When it comes to subscription services, it may be hard to decide which one is for you. Most of them are for specific things like shoes or clothing. The one that literally has everything you need, and is my personal favorite, is Amazon Prime. If you’re unfamiliar with Amazon Prime it’s the membership service through Amazon that provides subscribers with a number of perks. In this post, it is my goal to explain some of these perks to you and show you why I love it so much!
Why Did I Choose Amazon Prime & What Does it Cost?
The thing I love about Amazons is that there are millions of items to choose from, no exaggeration. It has everything I need in my everyday life such as household items like toilet paper and kitchen cleaner. Amazon also has a ton of items I never knew I needed. For example, spinning toilet cleaner brushes and inserts for my purses that I can never seem to keep organized lol. Seriously though, I’ve had my membership for about two years now and have no plans on canceling it anytime soon.
Cost always plays an important role when deciding what to purchase, especially when it’s a monthly service. An Amazon Prime membership normally costs $12.99/month or you can get an annual membership for $119/year. A yearly subscription saves you almost $40/year but you can try it free for 30 days. See all of the details for this free trial by clicking here. After the 30 days are up you will then be charged the normal rate of $12.99/month.
If you’re a student there’s something for you too! Amazon offers a membership for $6.49/month or an annual membership for $59/year for students. This a huge savings for those with a school-associated email address ending in .edu. The cool thing is that they offer a 6-month free trial, yes SIX MONTHS, for Prime Student. After the free trial ends you’ll be charged the normal rate of $6.49. For details on the Prime Student trial click here.
With both of these free trials (and continued use of the service) you will receive a number benefits. I have outlined many of them below.
Amazon Prime Shipping Benefits
- Free Two-Day Shipping on eligible items.
- Free Same-Day Shipping on eligible items.
- Prime Now, a newer services that allows for FREE 2-hour delivery on certain items.
- Free Release-Date Delivery which provides free delivery of pre-ordered items on their release date.
- Free No-Rush Shipping for those items that you don’t need immediately. A lot of times they give you some type of incentive such as $5 towards a future order or other Amazon service such as Amazon Fresh.
- Amazon Day that allows you to pick a day of the week to receive all of your Amazon orders.
Amazon Prime Streaming Services
In addition to the wonderful shipping benefits there are a ton of streaming benefits. Prime Video (included in your Amazon Prime membership) allows you to watch a number of hit movies and TV shows. You can also add Amazon Channels to your membership. This allows you to watch your favorite channels (think Starz and Showtime) without having cable. This service is an additional cost ranging between $4.99-14.99 depending upon what you add on. You can get a free trial of Amazon Channels by clicking here!
There are also music streaming services. Prime Music, also included in your Amazon Prime membership, allows you to listen to thousands of songs for free. There is also Amazon Music Unlimited. Like Amazon Channels, the unlimited music service requires an additional monthly fee. The fee for unlimited music is $9.99. No worries though, if you want to give it a try before committing, there is a 30-day free trial which you can access by clicking here.
Amazon Prime Shopping Benefits
Since Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods, there have been many changes at the health food store such as lower prices on produce. You can also get a discount on sale items by scanning the Whole Foods QR code located in the Amazon mobile app at checkout to receive an additional 10% off. This is included with your Amazon Prime membership!
If you prefer to do your grocery shopping from home, you can use Amazon Fresh to order groceries and have them delivered right to your front door! This is an additional service and can be added to your Amazon Prime membership for $14.99 for per month for unlimited delivery or you can pay a flat rate for orders over $50. The latter is a great option if you don’t plan on shopping through Amazon Fresh often. If you want to try this service out you must have an Amazon Prime account BUT you can get a free trial of both by signing up here.
Amazon Wardrobe is cool service, exclusive to Amazon Prime members, where you can try clothing before you buy! This service applies to eligible shoes, accessories, women’s, men’s, kid’s and even baby clothing. You have seven days to try on on your items. You then ship back what you don’t want and you only get charged for what you do keep. This service is included in all Amazon Prime account types.
The Highly Anticipated Amazon Prime Day
Last but not least, and probably the greatest time of year on Amazon and my favorite part about being a member is Amazon Prime Day! Amazon Prime Day is the time of year where Prime members can get great deals on both Amazon and even Whole Foods! I’ll be doing an entire blog post on Amazon Prime Day because it’s that serious!
What’s the Verdict?
For me, I find having a subscription to Amazon Prime beyond worth it. With the free two-day and same-day shipping I can quickly get the items I need delivered right to my front door without having to leave my house, or my couch for that matter.
I think it’s really cool that they offer a free trial for the regular Amazon Prime service and an extended trial for students. Even without the free trials though, the service is clutch because you have access to so many items. Many times you can find items cheaper on Amazon than what they are sold for in stores, too!
You be the judge though, do you currently have an Amazon Prime membership? What are your thoughts about it?
For a full list of benefits included in an Amazon Prime membership click here.
