Last updated on February 28th, 2017
Amazon Prime – Is It Worth It?
Do you have Amazon Prime? Is it something you have been considering, but you’re not sure it is worth it? As a previous skeptic, I am here to tell you that it is! Not only is the annual cost really low compared to how much you would otherwise spend on shipping, but there are so many great features to be found once you sign up. Plus, you have nothing to lose if you sign up for a free 30-day trial! That is how I started out. I signed up for a free trial two Christmases ago thinking I would use the free shipping for Christmas gifts and then cancel. After seeing how much money I was saving on shipping, I was hooked! Below I have outlined my favorite features of Amazon Prime, plus some additional features you might be interested in.
Free Shipping = Saving Money
A membership for Amazon Prime costs $99 per year and is billed annually. So essentially, that is $8.25 per month. If you buy one or two items online per month already, then you probably spend that amount in shipping. I buy things on Amazon that I never would have bought online before, but it is convenient, free shipping (usually in two days!), and many times cheaper than what I would find at the store. If you have a busy schedule that does not allow for in-store shopping or kids that you do not care to shop with, then you should seriously consider checking it out. Another great feature is that if you sign up for alerts, you can get up to date tracking info sent straight to your phone!
Amazon Prime Video
The next feature that I use the most is definitely Amazon Prime Video. We recently got rid of cable and now we share subscriptions to Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime with our family. P.S. I highly recommend looking into sharing accounts with family members – each person or family pays for a subscription and shares the wealth! When I first signed up for Amazon Prime, I did not use the video feature. I did not feel that their selection was up to par with Netflix at the time. However, now I am in love with some of their original shows and they have a decent selection of movies and other shows that I love.
Amazon Prime Music
I recently started using Prime Music. I am all about getting free music so I usually use Pandora (with ads) but what is nice about Prime Music is that there are no ads, unlimited skips, and the ability to create personalized stations. The one caveat is that while there is TONS of music, not all songs are available. This does not matter to me as I am not a huge music junkie, however if that is important to you, there is the ability to upgrade to unlimited songs for $7.99 a month for Prime members. I am not sure if this is comparable to Pandora One or Spotify but worth looking into.
Amazon Prime Photos
I just recently uploaded all of my photos from my computer and phone into Prime Photos. I had heard that there was unlimited storage for photos but had not taken the time to check it out. With one kid and another baby on the way, my photos are more precious than ever so I have found myself backing them up all over the place. You only get 10 GB for videos but there is unlimited storage for photos which is AMAZING. I have not done much with the features of organizing the photos but I believe it is really easy to search by people, place, feature, etc. I just love knowing that I have my photos backed up in yet another place in the cloud.
While I am sure that most people only use their Prime account for a couple of feature, mainly free shipping and video, there are tons of other features to check out – I just have not done so yet. I know of some people who swear by Amazon Family and Amazon Pantry. I may have to check these out soon. A new benefit that was just released is Amazon Fresh which delivers groceries to your door – something that I am sure would be a lifesaver for some stages of life. There are just so many great money-saving features to check out that I would definitely not hesitate signing up for the 30-day free trial if you have not already done so.
In all your research about Amazon Prine did you learn anything about the Amazon credit card and any rewards or saving?
Hey Sarah! I did not look specifically at the credit card. With a brief glance, it looks like it would be a pretty good option since it has no annual fee and 5% back on all purchases?