Understanding Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime is a great membership program offered to customers for easy access to streaming videos, music, e-books, shopping for a variety of products and avail free shipping. For those who use Amazon for purchasing anything and everything, this membership is a complete no-brainer, but for those who would like to know a little before putting in $100, here’s some important information about the membership and its terms.

What is Amazon Prime?

Amazon Prime is a paid service that’s gives its members some exceptional advantages with the best being free 1 or 2 day shipping on most products, along with a number of different perks.

As stated on the Amazon website, here are the benefits of buying an Amazon Prime Membership:

• FREE Two-Day Shipping on eligible items to addresses in the contiguous U.S. and other shipping benefits. For more information, go to Amazon Prime Shipping Benefits.
• FREE Same-Day Delivery in eligible zip codes. For more information, go to Order with Prime FREE Same-Day Delivery.
• Prime Video: unlimited streaming of movies and TV episodes for paid or free trial members in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. For more information, go to About Prime Video.
• Prime Music: unlimited, ad-free access to hundreds of Prime Playlists and more than a million songs for members in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. For more information, go to About Prime Music.
• Prime Photos: Secure unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive. For more information, go to About Prime Photos.
• Prime Pantry: Access to Prime Pantry, where members can purchase and ship to addresses in the contiguous U.S. low priced grocery, household, and pet care items for a flat delivery fee of $5.99 for each Prime Pantry box. Prime Pantry orders cannot be shipped to addresses in Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.
• Amazon Elements: Access to Amazon Elements products, Amazon's own line of everyday essentials.
• Prime Early Access: Get 30-minute early access to Lightning Deals on Amazon.com and new events on MyHabit.com. For more information, go to About Prime Early Access.
• Kindle Owners' Lending Library: access to members in the U.S. For more information, go to Kindle Owners' Lending Library
• Kindle First: Early access for members in the U.S. to download a new book for free every month from the Kindle First picks. For more information, go to Kindle First.
• Video Add-On Subscriptions: Members can purchase Video Add-on Subscriptions to premium content providers. Browse available Video Add-on Subscriptions, or manage your existing subscriptions.
• Deals and Discounts, Compliments of Amazon Family: These include 20% off diapers through Subscribe & Save and 15% off eligible products from your baby registry. For more information go to Get 20% off Diaper Subscriptions or About the Completion Discount.
• Prime Exclusive Savings in Video Games: Members in the U.S. save 20% on new release physical video games during pre-order through two weeks after launch. For more information, go to Prime Exclusive Savings in Video Games.
• Prime Now: Get FREE two-hour delivery or scheduled delivery on over 10,000 items, from groceries to electronics and more. Plus, get free delivery from your favorite local stores. Available in eligible zip codes only. For more information go to Prime Now.
• Restaurant Delivery: Get one-hour delivery from popular restaurants with Prime Now. Available in eligible zip codes only. For more information go to Prime Now.
• Membership Sharing: Two adults living in the same household can create an Amazon Household to share certain Amazon Prime benefits. For more information, go to About Amazon Households.

How much does Amazon Prime cost?

The Amazon Prime membership fee is $99 for each year, with the first 30 days free, and users can cancel the membership at any time. Though, the $99 has to be paid in one installment and Amazon doesn’t allow monthly payments.

Students can get great Prime benefits, and can also avail the service free of cost for the first 6 months. After that, subscribe is needed but it is at a 50% discount.

Customers in Arizona, California, Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin need to pay sales tax for the Amazon Prime Membership.

What are Amazon Households?

Amazon Households lets 2 adults and up to 4 children share digital Amazon content, without having to download it again. Shared benefits include 2-day shipping, streaming video and access to the Kindle Lending Library.

Free 2-day shipping is eligible on which items?

Most of the products on the website qualify for free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime, but there are certain limitations and restrictions. If the products are big in size just free standard shipping may be offered, and third party products are not eligible for any kind of free shipping, unless they offer it.

Which Kindle books can I borrow?

According to Amazon, there are over 1 million books in the Kindle Lending Library, and to search for one you can simply search its name on the Kindle device, Kindle app or Amazon website. If the product has the Prime logo next to the name, member can borrow it for 1 month.

What is Amazon Prime Music?

Amazon Prime Music is a streaming music service that lets you pick albums or songs to stream. Amazon can also create a customized profile as per the user’s tastes, and there are over a million songs to choose from.

What is Prime Now?

Prime Now is an app, available on iOS and Android, which provides free 2 hours delivery of select items. Right now, it is only available in some cities like New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and Phoenix, but more are added regularly. Good include groceries, toiletries and small household products.

What is Amazon Prime Instant Video?

Amazon Prime Instant Video allows unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows, and also offers à la carte rentals. They have several original series, like Mozart in the Jungle, Transparent and Alpha House, and users can stream older HBO shows, like The Sopranos and Eastbound & Down. With Amazon’s new Streaming Partners program, users can also combine almost their streaming services subscriptions in one.

Can I access Amazon's streaming video services even if I don’t have an Amazon Prime membership?

Yes, but then each piece of content you watch will have to bought or rented separately. The prices can vary from $2 for an episode to over $30 for the complete season.

Does Prime membership give access to all streaming video on Amazon?

No, only certain shows and movies are available for unlimited streaming. The unlimited streaming videos are marked with a Prime graphic, and for new movies and shows, money has to be paid for each piece of media.

Where to find Amazon Prime Instant Video?

Amazon Prime Instant Video can be used on PC, Mac and Linux computers, along with all modern and last generation gaming consoles. The Amazon Prime app is available to all iOS users but not for Android. The only Android devices supported are their own Kindle Fire tablets and Fire TV devices. It can also be used for Roku set-top boxes, but not Google Chromecast or Apple TV.

Why shouldn't I subscribe to Amazon Prime?

Amazon Prime is great and can be very beneficial when used to its full capacity. All of the services are simple, and easy to use, so the only reason to not buy Prime membership is if you already have something similar, like Netflix, Hulu or e-books from Barnes & Noble. If you spend a lot of time shopping on Amazon and look forward to the services offered by them, then this is definitely the membership for you!

How to sign up for Amazon Prime?

Go to the Amazon Prime Web page to start your 30-day free trial, and follow the easy instructions. All you need is a free Amazon account and credit card details.