I noticed a $99 purchase during my weekly review of my son’s checking account. Being a secondary on my son’s account allows me to periodically review his spending to ensure he’s being smart with his money. By the description of the purchase I knew that he had had paid for a yearly subscription to Amazon Prime. I didn’t know much about the service, so I did a little research to find out what he would get for his $99.
Here are the major services that come with an Amazon Prime Membership:
Free Shipping
Amazon Prime members enjoy free 2 day shipping on eligible items. They also will get free same day shipping on eligible items shipped within specific zip codes.
Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video offers unlimited streaming of television shows and movies. Some can be downloaded for offline viewing on compatible Fire tablets. The selection of movies and TV shows available is always changing. New titles are added periodically to the catalog, and occasionally titles are removed.
Prime Music
Unlimited, ad-free access to hundreds of Prime Playlists and more than a million songs for members. Prime Playlists are handcrafted collections of songs from Amazon’s Prime Music catalog. Subscribers can also create their own personal playlists, as well as listen to uninterrupted music with personalized Prime Stations.
Prime Photo
With an eligible Prime membership, subscribers receive free Amazon Drive storage for all of your photos, as well as an additional 5 GB for personal video and document storage. Free mobile aps are available to upload and access photos securely from any computer.
On Our Way To Saving Money?
The first thing my son ordered would have cost him $16.77 without Amazon Prime. But with his subscription it instead cost him only $11.40. Additionally, the product he ordered over the weekend is anticipated to arrive at our doorstep on Tuesday instead of Friday.
On his first order, my son saved $5.37 and will get his product three days sooner.
Will Amazon Prime Be Worth It?
Determining if Amazon Prime is worth the cost is a complex issue.
If we look at it purely from a saving money perspective, a person would have to place many small orders during the course of a year to recover the cost. I emphasize small orders because in most cases customers will receive free standard shipping if the order exceeds $49.
We all occasionally need an order expedited. While customers do get free shipping when the total of eligible purchases exceeds $49, it is standard shipping which usually takes 3-5 business days. Amazon Prime members get free 2 day shipping. If the speed at which your package arrives is important, that alone may be worth the yearly cost.
There’s also the additional services, only some of which have been listed here. Personally, I would likely not use the video streaming, music, or picture services at all. Other customers, including my son, may make heavy use of them.
There’s no single answer as to whether Amazon Prime is worth it. Each individual has to evaluate their online shopping habits to determine the following:
- How often would Amazon Prime give them free shipping when they wouldn’t have otherwise?
- Ow important is delivery speed?
- Will the other services be used, and if so, how often?
If, after evaluating those questions, you feel that the $99 per year price tag provides sufficient value for what you get our of the subscription, then Amazon Prime may be a look.
How about you, EOD Nation, do you have Amazon Prime? Have you evaluated the above three questions, and is it worth the price to you?
I have use Prime during a free trial, and the service and shipping benefits were amazing. I canceled after the trial was over. We simply don’t order enough online or use the other services to make the $99 cost worth it.
I think that’s the boat I’m sailing, Brian……and like I said, I personally would not use the other services either.
We have it right now. My husband signed up for a 30-day free trial then forgot to cancel in time. I don’t mind it, but I probably won’t renew after 12 months.
It would be interesting to talk to you when the year is over and see if your opinion had changed, Holly. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I never looked at it for shipping as i’m one that would always get the min order. The video streaming is my draw. Compared to Netflix plus everything else it’s worth it. That said, i’m still waiting for another price drop. ?
Always looking for the best deal, right KAY? 🙂
It is worth every single penny. I had a free-trial. During that time, I had a few purchases that I need to make. One was a new mouse for my computer. I priced it out on ads and from going to store to store. Prime had a much better price and my time is literally money since I’m self-employed. I also tax deduct a percentage of the subscription cost. I purchase everything I can from them including toiletries, other the counter medications, office supplies, pet supplies. I love the subscribe and save feature for repeat items like my vitamins. I do compare prices like vitamins with vitacost. Toiletries I compare with Walmart & Target, etc. My dogs know the sound of the UPS truck coming down the street from the block behind us and get excited…me too.
LOL, Brown Santa!!!!
I also tried it but cancelled way ahead of the trial end date. It was great to get stuff on time, but I don’t use Amazon enough to justify paying $99 a year. Plus the other perks don’t grab my attention.
Sounds like I’m not the only one….thanks for sharing, Dannielle!
You might want to check and make sure they have him as a student, he should only be paying $49 for the student rate. (Unless something’s changed recently that I am not aware of).
Yeah, I saw that as well in doing my research for this article………too bad he didn’t see that before he signed up for it. 🙂
We signed up last year with a discount after some promo they were running. We really like it though I know we could probably get more from our video and such.
Getting the membership at a discount certainly helps to make it worth the cost!