As with anything, whether Amazon Prime is worth your $99 per year depends on your situation. Brains Report generally recommends running cost/benefit analyses to determine if any purchase is worth your money. The cost is pretty simple to calculate: $99 (maybe cheaper if you find a deal). But, let’s look at the benefits and their value to you:
Free Shipping
Unless you’re in Hawaii or Alaska, you can get free two-day shipping on the huge selection of eligible items when you have Prime. And, for some items in an ever-expanding number of cities and towns, you can get free same-day shipping.
For me, the shipping alone is not worth it. I’m perfectly okay waiting for items to be delivered. In fact, with my Prime membership, I am often times given the option of waiting a little bit longer for my delivery in exchange for a $5 Prime Pantry credit or other benefits. I will gladly take payment for my patience!
I recommend looking at your Amazon order history for the past year. Take a few minutes to calculate how much you spent on shipping. Was it over $99? Then, shipping alone makes Prime worth it for you. If it was under $99, you may want to consider the other perks.
Streaming Video
Amazon Prime costs more than Netflix but not much more. However, Netflix has a better selection and is doing a better job of getting new, exclusive content. Never underestimate Amazon, though. They keep building their empire and have plenty of great offerings. My favorite exclusive content is Tig Notaro’s One Mississippi. Other Amazon Originals are Transparent, Mozart in the Jungle, Goliath, and dozens more. There are also countless free movies and TV series from yesteryear, including the Indiana Jones collection, Roseanne, and Teen Wolf.
Other Benefits You Might Want
There are also a lot of little benefits that many Prime members may not know about. Here are a few of them:
- Amazon Family – With this, you get a 15 percent discount on your Baby Registry completion (as far as I know, you don’t have to provide proof of a baby) and 20 percent off a diaper subscription (adult diapers not included.)
- Early Access to Lightning Deals – Half an hour before the hoi polloi can get to them, Prime members can go wild with the Lightning Deals.
- Kindle Books – You can borrow one digital book per month for free through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. And, Kindle First lets you read books for free prior to their official release. If you are an avid reader (as you should be), this could save you up to $120 per year.
- Prime Music – This streaming music service is meant to rival Spotify, but the selection is much smaller. However, in order to listen to ad-free music on Spotify, you would need to shell out $120 per year.
- Prime Pantry – For $5.99 per box, you can have groceries delivered to your door using ground shipping.
- Photo Storage – I guess it’s nice to have photo storage, but there are plenty of other free places to get that. I wouldn’t buy a Prime membership just for photo storage. That would be weird. Still, I guess it’s a perk.
Also, coming soon, your Prime membership will get you deals at Whole Foods.
Did I miss any important perks of Amazon Prime? Do you have stories of Prime saving your life? Please share your thoughts below.
