it was made an annual summertime event for Amazon. 

In the year 2018, Amazon increased the duration of its sale to the total duration of 36 hours, which made Prime Day the longest Prime Day ever. 

In 2019, Prime Day 2019 lasted just 48 hours. Amazon said they sold over 175 million products worldwide and surpassed the company’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. 

Look at the Amazon Prime Day page for an overview of the sale that took place during summer.

Why Should I Subscribe To Amazon Prime?

There are several reasons why it is good to subscribe to Amazon Prime.

They are:

Shipping

• Two-day free shipping on eligible goods to addresses within the continental U.S. and other shipping benefits. 
• Same-day delivery is free in qualified ZIP codes. 
• Amazon Fresh: Amazon Fresh is a major food and grocery delivery option. Amazon Fresh lets Prime members purchase groceries, everyday necessities, household items, and other items. The service is free to Prime members and is available in select cities. 
• Same-day Delivery: Amazon offers one-hour delivery on tens of thousands of items from local shops in a few towns. For example, within New York City, you can take delivery of wines, beer, and spirits at Westside Market, Union Square Wines, or Vintage Grape. 

Amazon Prime savings

Offers, Discounts, and Freebies from Amazon Family

These include 20% off diapers with Subscribe & Save and 15% off any eligible product from your baby’s registry. 

Prime Early Access

Prime Early Access Receive 30 minutes of earlier access to Lightning Deals on Amazon.com and new events on MyHabit.com. 

Videos

Amazon gives Prime members 10 credits for pre-orders for select video games. 

Kindle First

Early access to members of the U.S. to download a new book at no cost every month from The Kindle First picks. 

FreeTime Unlimited 

Parents can enjoy savings with FreeTime Unlimited, which brings a wealth of kid-friendly content into your account. Prime members pay $2.99 monthly, whereas other members are charged $4.99.

Whole Foods

Prime members get exclusive discounts on Whole Foods locations nationwide. Prime members also receive complimentary two-hour Whole Foods deliveries via the company’s Prime Now service. Delivery options are available in select cities only. Be aware that Amazon currently charges a service fee of $10 in selected cities.

Amazon Rewards Visa Card

Prime members with the Amazon Rewards Visa Card will earn 5 percent off Amazon.com purchases and 2 percent on purchases at gas stations, restaurants, and pharmacies, and 1 percent back on other purchases. In addition, you will earn 5 percent cash back on Whole Foods purchases. (Non-Prime members will receive an additional 3 percent). Amazon cardholders also receive 20 percent off certain purchases. For example, Amazon offers 10% discount on select Sony TVs.

Only for Prime 

Amazon has an exclusive section on its website named “Just for Prime.” There are exclusive deals only Prime members can avail of – everything from home appliances to electronics. 

F.A.Q.

What Is Prime Video?

Amazon Prime Video is the streaming-video element in Amazon Prime. Similar to Netflix and Hulu, Amazon Prime offers unlimited streaming of millions of television and film shows. In contrast to its two rivals, Amazon Prime also allows rental on a la carte and purchase for its contents. You can also opt to sign up for Prime Video only for $8.99/month.

As with Netflix, new shows are added regularly. Amazon Prime hosts original shows that include hits such as Mozart in the Jungle, Transparent, and The Man In The High Castle. It also lets you stream some older HBO shows like The Sopranos, Eastbound & Down, and the debut season of Veep.

You can access the a la carte Amazon Channels subscriptions if you have a Prime subscription. You can choose the channels you like and pay no cost for channels you don’t want to watch. The channels you can subscribe to comprise HBO, Starz, Showtime, PSS Masterpiece, Magnolia Selects, Britbox, and Acorn TV.

Why shouldn’t I Subscribe to Amazon Prime?

If you already have a subscription to Netflix or Hulu, you can access a greater variety of streaming videos that Amazon Prime offers. This service is most likely unsuitable if you make occasional Amazon purchases of more than $25. (Spending at least $25 gets customers free shipping even if you don’t have an Amazon Prime subscription.) Also, if you buy the e-books you want via Barnes & Noble, Apple, or Kobo, the no-cost Kindle book won’t benefit you as much.