Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), runs one of the most successful retail membership programs: Amazon Prime. It has attracted millions of customers who pay to receive a number of benefits you already know about. But there are other, lesser-known offers available for members that might give you a reason to sign up for the service.
Key Takeaways
- Amazon Prime’s well-known benefits include free two-day shipping with various delivery options, and the ability to stream Prime media content.
- Lesser-known benefits include discounts on orders with a slower delivery and a subscription shopping service called Prime Wardrobe.
- Members using these benefits have the potential to harness substantial savings on household items, college essentials, food, and clothing.
Get Paid for No-Rush Delivery
While Prime members are entitled to free two-day guaranteed delivery with many flexible delivery options, they can capitalize on their available time by opting for no-rush delivery. At checkout, if members select the free no-rush shipping option, they receive a discount that is applied to their current order immediately or a promotional reward that is automatically applied to the customer’s account toward a future purchase once the no-rush package ships.
However, canceling the no-rush shipping order or changing the delivery option will cancel the discount or reward.
Prime Try Before You Buy
Amazon offers Prime Try Before You Buy (formerly Amazon Wardrobe), which allows Prime members to try on fashion items at home as well as free returns of unwanted items. Prime members can pick up to six items of clothing, shoes, or accessories that are then shipped to them. The customer then has seven days to try on the merchandise and they keep only the stuff they want.
February 20, 2023
The date AmazonSmile—the retail giant’s philanthropic arm that allowed members to donate to charity through their purchases—was shuttered.
Amazon Subscribe & Save
Amazon Prime members can receive up to a 15% discount on regular subscriptions of five or more products like diapers and baby food, and a 15% baby registry completion discount that offers a free welcome box for parents-to-be and their offspring. Other categories you can choose from include household products, groceries, pet supplies, health and wellness, and beauty and personal care items.
Amazon Household
Prime membership allows sharing through its Household program. Prime members can connect and share Amazon benefits with the whole family—two adults (above 18 years) and up to four teens (between 13 and 17 years) and four children (up to 12 years, but they can’t shop on Amazon) can be connected in a household. It allows sharing of Prime delivery benefits, streaming access to Prime Video, free books with Prime Reading, Prime Photos, and album sharing, free books with Amazon First Reads, unlimited listening on Audible Channels, and early access to Amazon Lightning Deals. Certain content may be shared only with other adults.
Prime Student
Students can enjoy Prime benefits at half the cost, which comes with a six-month trial and includes free two-day shipping on eligible purchases. Qualifying students receive all Prime benefits for four years, or until they graduate, whichever comes first. Prime Student makes it easy to get college essentials like dorm furnishings, textbooks, study supplies, backpacks, PCs, tablets, and other accessories.
Subscription Boxes
Amazon offers subscription boxes for a wide variety of products across clothing, pet supplies, lifestyle products, and toys. It’s similar to subscription boxes offered by Lovevery, BarkBox, or even Allure Beauty but from Amazon. All you need to do is select a subscription box and you’ll receive a package full of products curated for you. You could search by product type or even price range.
Amazon Prime’s Big Ticket Benefits
The primary driver/reasons for most people to sign up for Amazon Prime include such features as:
- Free one-day shipping with flexible delivery options, and free same-day delivery in eligible zip codes
- Access to Prime media content that covers thousands of movies, songs, TV programs, games, and audio broadcasts
- Shopping benefits and rewards, including 5% back for members with an Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card
- Alexa-assisted shopping with early access to exclusive brands and deals
- Free subscription to some Kindle books and magazines
- Free grocery delivery through the Amazon Fresh service, and exclusive savings at Whole Foods Market
- Unlimited photo storage through Amazon Photos
- A one-year Grubhub+ membership trial (normally $9.99 per month) that comes with $0 delivery fees on orders over $12 in more than 4,000 U.S. cities.
Does Amazon Prime Video Have Advertisements?
In September 2023 Amazon announced that starting in 2024 Amazon Prime Video would include “limited advertisements,” aiming to “have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers.” Prime Video members were emailed in late December that the start date would be January 29, 2024. Members who want to avoid the ads can sign up for a new ad-free option for an extra $2.99 per month.
What Is the Cost of an Amazon Prime Subscription?
An Amazon Prime subscription costs $139 annually or $14.99 if you pay on a monthly basis. A Prime Student subscription costs $7.49 by the month or $69 per year. A Prime Video subscription costs $8.99 per month. Those who are on a government assistance program including SNAP, EBT, and Medicaid may qualify for a lower-cost Amazon Prime Access membership that’s $6.99 a month.
How Can I Save on an Amazon Prime Subscription?
It’s possible to share benefits with another adult via Amazon Household as long as they live in the same country or region; Amazon provides instructions for setting up a sharing arrangement. Or you could consider applying for an Amazon Prime credit card, which all come with Amazon bonus gift cards that can help offset the price of a membership and which also may earn you rewards on purchases.
The Bottom Line
Amazon offers a ton of well-known benefits, but others may surprise you. If you’re considering shelling out $14.99 per month or $139 per year for an Amazon Prime membership you get access to more than just free shipping.
Read the original article on Investopedia.