There's more to Amazon Prime than 2-day shipping

Julio Franco

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There are many benefits to Amazon Prime, but some aren't heavily promoted, so you may be missing out.

In case the Super Bowl commercial and accompanying jingle didn’t clue you in, there is more to Amazon Prime than simply free two-day shipping. And while the chorus line points out a few of the additional benefits, there are even more perks than could be squeezed into that minute-long spot, some of them more heavily promoted than others. As such, we thought it was a good idea to make sure you knew about everything you have coming to you.

Free two-day shipping

Still Prime's main selling point, you get free two-day shipping with no minimum on most orders. Ordinarily, one needs to spend at least $35 to get free shipping. Even then, it is standard shipping which takes twice as long.

No-rush shipping credit

What if you don't need your order in two days? Amazon provides an incentive for letting them take their time getting your order out the door. Depending on what you buy, you could get a digital credit towards an eBook, MP3, or movie, or a credit towards a Prime Pantry order.

Guaranteed Delivery (which can result in free Prime)

But what if you really, really do need your order in two days and it takes longer? Amazon will give you an extra month of Amazon Prime for free. The only catch is that you have to ask. See also: How to Get One Extra Month of Amazon Prime for Free

Same-day delivery

What if you really need your order right now? If you happen to live in one of the 21 cities where Prime Now is available, you can get most items delivered the same day, and many items as soon as within two hours.

Streaming music, movies, and television shows

The most promoted of its secondary benefits, a Prime membership gives you access to millions of songs and thousands of movies and television shows — including Amazon original programming (Mozart in the Jungle, Transparent, The Man in the High Castle, etc.).

Unlimited cloud photo storage

If you're like some people I know, your phone quickly fills up with photos. Then, this perk will be especially lucrative. Your Prime membership allows you to store all your photos in the cloud, freeing up your memory for taking even more photos. This was a big perk until Google decided to offer the same thing (with better search tools) with Google Photos.

Free Kindle eBooks

Like a virtual public library, Prime gives you access to more than 500,000 eBooks. You can borrow one book per month and there's never any late fees. Note: This feature only works for Kindle owners, not Kindle app users.

Early access to deals

Ever miss out on one of Amazon's amazing lightning deals? With Prime, you get a 30-minute headstart over the rest of users and that could make all the difference between scoring a lucrative deal or not.

Prime-only prices and coupons

In addition to getting a headstart on lightning deals, a Prime membership also gives you access to deals to which you wouldn't otherwise be privy. In the past few months, we've seen an increase in the number of these Prime-only prices. Additionally, we've also seen a recent uptick in the amount of clippable coupons being available only to Prime members.

Prime Pantry

Especially when it comes to buying large quantities of household items, Prime Pantry is an big added bonus. For just $5.99, you can have 45 pounds of groceries delivered to your doorstep.

Amazon Family

For those with infants or young children, Prime's Amazon Family perk can be a godsend. Diapers and other items are 20% off when ordered with Subscribe & Save (which can be cancelled at any time), saving you money and a trip to store for this necessity.

Amazon Household

And like a cherry on top of the proverbial sundae, one of the best things about Prime is that you can share nearly all the perks with another member of your household. Choose wisely.

What do you think? Were you aware of all these benefits? Do you think they're worth $99 a year?

Stephen Slaybaugh is a senior features writer at dealnews. Republished with permission.

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Darn! I just realized this is an ad trap! grrrr
Stephen Slaybaugh is not even on the staff list.
 
Amazon would have you believe Prime is a pi-in-the-sky deal and while there are a few good features, there are also elements of deception included in the package. Although thousands of Prime videos is a key promotion, Amazon counts each TV episode as a video so that instead of thousands of movies what you are essentially getting is 200 oldie-moldy TV episodes and only a handful of movies. When you do a movie search, Amazon gives you the option of renting it for $3.99.

Tech Spot should respect the intelligence and integrity of its readers, rather than (if it can) shamelessly succumbing to the temptations of Chamber of Commerce journalism.
 
It's hardly a deal when it's region specific on so many things, then you can't have a Prime membership for all over. Happen to live in Canada but want to enjoy anything useful? I hope you feel like paying a whole lot more, because we're without the bulk of what Prime even offers. Title is seriously misleading, especially for those outside of the US.
 
$99 - too expensive. Not a good return on investment. Prices higher than eBay which usually has the same sellers with free shipping and no sales tax. Need to be a smart eBay user though... scrutinize feedback and look for high volume sellers. Coupled with PayPal you are protected.
 
NO!

With virtually everything I buy, there's always another seller I'd rather do business with than Amazon.

In fact, I'd rather do business with the Amazon Marketplace sellers than Amazon itself.

I bought a car stereo directly from Amazon. The same radio was advertised as from "so & so, fulfilled by Amazon", but it was 80 cents more.

I should have known better, and bought the "fulfillment" product, but I took a chance and tried to save 80 cents. (They would have had to boot that out the door right away).

I must live too close to one of their warehouses to be punished properly for requesting free shipping. Long story short, they held the radio in their warehouse for several days, (IMHO, for spite), until I called up and screamed bloody murder about it. Then I got it in 2 days.

So, it seems to me they like to try and leverage you into buying Prime, but I'm not a taker.
 
Prime is only valuable if you are a frequent Amazon customer. If you aren't doing a lot of shopping on there, it's not going to save much money.
 
YES! I have 50 plus orders a year from Amazon (I take immunosupressants for RA, so shopping in crowded stores, especially during the holidays, is not a good idea....I get sick every time.) The free 2 day shipping alone is worth the price. I also have kindle unlimited, because we are readers, not tv watchers, and go through a lot of ebooks. I do live in one of the 21 cities, so I often get same day deliveries. For us it is a real bargain.
 
Yeah, Prime comes with built in Tax Evasion, and no doubt staff with no rights and zero hour contracts. Lovely company...
 
Worth it for me, diapers sale (for my toddler) are often cheaper than costco, sam's club, or target deals. Most of the electronics are cheaper... I did noticed that amazon can't compete with Lowe's and Home Depot on some of the tools and home improvement products.
 
In the UK we get free next day delivery (7 days a week) as part of prime, would have through state side it was next day and not 2?
 
In the UK we get free next day delivery (7 days a week) as part of prime, would have through state side it was next day and not 2?
Well, the US is physically bigger than the UK, for one thing. Since Amazon has warehouses in different places across the US, you would need more of them to cover it as easily.

(Which brings up an interesting question, "who spends more money, or buys more items per capita, the Brits, or us Yanks"..?

2: Amazon is trying to launch its own logistics (delivery) company, but from what I've read, it isn't quite there yet.

3: Forced to use other delivery agents, it's entirely possible cost may be a factor. If you go to "overnight" rates, you'll see Amazon wants $90.00 (or some horrific amount, to deliver a stinking DVD overnight.

ADDENDUMB: That's the most interesting misspelling of "thought", I've seen. "Through", really? I usually just forget the last "T", and you get "though". Maybe I'm just too lazy to stuff the extra "R' in there... :rolleyes:
 
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