Amazon Prime Memberships seem to be vacillating in price a lot lately. So is it worth it to have one?
We love exposing new deals and keeping our members in the loop with different ways to save money or get cool perks from today’s most popular brands.
So is an Amazon Prime Membership worth it? Here’s 15 benefits of getting a membership. Of course, there are other advantages that you’ll learn along the way. But these are the main ones.
Free 2-Day Shipping
This is obviously one of the biggest perks of an Amazon Prime Membership for regular consumers. As long as you live within the mainland United States, you’ll get the majority of your good within 2 days. There are some places that even off same-day delivery at no extra cost when you spend at least $35.
Free Release Date Delivery
Let’s say you can’t wait for a certain book to be released… Or you’re an early tech adaptor who’s had your eye on a new product and you’re waiting for it to hit the virtual shelves of the internet. With your Amazon Prime membership, you can get the new item on the exact day that it’s released. Just remember that not all items are eligible for this.
Free 2-Hour Delivery
Prime Now has taken Amazon’s already astounding level of convenience and blown it out of the water. It’s basically Amazon’s answer to all local delivery services. You can get restaurant food, groceries, and other local items delivered to your doorstep within two hours. For an extra $7.99, you’ll get it within 1 hour.
Free Grocery and Household Item Delivery
Prime Pantry is another nice convenience that members get. If you order a minimum of five eligible ‘pantry’ items (toilet paper, dog food, cereal, etc)., Prime Pantry will deliver them for free. If you don’t order five, there’s a 5.99 flat rate delivery charge.
Alexa Deals
If you own any device that’s compatible with Alexa, you can ask her what deals you’re eligible for with your Prime Membership. Seriously. All you need to do is say the magic words: “Alexa, what are your deals?” She’ll then list all the random deals exclusive to Prime members, and pause after each one to see if you want to buy it.
Restaurant Delivery
If something exists that has to do with convenience and commerce, you can bet that Amazon will figure out how to get involved with it. So it’s no surprise that they’re testing out restaurant delivery in different cities across the country (and numerous others across the globe). If restaurant delivery is available within your zip code and you have a Prime subscription, expect your food for free within two hours of delivery.
Whole Foods Deals
After Amazon bought Whole Foods, they added a whole bunch of additional benefits for the grocery store shoppers and Prime members alike. If you’ve got an Amazon Prime credit card, you’ll get 5% cash back on all of your purchases at the store. You can also read this guide to find out more about what Whole Foods deals you can expect to get.
Unlimited Video Streaming
Video streaming is another one of those great modern conveniences that we’ve learned to take for granted. So naturally, Amazon has entered that territory as well. Prime Video is basically Amaozn’s answer to Netflix, and offers movies, TV shows, and additional original content.
Limited Music Stream
Prime members can access Amazon Prime Music. This is essentially a song library with over 2 million tracks that can be streamed to various devices and listened to ad-free. You can also download them to your phone or tablet and listen to them offline. Don’t consume Prime Music with Amazon Music Unlimited – a more extensive music library that costs extra.
Unlimited Photo Storage
Amazon Prime offers its subscribers an unlimited amount of cloud storage for photos. That means you can use the Amazon Drive app and upload photos from your phone or tablet. There’s also a desktop app that allows you to store photos from your computer, and you’ll get 5 GB of storage space from for documents and videos.
Amazon Dash Access
Amazon Dash allows Prime subscribers to order certain items at just the push of a button. Do you need more detergent? Slap a button on your washing machine and press it. Are you out of paper towels? Simply push the button. Each one of these small Amazon devices costs $4.99, and only prime subscribers are able to use it.
Early Access to Amazon’s Lightning Deals
If you aren’t familiar with it, Lightning Deals run for a limited amount of time or while supplies last. Prime subscribers get access to these deals 30 minutes before non subscribers.
One Free E-Book a Month
Prime members will also get access to the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library. That allows you to check out one e-book per month, which you can read on any Fire tablet or Kindle e-reader. Just keep in mind that the selection is small. You can also participate in Kindle First, where you get to choose one book from six that haven’t been released.
Do you think an Amazon Prime Membership is worth it?
Data Source: cnet.com