It’s no secret I love Amazon.com. I think I’ve given away more than $1000 in Amazon Gift Cards from this blog in the past year, not to mention untold prizes shipped directly to you from an Amazon warehouse. It probably will not surprise you that I also love Amazon Prime. I’m sure I’m not alone in my affinity for this company. But have you ever wondered yourself if Amazon Prime is worth the money? Did you know that an Amazon Prime membership is more than just free shipping?
The cost has since been raised to $99/year, but when it came time to renew this past December, even my extremely frugal husband made sure I re-upped for another year.
You can sign up for your FREE trial membership here. See what you think for 30 days, get free shippping on most of your purchases, check out the other benefits listed below and then decide for yourself — is Amazon Prime worth the money?
Here are a few reasons why I believe Amazon Prime is worth the money. It’s more than just free shipping.
Shopping Convenience
I hate shopping. It’s the truth. Even before that fateful year when I bought all of the gifts from my Christmas list from Amazon, I despised going shopping. I’ve never liked it. And now I don’t have to go, especially on days when I really don’t feel up to going. If I need anything (and I mean almost anything), I can have it delivered right to my door in 2 days for free. I have bought food, essential oils, household appliances, books (lots and lots of books!), DVDs, computers, printers, car parts, homeschool curriculum, toys, games, office supplies, smartphones, clothes, shoes, make-up, nutritional supplements, and more from Amazon.
Prime also allows up to 4 family members to share one membership, so that means my husband and son get free shipping, too. They aren’t much into shopping either.
Free 2-day Shipping
It’s more than shipping, but let’s face it — free 2-day shipping is huge! Prior to having Amazon prime, the only way I could receive free shipping was to spend a minimum of $25 (now $35). There were many times I had three choices — wait to purchase what I needed until I needed $25 worth, find something else to buy that I didn’t really need so that my total added up to $25, or pay for shipping. Guess which one I most often did? That’s right — more often than not, I bought things I did not need to save on the shipping. It made since, right? If my total was $24, why wouldn’t I just find something else to buy instead of paying for shipping. Now, I just buy what I need without a thought for buying what I don’t so that I can get free shipping. If you live in a large city, Prime Now is something to check out (delivery in 1-2 hours!).
Exclusive Deals and Coupons
Never is this more evident than during the holidays, but when Amazon has Lightning Deals, Prime members sometimes get exclusive access 30 minutes before the general public. For popular items that are in limited quantities, this might make the difference between getting the deal or not. There’s even a page for instant coupons exclusive to Prime members. Just this week, I saved an extra 15% on a box of Larabars.
Prime Video
I don’t watch a ton of television, but now and then I like to catch an episode of Downtown Abby or watch an old movie. I could pay a monthly fee for Hulu or Netflix, but for about the same cost, I get Prime Video plus all the other benefits of Prime. We use the Fire Stick with our HD TV, but you can also stream through your computer, tablet, Roku, TiVO, smart TV, Blu-Ray player, or game console. Savings: $96/year (Netflix)
Kindle Owner’s Lending Library
I love my Kindle and I love being able to rent books for free. Enough said.
Prime Pantry
Yep . . . I don’t even like grocery shopping. In fact, for years, if I have not felt well or have been particularly busy, I have ordered groceries from a local store that will do the shopping for you for $5.99 — all I have to do is drive up and they load the bags into my car. Well, with Prime Pantry, I can buy many food staples and cleaning supplies and for $5.99 for a big ole box, they bring it to me!
Prime Photos
This is a little known perk of Prime — but one awesome benefit is cloud photo storage. And it is unlimited. I used to pay for extra iCloud storage and Dropbox for my iPhone pics, but not any more! Now when my phone is full, I just upload all the pictures to Prime Photos. I know they are safe there (unlike on my computer’s hard drive — ask me how I know). Savings: $150/year (iCloud and Dropbox)
Prime Music
Prime Music is a fun benefit. Prime members get free access to Amazon’s streaming music service (similar to Spotify). I have the app on my phone, and just like with other music streaming apps, I can listen over a million songs, but with no extra membership fees. Savings: $120/year (Spotify)
Competitive Prices
I compare prices often and find that Amazon is extremely competitive in pricing. I watch closely for great deals (and often share them on my Facebook page), so I am certain that even with paying a yearly fee, I would be getting my money’s worth just with the free shipping, not to mention all of the other benefits.
College Student-Friendly
Did you know that Amazon carries college textbooks? They even have a buyback program and a rental program. Amazon also seems to recognize the plight of families putting kids through college. If your student as a .edu email, their free AmazonPrime trial is for 6 months, and after that, the yearly fee is just $50. Your student can sign up for a free 6-month trial student membership here.
The Bottom Line
As you can see, Amazon Prime is more than just free shipping. Even without factoring in the cost savings of products and shipping, I am saving more than $300 per year with the other services Amazon Prime offers me. I use Amazon Prime for the free shipping alone at least weekly, sometimes several times a week. I cannot even calculate the savings there, as well as with the cost savings.
Undoubtedly, for our family, Amazon Prime is worth the money. If you’re not convinced it will be worth it for your family, try your own FREE 30-day trial of Amazon Prime and see what you think. I will be shocked if you don’t find Amazon Prime worth the money, too. I’ve heard it said that there are 50 million people using Amazon Prime in the U.S. alone (80 million worldwide). We can’t all be crazy, right?