This is not a sponsored post. My sister was visiting last week, and knowing I’m a big fan, she asked me what I thought about the increase in price. I told her that for me it’s totally worth it and asked her if she used the prime instant video, and she said she usually didn’t. Then earlier this week, a friend asked me, again knowing my love for the amazon smile, “What can I do to get the most out of my Prime membership? What am I missing?”
Here are 5 Reasons I think that Amazon Prime is worth $100 a year:
Shipping — This is what most people equate with prime, and until recent years, it was all you got. I am a frequent amazon shopper, and in my pre-Prime days, I would frequent “round up” my purchases to reach the $25 free shipping, even if I was initially just going to buy one book for $15. That added up! Now, I can buy one item for $9, and it’s here in 2 days. When I first joined, I think I made my money on shipping via Christmas and birthdays alone. Whether I make a care package here or purchase something online, if you have to add $5 or more to shipping, it adds up. Having Prime makes me more generous. I’ll think of a book that I know a friend would enjoy, and I’m much more likely to just send it her way without the added encumbrance of shipping fees.
- Prime Instant Video — I believe my Netflix streaming subscription comes in at $8.56 a month now. I’m no math whiz, but that’s over $100 right there alone, for the movie and TV library alone. At first, the instant video library did not really compare, but now it’s completely comparable, and I think that amazon offers more than Netflix. I haven’t canceled Netflix, because my daughter tends to use it more, but she can use amazon on her devices just as easily, so I’m about to make the switch (especially with the coming price increase in mind).A friend of mine joined simply because she wanted to catch up on Downton Abbey which amazon offers and Netflix does not. Even if they don’t have the movie or show you want to watch, you can usually rent it right there for about $2.99.
Exercise videos – When I was searching the Prime Instant Video library, I saw some exercise videos, and that challenged me to use my membership in a whole new way. I work out at home, and nothing gets me through a slump like a new DVD workout. I am current loving (and hating, if you know what I mean), Jillian Michaels: Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism. A quick glance shows me that there’s also yoga, Denise Austen, Billy Blanks Jr., and more.
Kindle Owners’ Lending Library: Again, I was already sold before they introduced the Kindle lending library, but since the one thing that I don’t love about using my Kindle is buying rather than borrowing books, this alleviates that problem. You have to own a Kindle and have prime to use this service, but there are 500,000 titles available, and you can borrow one a month free.
- Get Equipped — To truly utilize the benefits of the prime video library, you do need the right equipment. Yes, you can watch on your computer, but until I bought my Roku,
I didn’t use it much. This is a small device which can access Amazon video directly on your TV via your WIFI connection. You can also use it for Netflix, HuluPlus, or Pandora. I truly love it and have been considering buying a second one for my secondary TV.
The other piece of equipment that has helped me maximize my usage of the Prime video library is getting a new Kindle Fire HD. With the newest versions of their tablets, you can not only watch video, but download it. This is a huge huge benefit. That means that I (or my children) can watch video — FREE — while traveling when WIFI is not available. I have used this to enjoy Parks and Recreation and The West Wing and movies while traveling.
So that’s my spiel. Am I missing something? What do you love about your Prime membership? Or please help me enjoy mine more by leaving a comment and telling me what TV shows you love to stream.
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Jennifer, you may have changed my life with this post. You can download Prime content on the new Kindle Fires? My daughter currently watches Prime content on the iPad, but I can only download what I’ve purchased, which can be an issue when we’re traveling… I have even purchased one season of a show that she loves that’s on Prime, just so that I could download it.
I was thinking of getting an iPad Mini for her to use when we travel, but was put off by the cost. Even though we have our other apps on the Mac platform, it might just be worth picking up the small Kindle Fire for the Prime content alone. Which, of course, is what Amazon would love to hear 😉 But I do love Prime, too. Thanks!!
Yes! Any of the new fires allow you to download content to watch offline. It used to be a bit tricky to figure out what content was available, but now you can search directly from your device to not only see the prime video content, but also the downloadable content. I don’t think that you can see on the website which prime content is available for download. I just browsed and was looking, but if you have specific questions about a series or movie, I could look for you using my Fire.
They’re on sale now, I think — as low as $129 ($40 off! If you are going to get it for the purpose of having stuff stored on it, I’d probably get more than 8G. I can’t figure out what mine is (I tried to look), but it just got low on memory and I had to delete some files, which was fine.
The apps definitely are not as good as apple, but they do have some (and in fact, I think that prime has some sort of Kindle Free Time kid app thing now as well), but you can not beat the price for a simple tablet to watch media and surf the net. For additional cost savings — don’t be afraid of the “special offers.” Basically it’s the screensaver, and once you unlock it, you don’t see anything else. You can also customize them if there is something that is objectionable for little eyes (not that there has been).
Thanks for the additional details. I have the Paperwhite, and I adore it. But we do like the apps on the iPad. I’ll have to give it some serious thought before our next cross-country trip… The Free Time kid app would probably be fine for her… This is really helpful information.
Kindle Fire ordered! Thanks!
I have Amazon Prime, and the free shipping is nice. But I have to say that I’m much more likely to use my Barnes and Noble account for books these days. They also offer free shipping with no minimum purchase, and I like supporting a company that still has actual brick-and-mortar stores. I don’t want those stores (including the one in my neighborhood) to go away.
I didn’t know that B&N had free shipping. That is a good point. I am lured in by amazon’s low low prices and convenience, but I do make an effort to buy books in “real” stores — I bought two today actually!
I agree — there’s nothing like going and browsing in a real bookstore! 🙂
You do have to have a B&N membership to get the free shipping (I should have specified that in the post), but it’s totally worth the savings, and then some. Plus if you’re a member, they send you good coupons from time to time. I love getting those in the mail!
Very timely! My daughter and I got a trial account for spring break, and enjoyed the videos. I don’t order much online, but the free shipping and occasional discount is nice, but I’ve had little luck finding e books to borrow. The process seems laborious. Since my tv is from ’95, I don’t think it will hook uo to the computer. I agree that the price is decent, especially since I have enough Discover cash back bonus money at Amazon to cover it! Thanks for posting this.