Answering the question, “Is Amazon Prime worth it?” might get you scratching your head! While for some, it is the best thing to satisfy their instant-gratification, for others, it may just be unnecessary and a waste of money. What really makes us able to make the final call is definitively being able to answer the real question, i.e., ”Is Amazon Prime worth the money I am paying?”
Here’s our detailed guide for you, designed to erase all your doubts and by the end, you’ll definitely be able to come to a conclusion whether to open a Prime account or not. With so many paid subscriptions online, it is often confusing and a bit of a minefield deciding which subscriptions are worth it and are services that you don’t regret paying for at the end of each month. We go through the benefits so you should be able to see which perks suit you and which don’t.
Amazon.com has more than 150 million subscribers as reported by Amazon, in January 2020. When it comes to online shopping, there are few trustworthy brands. However, Amazon still remains the go-to site for many for their shopping and increasingly other services too.
What is Amazon Prime?
Amazon Prime is the paid subscription that gives you access to the services that are otherwise not accessible to the typical Amazon consumers or may cost extra. Amazon Primes offers you a range of Prime services such as Prime Music, Videos, Pantry, exclusive access to wardrobe collections, and even locker facilities and cloud storage.
Describing Amazon Prime is a complex job. This is because it offers not only speedy deliveries and other shipping benefits but a range of other perks offered by Amazon. The paid subscription service costs $119 per year and $12.99 per month, Prime Video is also available on its own. The biggest perk, however, still remains free two-day and same day shipping on most items sold on Amazon.com.
Additionally, there is also a student’s subscription where you get a six-month free trial if you have a valid school email-id. Also, Prime student offers a discounted annual membership of $59 after that. Hence, from free movie/video streaming to discounted grocery delivery and merchandise deal, Amazon Prime has a lot to offer to their Prime subscribers.
What are the Benefits of Amazon Prime?
Whilst free two-day shipping has always been the main attraction of Amazon Prime, you’ll be surprised by the benefits that a Prime subscription has to offer its members. With more than 100 million people paying $119 annually to avail of its benefits, there are more than just the shipping benefits included in being a member of Amazon Prime.
1. Free Same-day Delivery
Two-day shipping is a thing from the past! 2020 Amazon Prime is all about maximum efficiency. It is now all about getting more and more stuff delivered to their consumers at an even faster pace. Mostly, getting items delivered within a day’s gap or even on the same day. Depending upon your order, Prime customers highest priority is the speed of delivery.
Free same-day delivery is not yet applicable everywhere. Nevertheless, it is applicable in more than 10,000 eligible cities and towns throughout the US and is growing quickly. If your zip code has the option of free same-day delivery and you place an order before noon, the item is delivered the same day before 9pm! Any order placed past noon, the option is next-day delivery. All the regular amazon customers have to pay $9.98 to get any item delivered the same day. That is a huge saving if you are a regular shopper.
Even faster 2 hour delivery is also available in eligible zip-codes. So shipping speeds are getting quicker all the time.
2. Perks of no Rush Delivery
If you’re not rushing and are patient enough to wait for the delivery, it might just pay off in a good way. Once you choose no-rush delivery at the checkout, you can earn a discount or a promotional award that can be used for future purchases.
The no-rush delivery arrives within six business days that is mostly the duration for any order placed by non-prime members rather than the standard two-days shipping for Amazon Prime members.
Please note that the awards are applicable only after the no-rush order is shipped. Typical givebacks may also include a $5 credit towards purchases on Prime Now or Prime Pantry each time one chooses no-rush delivery.
3. Membership Sharing
Now, even when only one family member has a Prime subscription, they can share it with other members via Amazon household. What’s even better is that you can share your account with another adult in the household as long as you both share the payment method.
Your partner in Prime does have to have a separate Amazon account for them to be added to your Prime membership. You will be able to share certain Prime benefits with them, such as the shipping benefits.
4. Access to exclusive brands
Amazon is gradually expanding its private-label offerings. One field that holds an impressive business potential. Different amazon element products such as vitamins, supplements, certain baby products, for example, are available only to Prime members. The company is also set to launch many other private labels exclusively available for Prime members.
Amazon Elements allow you to scan a special code from the things you purchase and view its ingredients. You can view everything about the ingredients that have been used to make that product. Amazon Elements also includes nutritional supplies and vitamins.
5. Prime Pantry
Prime Pantry is an Amazon Prime perk where members can do their weekly grocery shopping or a good chunk of it. You can shop for non-bulky grocery and household items from Prime Pantry. Note that members get free delivery on orders above $35. A straight $5.99 is charged for orders below $35 for non-Prime shoppers.
The benefit of Prime Pantry is that it stocks items that are otherwise not available on the regular website. This also includes everyday household necessities of regular sizes so that the buyers are not forced to buy in bulk. It has definitely evolved a lot from the time when you needed to fill the box to the capacity to order household goods.
6. Unlimited Storage Capacity
Members of Amazon Prime get a free unlimited photo, video, and document storage. Yes, you heard it right, UNLIMITED! Connect it with your family vault and add your friends and family members to provide access.
These photos are accessible from all devices; all you need to do is log into your Amazon Prime account. You also get an extra 5 GB for videos, documents, and other files, separate from the vault. You can also buy more space for your personal storage.
Struggling with storage problems on your phone? Just log into your Amazon app and upload your photos on Amazon Prime and delete them from your phone.
7. Prime Students
The business plan for Prime is clearly an all-inclusive platform. Here comes the Amazon Student. Amazon students provide everything at a discounted rate, whether It’s binge-watching exclusive series or ordering the latest video games, or even looking for a particular brand to buy clothes. Amazon Student is here at a discounted rate of $59 per year and a free six-months trial for students with a valid ‘.edu” school email id.
It also asks for proof that you’re attending at least one class, not necessarily going to class but enrolled for it. If textbooks are your thing, you can buy it for cheap on Amazon. Along with this, you also get all Amazon Prime benefits, free unlimited music, movie streaming, free two-day shipping, etc.
8. Free Entertainment
Amazon Prime gives you free access to more than 2 million songs and thousands of playlists without additional cost. The selection of songs and albums on Prime keeps changing. For some, this would be a wholesome experience and sufficient enough to not take a Spotify or an Apple Music subscription. Also, an upgrade to Amazon Music Unlimited will give you access to more than 50 million songs.
Other than that, you can also get free access to a fairly wide collection of books, audiobooks, magazines, all nestled in the Prime Reading section. Additionally, a prime member also gets access to certain podcasts and audio channels.
Binging on Stranger things, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan sounds like fun! Amazon Prime brings you free TV shows and movies. Moreover, some Amazon Prime Originals creates new and exclusive content for their channel. You can also download these series and movies to watch later.
The Amazon Prime movies and TV shows which stream from their append can be casted to your TV offer an alternative to traditional TV formats as well as Netflix, and is all included in the Prime subscription price. Prime movies is available as a standalone package for $8.99 a month.
9. Hello Alexa!
If you have an Amazon Echo or Echo Dot, congratulations! You can now place your orders through Alexa, your very own digital assistant. How? Well, let’s say you are running out of baby wipes, all you need to do is say, “Alexa, order baby wipes” and you’ll have them delivered at your doorstep two days later. Alexa is, of course, already aware of your Prime status, and you can also avail of “Alexa only” deals with Prime.
10. Whole Food Discount and Delivery
If you’re not already aware, Amazon purchased Whole Foods in summer 2017. Since then, the private label product has upscaled the grocery orders on Amazon. Along with that, Amazon also functions with free two-hour deliveries of groceries from Whole Foods to Prime members in some selected cities and zip codes.
It also gives an extra 10% off on sales items in Whole Foods stores to all Prime members. To avail of this offer, you need to download the Whole Foods app and log in to their Prime account and can have the code scanned during the checkout. Also, did you know that you can have your Amazon deliveries shipped to Whole Foods Amazon Lockers?
11. Free Release-Date Delivery
The reason why Amazon Prime keeps most of the teenagers, kids and youngsters excited is because of its free release date delivery service. There is always something new in the market. New video games, books, latest grooves of popular bands, and many other things that one cannot wait to get their hands on.
Amazon Prime promises to get the latest releases of the day delivered at your doorstep by 7pm on the day it’s released, So if you have been eagerly looking forward to something, your wait will be over sooner rather than later.
When it comes to Amazon Prime benefits, there are many other benefits that a Prime member is endowed with. Like the Amazon locker service, easy re-ordering through the one-click dashboard, fast gifting, donating to social foundations, and NGOs. Nevertheless, we have more or less discussed all the significant aspects of being a Prime member above.
Some popular Amazon Prime Questions:
How do I start Amazon Prime membership?
Firstly you will need an Amazon account, if you don’t have one join up, otherwise sign in to Amazon in the usual way and select Prime from your account. Everyone is entitled to a free 30 day trial of Prime before you need to start paying for it. Click on the “Free 30 day trial” button to take advantage of this offer. One the 30 days are up you will have the option to cancel and pay nothing or start paying the monthly fee.
How to Cancel Amazon Prime Membership?
If you’re contemplating canceling your Amazon Prime membership, here’s a step by step guide to help you through the cancellation process.
● Step 1:
Log into your Amazon account and go to the “Accounts and Lists” drop-down at the top right corner of the homepage and click on “Your Prime Membership”. This will take you to another page, “Manage your Prime Membership”, that has the details of your account.
● Step 2:
Click on “End Membership and Benefits” located on the lower-left corner of the page by scrolling down the “Your Prime Membership” page.
● Step 3:
Right after that, a prompt will appear on the page, asking to confirm your decision. If yes, click on the “End my Benefit” button.
● Step 4:
Another quick prompt appears on the screen, with an option to downgrade your plan. If you’re still sure, click on “Continue to Cancel”. Another option on the screen appears to prompt whether you want to end the membership immediately or when the annual subscription ends. If you want to end it immediately, click on “End Now”. You get an email alert to notify your change in Amazon Prime status.
How can I Contact Amazon Prime Customer Service?
You can contact Amazon customer service by clicking on the “Contact Us” page. You can chat with Amazon customer service chatbot or a representative to discuss your issues. Also, you can call the Amazon customer service at 1-800-256-0160 and ask for help.
- To chat, click on the “start chatting” button on the page.
- Select your query from the drop-down box in the chat window.
- You can ask to chat with a representative if the bot is not able to resolve your issue.
You can also contact them through their customer service email address at cs-reply@amazon.com. Send a detailed email describing your problem and a representative will get in touch within 24-48 hours.
Which Countries is Amazon Prime Available?
Amazon Prime is now available in more than 200 countries and territories all over the world. This includes the USA, India, France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Japan, Canada, Australia, and many other countries worldwide. Remember you can get Amazon international shipping.
Is Amazon Prime Worth it?
Amazon Prime provides a multitude of benefits to its consumers that go far and beyond just fast delivery service and amazing deals. Amazon Prime is an all-inclusive hub. From Amazon Pantry to Amazon Reading and Video, they have covered almost all aspects of modern life and products that you may want in order to lead a satisfying life. If you don’t need the shipping perks, then perhaps the Prime Video subscription is what you are looking for?
Another catch added to the list of benefits is the Student’s Prime that provides extra benefits to the student. This way, even students can grab the offer and become a prime member. Overall, it is a fine deal for the consumers. One store that literally has it all at a nominal rate of $199 annually. Instead of paying separately for books, movies, songs, and audiobooks, you get all of it right in one place.
So, is Amazon Prime worth it? For me yes, definitely!
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