Chances are if you do any online shopping at all, you’re familiar with Amazon Prime. The membership program is most known for its free two-day shipping, included with the annual cost of membership. Amazon Prime costs $99 a year for most members. If you’re a student, you can join Amazon Prime Student for a free six-month trial, and then sign up at a 50 percent discount. Recently, Amazon also announced a discounted membership available for customers who receive government assistance.
As a member of Amazon Prime, you have plenty of valuable benefits right at your fingertips, but it can be overwhelming to know what’s available. Here is a breakdown of the perks of Amazon Prime membership.
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Free shipping. Free two-day shipping is the hallmark of Amazon Prime. Some lucky shoppers can also get free same-day delivery or one-day shipping. Search on Amazon Prime for free same-day delivery and enter your zip code to check your eligibility, then read up on the terms and conditions to find out how you can take advantage. Another shipping perk for Amazon Prime is Prime Now. This is the fastest delivery available, with a two-hour delivery window, including items such as groceries, health and beauty products, household essentials, pet supplies and more. As long as you live in an eligible city, Prime Now is also free with an Amazon Prime membership.
Prime members can get free release-date delivery on select preordered times, such as highly anticipated movies or video games. These items will arrive to your address on the date they are released.
Prime Pantry. Members can find low-priced pantry and household items in regular package sizes, similar to what you can buy at your local grocery store. If you select a minimum of five qualifying items, your box will ship for free (otherwise, there is a flat $5.99 delivery fee per box).
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Dash Buttons. For those items you run out of quickly, Amazon created simple one-touch branded buttons to add to your home for easy ordering. The buttons, which are available in brands such as Tide, Charmin, Bounty and more, connect to your home Wi-Fi. Push the button when you notice you are running out of an item, and it will arrive at your doorstep two days later. The Dash Button costs $4.99, but the charge is then credited to your purchase after your first press. Worried that a child might excitedly press a Dash Button five, 10 or even 20 times? Amazon will only respond to that first push — and even then, you have 30 minutes to respond to an alert sent to your phone in case the order is a mistake.
Amazon Family. If you have a new addition to your family, you might be able to benefit from the perks of Amazon Family. Prime members can save 20 percent on diaper subscriptions. Plus, new and expecting parents can find plenty of resources and items for every stage of development.
Music. Amazon Prime offers a lot of perks for music lovers. Not only can you stream music ad-free from carefully crafted Prime playlists and listen to Prime stations personalized for your tastes, you can download more than 1 million songs and albums for playing offline. Prime Music can be played on any compatible device, including iOS and Android, and of course, on Amazon devices such as Echo, Fire phone and tablet, and more.
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Video. Consider your Amazon Prime membership a one-way ticket to endless entertainment. Amazon Video has thousands of television shows and movies available for streaming, including plenty of Amazon Original content such as Emmy award-winning show “Transparent,” and “Manchester by the Sea,” a critically acclaimed movie released in 2016.
Books and magazines. The Prime Reading Program allows members unlimited access to more than 1 thousand books, magazines and more, accessed through Amazon’s free Kindle app. You can also borrow one e-book per month through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, which has more than 800,000 titles.
Cloud storage. Looking for more storage? If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you already have the ability to use Amazon’s Cloud Drive. You can store 5 gigabytes of photos, videos and files for free, with the option to get 100 GB for $11.99 a year.
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How to Get the Most Value Out of Your Amazon Prime Account originally appeared on usnews.com
