Buzz
The common belief is that Amazon is evil and you should stop supporting them financially. Still, a staggering 76.6 million households in the U.S. subscribe to Amazon Prime, meaning either the message hasn’t fully reached us or we've simply accepted it. And when you're already in deep, you might as well maximize the benefits — that’s why it’s important to explore the lesser-known advantages of your Prime Membership, beyond just the environmentally harmful and economically draining (but undeniably convenient) two-day delivery.
These benefits go beyond shipping and cover everything from meal delivery perks, different entertainment options, to digital storage for your precious memories. Here are nine lesser-known advantages of being a Prime member.
Grubhub+. Starting July 6, 2022, every Amazon Prime member now enjoys a free one-year Grubhub+ subscription (which also applies to Seamless+). A Grubhub+ membership gives you unlimited, free delivery on orders over $12, along with rewards like complimentary meals and discounts on orders. To claim this offer, visit amazon.com/grubhub and follow the given steps.
“No Rush” Delivery. Amazon Prime members have the option to save money on various orders by selecting the “No Rush” delivery option during checkout. This choice allows Amazon to prioritize quicker deliveries for customers who need items sooner (like when you desperately need that egg timer by tomorrow). A bit of patience can reward you with discounts on future movie rentals or other great perks.
Try Before You Buy. Shopping for clothes online can be a gamble. You anxiously wait for your order to arrive, hoping it looks and fits just right. Amazon's “try before you buy” program removes some of that uncertainty. This perk allows you to try on eligible clothing, shoes, and accessories before paying for them. Amazon gives you seven days to test out the items at home, charging you only for what you decide to keep.
Unlimited photo storage/5GB video storage. Just because your photos are digital now doesn't mean they don’t need a place to be stored. Prime members enjoy unlimited full-resolution photo storage, as well as 5 GB of video storage. This gives users the ability to share and access their photo files across desktops, mobiles, and tablets. If you need extra video storage, additional plans begin at $1.99 per month, and they can be canceled at any time.
Amazon Music Prime. While it's not exactly like Spotify or Apple Music, an Amazon Prime membership includes a free Amazon Music Prime subscription. This gives access to over two million songs, thousands of playlists, podcasts, and curated stations, all without ads. You can also download music to enjoy offline. (A paid version is available as well, providing access to about 90 million songs, starting at $8.99/month, or $3.99 if you own an Alexa-enabled smart speaker.)
Amazon Pharmacy. Prime members can save on prescriptions when using Amazon Pharmacy. Members can get up to 80% off generic medications and 40% off brand-name prescriptions when paying without insurance (the discount cannot be combined with additional insurance). Additionally, Prime members have the option to pick up their prescriptions from one of over 60,000 pharmacies if they need them that same day.
Free books, magazines, and audiobooks. With an Amazon Prime membership, you get access to Prime Reading, a program that offers thousands of books and magazines for free. You can download and read up to ten books at once, many of which come with Audible narration. To enjoy this benefit, you can use a Kindle, Amazon Fire tablet, or the Kindle app on your iOS or Android device.
Prime Video. Prime Video is Amazon's streaming platform, where you can catch popular shows like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel or The Wheel of Time, as well as the latest Lord of the Rings series, among others. While Amazon might not be as good at promoting its content as Netflix, there's still plenty to explore here.
Sharing your Prime benefits. Amazon is surprisingly generous when it comes to sharing your Prime membership. By adding someone to your “household” account, they can enjoy many of the benefits of Prime without paying for it themselves. To share, just follow this prompt. The only catch is that you'll need to share payment methods. If you're not comfortable with that, you can still share the free shipping benefit with one other account.
