In this blog, you will learn what Amazon Prime is and why it is important? Everything you want to know about Amazon Prime. A complete guide on Amazon Prime with frequently asked questions. If you’re not a Prime member, you’re undoubtedly wondering what Amazon Prime is and if it’s worth the money. Amazon Prime is about more than just faster shipping. It’s a monthly subscription service that grants members access to various Amazon perks. Fast shipping, access to special Amazon deals, free movie streaming, and additional services are among the benefits.
Amazon Prime is a no-brainer only for the shipping perks for many customers. On the other hand, Amazon recently hiked its rates from $119 to $139 per year. Month-to-month rates have also risen from $12.99 to $14.99. Existing members will be charged the increased rates beginning March 25, 2022. (on the date of their renewal).
We don’t blame you if you’re afraid to join the 200 million Amazon Prime members. To help you make an informed decision, we’ve broken down what Amazon Prime is and the perks of becoming a member. How Amazon Prime works and what you need to know about it. You can get faster shipping and get Prime Day deals before anyone else.
What is Amazon Prime?
If you want to use Amazon Prime, you must pay for it. It costs $139 for the year or $14.99 a month. However, prime members are entitled to a variety of perks. The most significant benefit is free one- or two-day shipping on most Amazon products. Last year, the corporation claimed that it had over 200 million paid Prime members globally. So, if you’ve ever wondered what Amazon Prime is, this should help.
Amazon Prime Video Gaming
Take note, gamer! It is important! The company has added a new benefit for Amazon Prime members which, has more than 150 million of them. Amazon Prime Gaming is the latest addition to Amazon Prime’s range of digital perks. Twitch Prime has been rebranded as Prime Gaming. (Amazon paid $970 million for the live video-game-streaming service in 2014.) You’ll get the same unique in-game loot, free monthly games (that you can keep indefinitely), and a free monthly Twitch subscription. Prime members only need to connect to their account and visit the new Prime Gaming landing page to claim their gaming bonuses and benefits.
PS5 and Amazon Prime
If you’re looking for PS5 replenishment, being a Prime member may come in handy. Amazon staged its first PS5 replenishment for Prime members only in September. In December, Amazon sponsored PS5 and Xbox Series X drop events for Prime members. (They sold out in minutes.) Another PS5 release is possible this month. According to Amazon, Prime members will get first access to PS5 drops during March.
Amazon Prime Video
One of the favorite features of being an Amazon Prime member is that you can watch Amazon Prime Video. Prime Video provides unlimited streaming of movies and TV episodes for paid or free trial members in the United States and Puerto Rico. You may also add video subscriptions to services such as Showtime, Starz, A&E, AMC, and many other streaming entertainment networks. In addition, prime members may now sign up for a free 30-day trial of Paramount Plus. Amazon is continuously adding new content to its Prime Video collection. Visit About Prime Video for additional information.
If you suspect you’ll be traveling abroad, Amazon will restrict your viewing. In that scenario, it’s worth buying an Amazon Prime VPN to change your location and view whatever you pay for, no matter where you are.
Walmart Plus vs. Amazon Prime
Amazon’s main rival has announced a new membership service of its own. Walmart Plus is the retailer’s counterpart to Amazon Prime. The $98-per-year service provides fast delivery of things ordered on Walmart and early access to deals, six free months of Spotify Premium, and gasoline discounts at Walmart fueling stations.
Best Buy Totaltech vs. Amazon Prime
The Best Buy Totaltech is a new membership service competing with Amazon Prime. Best Buy’s service, which costs $199.99 a year, includes unlimited free shipping, 24/7 tech support, free in-home installation of select products, and 2-year warranty protection on most Best Buy purchases. (On Apple purchases, the latter includes Apple Care.) Because the experimental program is only available in a few cities, it’s too early to determine how it will affect Prime members. However, its higher entry charge may make it difficult to sell to current Prime members.
Amazon Prime benefits
Although the entrance is not inexpensive, there are several benefits to having an Amazon Prime membership. Prime members, for example, receive a 10% discount on some Whole Foods purchases. In addition, Amazon has increased its Whole Foods deals by introducing new weekly price cuts that save customers an average of 20% on in-season vegetables, meat, seafood, and other products.
Amazon announced in October that Prime members would receive free Amazon Fresh delivery on orders of $35 or more. Amazon Fresh formerly asked Prime members to pay an additional $14.99 per month. However, Amazon stated that Fresh will now come free for Prime members who have previously used the service. (Members who haven’t used the service once must request an invitation to Amazon Fresh before taking advantage of the free delivery.)
Prime members also receive discounts on digital services like FreeTime Unlimited, which costs $2.99 per month for Prime members and $4.99 per month for non-members. And if you receive an Amazon Prime delivery late, Amazon will make every effort to make it right.
Amazon Prime can also benefit students
If you are a two- or four-year college student with a valid.edu email address, you are eligible; you can receive a free six-month trial of Amazon Prime, including all of Prime’s benefits and student-specific deals and coupons. After your trial period finishes, Prime Student will cost half the price of a standard Prime membership for up to four years or until you graduate, whichever comes first.
Prime Student membership now includes a deal on Music Unlimited, a paid streaming service that usually costs Prime members $7.99 per month. For an additional $0.99, those college students will be able to add Unlimited’s 50-million track catalog (which exceeds Prime Music’s 2 million counts).
These are just a handful of Amazon Prime’s numerous benefits. However, Prime membership encompasses more than simply deals. All of your queries about Prime membership are answered below.
Q. Why should I sign up for Amazon Prime?
A. Amazon provides a variety of reasons why people who visit its website may want a Prime subscription. You’ll find a few examples below.
- Free Shipping: Two-day shipping on qualifying purchases to addresses in the continental United States and other shipping benefits. Visit Amazon Prime Shipping Benefits for additional information.
- Same-day delivery: is free in qualifying ZIP areas. For further information, see Order with Prime Free Same-Day Delivery.
- Amazon Fresh: With the suspension of Prime Pantry, Amazon Fresh is one of the e-key tailer’s food/grocery delivery services. Amazon Fresh allows Prime members to shop for food, daily necessities, household products, etc. The service is only offered in a few locations and is free for Prime members. By clicking here, you may request an invitation.
- Same-Day Delivery: Amazon provides one-hour delivery on thousands of products from local retailers in select cities. For example, in New York City, you can get beer, wine, and spirits delivered from Westside Market, Union Square Wines, or Vintage Grape. It will expand same-day delivery to six more cities in August 2021, including Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Tampa, Charlotte, and Houston.
Amazon Prime Savings
- Amazon Family Deals and Discounts: These include 20% off diapers with Subscribe & Save and 15% off qualifying products from your baby registry. More information is available on earning 20% off diaper subscriptions and About the Completion Discount. Get 30-minute early access to Amazon.com Lightning Deals and new MyHabit.com events with Prime Early Access. Visit About Prime Early Access for additional information.
- Video Games: Amazon now provides Prime members a $10 credit to pre-order certain video games. Previously, Amazon discounted new, physical video games by 20% during the pre-order stage.
- Kindle First: Members in the United States have early access to a new book every month for free from the Kindle First selections. Visit Kindle First for more information.
- FreeTime Unlimited: Parents will save money on FreeTime Unlimited, which adds a plethora of kid-friendly content to their accounts. Non-Prime members pay $4.99 per month, while Prime members pay $2.99.
- Whole Foods: Prime members receive exceptional savings at Whole Foods stores around the country. Prime members can receive free two-hour Whole Foods delivery through the company’s Prime Now service. Deliveries are only available in a few cities. However, keep in mind that Amazon is now charging a $10 service charge in specific cities.
- Amazon Rewards Visa Card: With an Amazon Rewards Visa Card, Prime members may receive 5% back on Amazon.com purchases, 2% back in restaurants, petrol stations, and drugstores, and 1% back on all other purchases. You may also receive 5% back on your Whole Foods purchases. (Non-Prime members will receive a 3% refund.) Amazon cardholders can also receive up to 20% back on certain purchases. For example, the retailer presently provides a 10% discount on select Sony televisions.
- Just for Prime: On Amazon’s website, a section titled “Just for Prime.” Here you’ll find special deals available only to Prime members. The sale values vary from electronics to home and kitchen appliances. You may go over some of the deals here.
Entertainment includes Prime Video, Music, Photos, and more
- Prime Video: For paid or free trial users in the United States and Puerto Rico, Prime Video offers unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows. You may also add video subscriptions to Showtime, Starz, A&E, AMC, and other streaming entertainment channels. In addition, Amazon is continuously adding new content to its Prime Video collection. Visit About Prime Video for additional information.
- Prime Music: Members in the United States and Puerto Rico have unlimited, ad-free access to hundreds of Prime Playlists and over a million songs. Visit About Prime Music for additional information. Did you know you can also receive Amazon Music for free on your Echo?
- Amazon Cloud Drive: Get unlimited photo storage with Prime Photos. Visit About Prime Photos for more information. If you can wait until the holidays, you can usually locate a promotion that provides you with a $10 Amazon credit for uploading photographs to the Amazon cloud. Members in the United States get access to the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. Visit the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library for additional information.
- Video Add-On Subscriptions: With Amazon Prime, you can acquire third-party streaming applications to store all of your video content in one location. You may, for example, add Showtime Anytime and HBO Go to your account.
- Free Games with Prime Gaming: With Prime Gaming, previously Twitch Prime, Amazon provides a variety of free games and in-game goodies. Prime members also receive free in-game content for certain mobile games, including PUBG Mobile.
Other Prime member perks
- Amazon Elements: You’ll get access to Amazon Elements products, Amazon’s brand of everyday necessities.
- Membership Sharing: Two people living in the same household can set up an Amazon Household to enjoy Amazon Prime privileges. Visit About Amazon Households for additional information.
Q.: Do I have unique access to deals?
A. Of course. Amazon routinely offers exclusive deals to Prime members. Similarly, when Amazon refilled its Nintendo Switch inventory a few years back, the system was only available to Prime members. It might be a precursor to Amazon becoming more like Costco or Walmart, requiring membership before you can shop.
Similarly, Amazon’s Elements line of products is exclusively available to Prime members. The product portfolio includes anything from baby wipes to supplements. But, again, the notion is that Amazon goes out of its way to tell you where the goods come from. (In the case of those wipes, the liquid within is 97.9% pharmaceutical-grade purified water from the White Lick Creek Aquifer in Moorseville, Indiana.)
You may earn money toward music, video, and e-book purchases if you choose free, no-rush shipping (which can take five to seven days). In addition, if a Prime-eligible delivery comes after the two-day shipping promise and you contact customer service, Amazon may extend your Prime membership by a month.
Q. What is the cost of Amazon Prime?
A. Now that you understand what Amazon Prime is, it’s time to look at the prices. Amazon Prime membership costs $119 per year or $12.99 per month. The yearly subscription is free for the first 30 days, and you may cancel.
Students, on the other side, can benefit from substantial price cuts. Many of the same Prime benefits are available to Amazon Student accounts, and it’s completely free for the first six months. You will need to subscribe to Prime but at a 50% discount. Students may get free shipping during the six-month trial period, but they will be unable to access streaming video and music or borrow Kindle books. They will, however, enjoy full Prime benefits if they want to subscribe at a lower price later. They’ll also have access to special deals, such as pre-order discounts on video games.
Q. Is it possible to offer Amazon Prime as a gift?
A. Of course. Go to Amazon Prime’s gifting page, add it to your cart, then follow the instructions to give a yearlong subscription to a friend or family member. Before you check out, make sure the box that says “This purchase is a present” is checked in your cart, and you may fill in the rest of the information when you pay.
Q. What is Prime Day?
A. Amazon Prime Day debuted in 2015 as a way for the company to commemorate its 20th anniversary. The sale was so popular that Amazon made it an annual event in the summer. In addition, Amazon increased the deal to 36 hours in 2018, making it the most extended Prime Day ever. This year’s Prime Day 2019 lasted 48 hours, and Amazon said it sold more than 175 million goods globally, surpassing Amazon’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales combined. For a summary of the summer sale, check our Amazon Prime Day page.
Q. What are Amazon Households?
A. Amazon Households enable up to four children and two adults to share digital Amazon content. In addition, two adults in the same household may share many Amazon Prime benefits, such as two-day shipping, streaming video, and access to the Kindle Lending Library. Follow the Amazon support page instructions to add or delete oneself from a household.
Q. What goods are eligible for free two-day shipping with Amazon Prime?
A. The great majority of Amazon’s products are eligible for free two-day shipping with Amazon Prime. Treadmills and basketball hoops, for example, qualify for free standard shipping instead. Items sold by third parties (through Amazon Marketplace) are not eligible for free shipping unless the seller specifically states otherwise.
Q. What Kindle books are available for loan?
A. According to Amazon, over 1 million books are available in the Kindle Lending Library. To determine if a book qualifies, search for it on your Kindle device, Kindle app, or the Amazon website and look for the Prime emblem next to it. If so, a Prime subscription allows you to borrow it for one month. To pay, you’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way. After that, you’ll what Amazon Prime Music is?
A.: Amazon Prime Music, like Spotify or Pandora, is a streaming music service. Users may pick which albums or songs to stream, or they can let Amazon create a personalized profile based on their preferences and do it for them. Currently, the service provides over two million songs, but its collection pales in contrast to Spotify and Pandora. Amazon Prime members may also download and listen to these songs online (as long as their Prime membership remains active). Music Unlimited, its newest service, allows you access to “tens of millions” of songs and weekly new releases. If you possess an Amazon Echo, you may pay for this service for $3.99 per month, but you will only be allowed to stream on your Echo device. You may stream on all of your devices for $7.99 per month.
Q. What is Twitch Prime?
A. While most gamers are acquainted with Twitch, the prominent game-streaming broadcast service, they may be unaware of Twitch Prime. Amazon Prime members also get access to Twitch Prime, which allows them to watch Twitch streams uninterrupted. Other perks, such as monthly in-game bonuses and “Free Games With Prime” – a selection of free games for Prime members — remain. In addition, Amazon recently announced that Prime members would receive free in-game content for specific mobile titles, beginning with PUBG Mobile in-game goods. The in-game content will be compatible with titles from EA, Moonton, Netmarble, Wargaming Mobile, and others.
Q. What exactly is Prime Now?
A. Prime Now is an iOS and Android app and a website that guarantees free delivery of chosen products within 2 hours. Initially, the service was only available in a few cities, including Additional York, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Phoenix. Still, the program has since expanded to include new cities regularly.
The products available are primarily groceries, toiletries, and modest gifts, although this should change as Amazon adds more local partners. You may also order meal delivery from some of your favorite eateries. For example, Eataly, Westside Market, Gourmet Garage, Vintage Grape Wine & Spirits, and Billy’s Bakery are among the participating businesses in New York City. It may cost $7.99 for one-hour delivery if you need it right now. Check the Prime Now website to determine whether your neighborhood is within Prime Now’s delivery range.
Q. What is Amazon Prime Video?
A. Like Netflix and Hulu, Amazon Prime provides unlimited streaming of tens of thousands of movies and TV series. However, unlike its two competitors, It allows for a la carte rentals and purchases of its content. You may also subscribe to Prime Video for $8.99 each month.
Amazon Prime is home to several original shows, including successes such as Mozart in the Jungle, Transparent, and The Man in the High Castle. Users may also stream earlier HBO programs, including The Sopranos, Eastbound & Down, and Veep’s first season. In addition, new shows are uploaded regularly, much like Netflix.
With Prime membership, you also receive access to the ala carte Amazon Channels subscriptions, where you may pick and choose the networks you want to watch and not pay for anything you don’t. HBO, Starz, Britbox, Showtime, PSS Masterpiece, Magnolia Selects, and Acorn TV are among the subscription services available.
Q. May I use Amazon’s streaming video services if I don’t have an Amazon Prime membership?
A. Yes, but you’ll have to buy or rent each item of content you wish to view separately. Prices for this content range from $2 for individual TV episodes to $30 or more for whole seasons. You may also subscribe to Prime Video every month for $8.99.
Q. Will a Prime subscription get me access to every streaming video on Amazon?
A. No, Amazon only provides a limited number of TV series and movies for unlimited streaming. For brand-new movies and recently aired TV series episodes, you’ll have to pay for each piece of media separately. A Prime symbol identifies Amazon’s complete streaming TV and movies over the top of the box art; everything else is pay-as-you-go.
Q. Where can I see Amazon Prime Video?
A. Amazon Prime Instant Video is accessible via PC, Mac, and Linux computers, as well as all current and previous-generation game consoles. The Amazon Prime application is available to all iOS users, but Android users are out of luck. The only Android devices that support Amazon Video are Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets and Fire TV devices.
The service is available for Roku set-top boxes, Apple TV, and most smart TVs, but not Google Chromecast. Amazon also introduced the Fire TV Edition, a series of TVs that use the same interface as a Fire TV Cube or Fire TV Stick. It is unnecessary to have an Amazon Prime subscription to use the TVs, although it may help consumers get the most out of them.
Q. Is Amazon Prime Video superior to Netflix/Hulu?
A. The quick answer is “no,” but the more profound answer depends on what kind of service you’re searching for. If you want free two-day shipping and a free Kindle book, Amazon Prime’s streaming video is a good addition. However, the unlimited streaming options are not as comprehensive as those provided by Netflix and Hulu. Still, the lower price and additional Prime features may appeal to Amazon customers, particularly those who own Kindle Fires or Fire TVs.
Q. What is Amazon Scout?
A. Amazon is constantly looking for new methods to entice people to shop, and its most recent endeavor, Amazon Scout, provides consumers with product recommendations based on what products they like and hate on the Amazon Scout website. The site currently offers deals on home decor, kitchen appliances, and women’s shoes.
Q. What exactly is FreeTime Unlimited?
A. Prime members save $2 per month on this subscription service, including thousands of books, movies, TV series, educational applications, and games for kids aged 3 to 10. In addition, Amazon recently broadened the range to include specialty content for children aged 9 to 12. Owners of a new Fire Kids Tablet will immediately receive a one-year subscription. FreeTime Unlimited is accessible on Fire tablets, Fire TV, and Kindle e-readers. Parents may sift and filter content granularly based on their judgment of what is suitable.
Q. Why shouldn’t I subscribe to Amazon Prime?
A. The service is probably not for you if you make infrequent Amazon purchases that surpass $25. (If you spend $25 or more, you’ll get free shipping even if you don’t have a Prime membership.) Similarly, the free Kindle book will not benefit you much whether you acquire your e-books from Barnes & Noble, Apple, or Kobo. If you already have a Netflix or Hulu subscription, you get access to a wider variety of unlimited streaming videos than Amazon Prime does.
Q. How can I sign up for Amazon Prime?
A. Go to the Amazon Prime website and follow the instructions. You’ll need a credit card and a free Amazon account. If you wish to cancel your subscription later, go to your account and click Manage Prime Membership. If you’re already a subscriber, choose End Membership or Do Not Continue if you’re on a free trial and don’t want to start a paid subscription.
Q. What should I do if my delivery arrives late?
A. Although Amazon takes pride in its fast delivery, the retailer does occasionally drop the ball. You can take a few things to avoid an Amazon Prime delivery being late, but Amazon will also make things right with perks like an extra free month of Amazon Prime.
