With Amazon Prime Day 2024 running Tuesday, October 8 and Wednesday, October 9, you may be wondering if now is a good time to sign up for a Prime membership. Although members gain access to dozens of benefits, membership does come at a cost.
As of 2024, an Amazon Prime membership will cost you $14.99 per month or $139 per year. Amazon has raised prices every four years since 2014. The last price hike happened in 2022, before which the annual membership cost $119 and the monthly membership cost $12.99. There are some discounts available: Amazon Prime Student is discounted for students, and Amazon Prime Access is discounted for qualifying recipients of government assistance programs like SNAP.
To justify the rising prices over the years, Amazon has added a slew of products and brands. The company has also added many services, like Amazon Music, Amazon Photos, Amazon Video and Amazon Pharmacy. It acquired Whole Foods, launched Amazon Warehouse, now called Amazon Resale, and amped up Prime Day to include over 10 million products.
Still, at $139 for an annual membership or about $180 if paid monthly, it makes sense to ask if Prime is worth getting ahead of Prime Day.
Pros of joining Amazon Prime
Free shipping
Prime members can get free same-day or one-day delivery on thousands of qualifying items. Members also get rewarded for choosing no-rush shipping. If you don’t need your package right away, Amazon will offer you rewards or discounts in exchange for slower shipping when you choose this option. Or, if you want separate deliveries bundled and delivered all at once, choose Amazon Day and all of your packages will arrive on the same day of the week.
Prime Video
As a Prime member, watch Amazon Original shows and movies, along with thousands of other shows for free. Plus, you can watch all of your favorites on virtually any streaming device. Prime Video includes limited advertisements, or you can sign up for the ad-free option at an additional $2.99 per month.
Choose from a library of popular streaming services like Discovery Plus, Paramount Plus, EPIX, NBA League Pass, and STARZ, with prices ranging from $4.99 to $14.99 per month (on top of your Prime membership fee).
Amazon Music
Prime members also get access to millions of songs, all without ads. For even more music, as a Prime member, you can join Amazon Music Unlimited for $9.99 per month for a monthly subscription or $99 per year for an annual subscription. Non-Prime customers pay $10.99 per month.
Prime Gaming
Into games? Prime members get access to a rotating collection of free games each month, in-game content and a free channel subscription on Twitch.tv.
Amazon Photos
Join Amazon Prime and get unlimited full-resolution photo storage along with 5 GB of video storage. Plus, you can display images on devices like a Fire TV, Amazon Echo Show, and Amazon Fire tablet and share your photos with up to five family members.
Amazon Kids Plus
Prime members save more on thousands of kid-friendly books, movies, and educational games with Amazon Kids Plus, at $5.99/month, on top of your Prime membership. Right now, you can try Amazon Kids Plus for one month - free.
Prime Reading
Prime members can read from a rotating collection of over a thousand books, magazines, comics, and more with Prime Reading. Prime members also get access to Amazon First Reads and Audible Narration, available via the free Kindle app or Audible’s free listening app on a variety of devices. New Prime members also get a free Audible Premium Plus trial as well as two credits that can be applied to any books in the Audible library.
Prescription shipping and savings
Prime members can get prescriptions from Amazon Pharmacy delivered for free in just two days.
Whole Foods
Prime members can get exclusive discounts at Whole Foods Market, both online and in-store. You’ll also get free Grubhub Plus, a $120 value per year (which almost offsets the Prime membership fee), and unlimited grocery delivery (in certain areas) at $9.99 per month.
All the Extras
If that isn't reason enough to get Prime, members also get Shopbop free shipping, Zappos free upgraded shipping, Woot shipping benefits, Prime exclusive deals, Amazon Resale, and the option to apply for the Amazon Prime Visa card, where members get 5% back at Amazon, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods, and Chase Travel. The card also offers 2% back at gas stations and restaurants, plus 1% on all other purchases.
Cons of joining Amazon Prime
High price of membership
First, and probably the most glaring reason to skip a Prime membership is the price. What started out at a fairly reasonable price of $79, now costs members a whopping $139 per year if paid annually. That price increases to about $180 if paid monthly ($14.99 per month).
Prime isn’t the only fish in the pond
Sam’s Club, Walmart Plus and Costco all give Amazon a run for its money. In fact, you can often find a better bargain and get same-day pick-up. Each of these retail giants charge a membership fee for the biggest discounts, but there’s considerable overlap in the products they offer. The Gold Star membership at Costco is $65 per year, and the Executive membership, where members score an annual 2% back reward, is $130.
Sam’s Club memberships cost either $50 for the Club membership or $110 for the Plus membership. Right now you can save $60 on Sam's Club Plus membership and $35 on Sam's regular club membership. Walmart Plus will set you back $98 for an annual membership. But, right now, Walmart is offering new members a 30-day trial - for free.
Prime Music has its limits
Next to Spotify, Google Play Music and Apple Music, Prime Music falls short, even with 100 million ad-free songs. You could opt for Amazon's Music Unlimited, but you’ll pay an additional $7.99 per month. Unlimited is $10.99/month for non-Prime members, and $9.99/month for Prime customers. For a limited time, get a 4-month free trial of Amazon Music Unlimited Individual Plan for Prime members (3 months free for non-Prime members).
Prime Video also has shortcomings
While Prime Video has plenty of videos on its platform, it does not have the quality or quantity of content that Hulu or Netflix have. In fact, many of the shows and movies are only available to rent or buy, or are older. So while Amazon Video is a nice feature, it's not a replacement for other streaming services.
Besides, if you’re only becoming a Prime member for Prime Video, consider that a basic Hulu plan starts at $8 per month, but it can end up exceeding $90 per month. when you throw in live TV and other add-ons. Netflix pricing starts at $6.99 a month.
You don’t shop a lot
If you don’t shop often, or don’t think you’ll take advantage of all the other features Prime offers, then the price of membership may not be worth it just for the free shipping.
Privacy
Amazon is a growing network that knows exactly what you are listening to (think Alexa), what you are buying, and countless other details about your spending habits, etc. If you worry about having your personal details out in the metaverse, then maybe Prime isn’t worth it.
Can’t kick the tires
For many people, trying on clothing or touching a product is important before buying. Online shopping doesn’t offer that option. (One exception is “try before you buy” that Amazon now offers on some of its clothing items). If you would rather check out a product before making a purchase and rather not have the hassle of returning items, then a Prime membership may not be a good choice.
Can lead to overspending
Amazon has the site set up to make it very easy to make a purchase. In fact, most items come with a Buy It Now button, which bypasses adding items to your cart. Unfortunately, this can lead to purchasing items you don’t need, but look good at the moment. It can also lead to spending outside of your budget and piles of unused or unwanted junk lying around.
How to join Amazon Prime
Do the pros outweigh the cons for you? Great. Here’s how to join.
Sign up on your smartphone:
- Go to amazon.com/prime on your mobile phone
- You need an Amazon account before signing up for Prime. If you already have one, skip to step five.
- Select the “Create Account” option.
- Enter the requested information and tap Continue.
- Find the three-line menu button on the bottom right of the screen and tap, Try Prime.
- Tap “Prime Free Trial” and follow the on-screen instructions to choose your membership and confirm your billing and shipping address.
- You’ll be automatically charged for Prime after the free trial period, but you can cancel anytime.
- For convenience, download the Amazon app.
Sign up on a desktop:
- Go to amazon.com/prime. If you are not already an Amazon customer, you will need to create an account.
- Hover over the “Hello, sign in. Accounts & lists” button on the top right of the screen.
- Tap the “Start Here” button next to the “New Customer?” prompt.
- Enter the requested information and tap the “Continue” button.
- When you’re signed up, hover over the “Hello [your name]” button. Click on the “Prime membership” button in the drop-down menu.
- Follow the on-screen prompts, choosing the type of Prime membership you want. At this point you’ll be asked to enter your credit card information and confirm your billing and shipping address.
- You’ll be automatically charged for your membership after the free trial period.
Keep in mind that Amazon is offering new members a 30-day free trial to test the waters. So if you’re still not decided or don’t want to pay the $14.99 for a monthly membership or $139 for an annual membership right now, sign up now before Prime Day to take advantage of this free trial and the thousands of deals you'll get on October 8 and 9.
