Is Amazon Prime Worth It? Be A Smart Shopper, Streamer & Reader

Is Amazon Prime worth it? What does Amazon Prime get you? To Prime or not to Prime? These are the questions many of us have grappled with before.

Amazon Prime certainly has its devoted members for many reasons (many people on our team being some of them), and there are a ton of benefits that go beyond free shipping and video streaming.

Here, we’ll help you work through Amazon Prime benefits and costs to see if the membership makes sense for your budget.

How Much Does Amazon Prime Membership Cost?

First, for those of you who aren’t wedded to all-things-online, what is Amazon Prime? Amazon Prime is a membership at the mega-shopping site that gives you a ton of exclusive benefits. The annual Amazon Prime cost to become a member is $119 per year, which auto-renews unless you cancel. There’s also a $12.99 per month, pay-as-you-go option.

What Are The Benefits?

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So, now that you know the cost, what is included with Amazon Prime? A lot more than you may realize (even if you’re already a member). Like many people, I signed up for the shipping and video streaming benefits. However, I had no idea that there were so many extra perks. We’ll run through the biggies first, and then tell you everything else that you can get out of Amazon Prime.

Amazon Prime Streaming

Many people join solely for the Amazon Prime streaming benefit. And this may pay off if you’re a TV and movie junkie. But if your TV and movie viewing is spotty, is Amazon Prime worth it for streaming services alone? And is Amazon Prime worth it for movies? It depends on your viewing choices, as is the case with all paid streaming media services.

With all that said, Amazon Prime offers several exclusive shows, including the award-winning The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Man In The High Castle, and Fleabag for free with membership. You also get free access to thousands of other TV shows, documentaries, mainstream and independent films, and more.

And if you don’t already have premium channels, like HBO, SHOWTIME and STARZ through your cable or satellite service, you can also try out more than 80 of these premium networks with free trials. I took full advantage of this feature!

Amazon Prime Delivery

If you have a hard time juggling work and your family, let alone time for shopping, this is where a Prime membership can really come in handy. Prime gives you:

• Free two-day shipping on millions of items
• Free same-day delivery in more than 5,000 cities
• Free two-hour delivery in select major U.S. cities

From online shopping alone, the average family has saved an estimated $250 and 40 trips to the store in the last year (a handy statistic that Amazon shares with you). If you shop online regularly, Prime definitely pays off.

Whole Foods Market Discounts

Now that Amazon owns Whole Foods, you can get exclusive discounts in-store and when you order online.

Other Membership Perks

In addition to free shipping and streaming video, there are many more perks. And you can share some of your Prime benefits with one other adult in your household.

Photo Storage

You get free unlimited photo storage for you and five others in the Amazon Cloud.

Deals & Rewards

• Earn rewards on future purchases or receive discounts immediately by choosing their free no-rush shipping (6 business days).
• Get 30-minute early access to Lightning Deals on Amazon.com.
• If you have a Prime Credit Card, you earn 5% back at Amazon.com and Whole Foods, and 1%+ on other purchases.

Music, Books & More

• Prime Music offers unlimited, ad-free access to a growing list of more than two million songs and thousands of playlists and stations.
• Free Kindle book every month, which you choose from the six Editors’ Picks (we found even more than six to choose from when we looked at this feature!). Compare the differences between Kindle and Nook.
• Unlimited listening to original audio series and playlists.
• The Washington Post free trial.
• Prime Reading: Enjoy unlimited reading on any device, with over a thousand books, magazines, books with audible narration, comics, articles, Kindle Singles, and more.

Video Gaming

• Twitch Prime: Get free game content every month, ad-free Twitch viewing, Twitch Channel Subscription, and more.
• Prime Savings on Video Games: Prime members get exclusive discounts on pre-orders for PC, PlayStation, XBox, Nintendo, and more.

When Is Amazon Prime Day 2020?

Amazon.com holds a much-anticipated Amazon Prime day once a year in which Prime members can take advantage of some seriously discounted electronics, tech gadgets and thousands of other items. It started in 2015 to celebrate Amazon’s 20th anniversary and gets bigger and longer every year. Amazon Prime Day 2020 was postponed due to COVID-19, but finally occurred October 13-14. Be sure to set the alarm and get ready to take advantage of some serious offers.

Still Not Sure Prime Is Worth It?

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So, we hope you’ll be able to answer the burning question, “Should I get Amazon Prime?” But it’s definitely a choice that’s dependent on how much you’ll use the benefits versus the cost. If you’re still on the fence, you can always sign up for the free 30-day trial to give it a test run.

Which Amazon Prime benefits are you most interested in, and why?