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With the holidays coming up, I think a lot of you are considering purchasing an Amazon Prime membership if you haven’t gotten one already. It is a great way to save if you are planning on doing a lot of online shopping, but did you know that there are so many more benefits than just free shipping? Here are some ways to get the most value out of your Amazon Prime membership. It is well worth the $99 fee. Most of these benefits are for US residents only.
Free Shipping
Most of you know about this one. If you make a purchase and you have a Prime account, you will get free 2-day shipping. Some areas will even get free next day shipping. The purchase does have to be Prime eligible, most of them are. Just look for the PRIME symbol next to the price to see if it is eligible.
Did you know that on any order that qualifies for Guaranteed Accelerated Delivery but arrives after the guaranteed delivery date, you can contact Amazon’s support center and request a free one-month Prime extension? You can do this up to 12 times a year.
Free Instant Video
You get unlimited streaming of movies and TV episodes for paid or free trial Prime members in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. To find Prime movies and TV shows on your connected device, look for the Prime Video categories on the Amazon Video app Home screen.There are thousands of titles to watch, including some HBO shows!
Free Music Streaming
You get unlimited, ad-free access to hundreds of Prime Playlists and more than a million songs for members in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. You can also mix your music and Prime Music to create your own personal playlists. This is great, if like me, you hate the commercials on Pandora!
Free Photo Storage
Every customer gets 5GB of storage on the Amazon cloud. If you are a Prime member, you also get free, unlimited photo storage for your personal use. That way you can use the other 5GB for music, videos, etc. I like this feature because I hate using all of my phone storage with the pictures of my daughter; there are A LOT of them!
Access to Prime Pantry
Get access to Prime Pantry where members can purchase and ship to addresses in the 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
You will also have the opportunity to purchase from Amazon’s own brand of products called, Amazon Elements. The only products that I see in this category are baby wipes. They may be coming out with more in the future.
Early Access to Deals
Prime members get 30-minute early access to Lightning Deals on Amazon.com and new events on MyHabit.com. Most of these deals are really great bargains and they are first come first serve so that 30 minutes counts, especially during the holiday shopping season.
Free eBooks
You can get Free ebooks every month if you are a Prime member and you have a Kindle or Fire device. There are two ways to do this: Kindle Owners’ Lending Library and Kindle First. With Kindle Owner’s Lending Library, can borrow one book from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library each calendar month. You can deliver the book to compatible devices registered to your Amazon account. Available titles may change each calendar month. There are no due dates, but you have to return one book before you can borrow another.
Kindle First offers early access for members to download a new book for free every month from the Kindle First picks. You can sign up for the Kindle First newsletter to get information on the titles available for that month.
Membership Sharing
Two adults living in the same household can create an Amazon Household to share certain Amazon Prime benefits. This way you don’t have to give anyone your password and they can still use the benefits of your Prime account.
Amazon Mom
Amazon Mom is great for anyone that takes care of babies or toddlers. You will get extra savings like 20% off diapers through Subscribe & Save, 15% off eligible products from your baby registry, and member exclusive coupons. This can really add up! I can’t tell you how many diapers and wipes I have gone through.
Free Months of Prime
If you are a student with a valid .edu email address, you can sign up for Amazon Student to get a free 6 month trial of Prime. You won’t have access to the movie, music, & TV benefits, though until after the 6 month trial. If you decide to keep the membership, it will be 50% off the normal price!
I think Amazon Prime is worth it just for what it saves on shipping costs alone. It is $99 per year so that is only $8.25 per month. Considering Netflix is $7.99 per month, I think this is a great deal for all that you get, including the movie and TV streaming. If you aren’t a member yet, you can sign up for a free 30 day trial and see if you like it.
Crystal says
How do you do the membership
Sharing? So interesting! Thanks for
Posting about this!
Gindt says
I live north of the Arctic circle in Alaska only access is by air. Amazon Prime is valuable here. Sadly with only USPS as a delivery system, there can be a bottle neck effect in receiving items, especially with a rural system. It would be nice if the pantry system was available to us in Alaska. Groceries are quite expensive at our village store.
Sandra says
I love Prime and use it almost every day! I no longer need to worry about shipping so if I forget to order something I do it at any time. I also love love love Prime Pantry!