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Should Amazon continue its Prime Membership feature?

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410 Terry Ave North, Seattle 98109, WA.

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Amazon Prime Is Past Its Prime | The Robin Report

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Prime membership subscriber count jumped from 118M in March 2020 to 147M in March 2021 and 170M users in March 2022 (since COVID-19)

Subscriber count peaked in Dec. 2021

Since Dec. 2021, subscriber numbers have flatten or declined

As of March 2023, there were 167M active Prime members

The 2022 Prime membership price increase: one reason why Prime’s growth has declined and a big contribution to that issue

For Prime members who aren’t interested in other service perks (music, steaming content, etc.) every increase in prices makes the membership cost outweigh the Prime benefits

Membership base is increasing extremely slow

When Amazon increase the annual Prime membership from $119 to $139 in 2022, it was at the wrong time (during a period where inflation was consistently skyrocketing)

At the same time, pandemic-era govt. programs decreased making household costs increase

This issue targeted people who looked for a decrease in their spending so Prime memberships were given more attention

A trend where Amazon raises its price every four years exists (price raises in 2014, 2018, and 2022)

Another reason users were against ex paying more for Prime: the problem Amazon struggles with in delivering items on time

Most likely reason for the membership price raise: the companies profit challenges

Subscription fees only cover a small part of the shipping costs

Claim: Amazon doesn’t have a sustainable business model to increase the company growth

More members use their free shipping benefits: more money Amazon loses -> Amazon is pressured to make Prime charge more

Annual Prime cost in 2015: only $99 compared to todays $139

Still, Prime members that use all the benefits have a great value deal (access to fast delivery, video media, music, gaming, e-books, etc.)

A better idea: Amazon could make multi tiered subscription system so that the cost of membership aligns with the benefits buyers use

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Amazon Prime's U.S. membership growth ran into a brick wall last year. As recently as 2021, Prime was still growing rapidly in its home market. The program's domestic subscriber count jumped from around 118 million individuals at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 to 147 million in March 2021 and 170 million by March 2022, according to survey data collected by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.

However, Amazon Prime's domestic subscriber base appears to have peaked in December 2021. Since then, attrition has led to flat or declining subscriber numbers. There were 167 million active Prime members in the U.S. as of March 2023, based on CIRP's most recent estimates.

For Prime members who aren't Amazon power users and aren't interested in ancillary benefits like streaming content, each price increase represents a potential tipping point that could make the cost outweigh the benefits of Prime. The 2022 price increase may not be the only reason why Amazon Prime's growth in the U.S. has come to an abrupt halt, but it was a big contributing factor.

Amazon disputes CIRP's analysis and says that Prime is still growing both in the U.S. and abroad, albeit without providing any hard numbers to back up that claim. But even if Prime is still growing domestically, at best the membership base is expanding at a snail's pace.

With profitability and Prime member growth both under pressure, Amazon finds itself caught between a rock and a hard place. To get its mojo back, the company needs to completely rethink the Prime program.

Raising Prices at the Wrong Time

Amazon's decision to raise the price of an annual Prime membership from $119 to $139 in early 2022 surely contributed to the abrupt slowdown in subscriber growth that began last year.

On its face, the price increase made sense. At the time, delivery costs and other expenses were soaring. Furthermore, Amazon had previously raised the U.S. subscription price for Prime in 2014 and 2018, so the latest price change followed an existing pattern of increasing the price every four years.

However, from a customer perspective, raising the Prime subscription price in early 2022 represented terrible timing. Inflation was roaring out of control, with the CPI increasing 8.5 percent year over year in March 2022. Meanwhile, pandemic-era federal stimulus programs were winding down, putting further strain on household budgets. The price increase made Prime subscriptions an even more inviting target for people looking to reduce their spending.

Making matters worse, Amazon has struggled to deliver items on time in recent years. The ecommerce giant's inability to consistently deliver on its advertised fast shipping speeds gave consumers another reason to balk at paying more for Prime.

Amazon's decision to increase subscription prices in the midst of soaring inflation stands in sharp contrast to Costco's strategy. Historically, Costco has typically raised U.S. membership prices every 5-6 years. The most recent price increase went into effect on June 1, 2017, setting the stage for another increase as early as mid-2022. Yet Costco has held its fire, partly due to the impact of high inflation on members' finances.

Holding membership fees flat wasn't just an act of magnanimity by Costco. It has helped the company retain existing members while continuing to recruit new ones. Indeed, Costco's renewal rate hit a record high last quarter (both in North America and globally), supporting global membership growth of more than 7 percent year over year.

A Flawed Business Model

Amazon's profit challenges likely influenced its decision to raise the Prime membership price last year despite deteriorating economic conditions.

In the early part of the Covid-19 pandemic, Amazon's sales and earnings soared as consumers increasingly turned to ecommerce for both necessities and discretionary purchases. That momentum petered out in the second half of 2021, though. By the fourth quarter of that year, Amazon's sales growth had slowed to single digits, excluding the Amazon Web Services cloud computing business. Moreover, excluding AWS, the company rang up a $1.8 billion operating loss in Q4 2021, compared to a $3.3 billion profit a year earlier.

Amazon's profitability deteriorated further in 2022. Excluding AWS, it reported a full-year operating loss of $10.6 billion. To mitigate these dreadful results, the company has slashed capital spending, exited unprofitable side businesses, and cut tens of thousands of corporate jobs.

Prime membership fees only cover a fraction of Amazon's shipping costs, which reached $83.5 billion in 2022. Management may have felt it had no choice but to raise prices last year to help defray these rising costs, despite the potential impact on subscriber growth.

This merely underscores the bind that Amazon has put itself in. The company built its retail empire on the back of the Prime program, but it doesn't have a sustainable business model for growth. The more that members use their free shipping benefits (particularly for small purchases), the more money Amazon is likely to lose. That puts pressure on Amazon to charge more for Prime. Yet the most profitable Prime members are those who place the fewest orders and thus get the lowest value from the service, making them most likely to cancel.

By contrast, Costco earns most of its income from membership fees, but it also earns a small profit on retail transactions. As a result, Costco makes more money if its members spend more.

A Deteriorating Value Proposition

In his 2015 annual letter to Amazon shareholders, Jeff Bezos wrote, "We want Prime to be such a good value, you'd be irresponsible not to be a member." At the time, an annual membership cost $99. However, with every price increase, Amazon moves further away from Bezos' goal.

To be fair, while the price has jumped from $79 a year a decade ago to $139 a year today, Prime remains a great value for subscribers who use all of the benefits included with it. In addition to the core benefit of free fast delivery (as soon as same-day for many items in some cities), Prime also offers free access to a wide selection of video content, ad-free music streaming, online gaming, and a selection of e-books.

But for Prime members who aren't Amazon power users and aren't interested in ancillary benefits like streaming content, each price increase represents a potential tipping point that could make the cost outweigh the benefits of Prime. The 2022 price increase may not be the only reason why Amazon Prime's growth in the U.S. has come to an abrupt halt, but it was a big contributing factor.

After all, Amazon customers can get free standard shipping on orders over $25 without paying any membership fee. And Amazon isn't the only game in town. Target, for example, offers free 2-day shipping on many items with no order minimum for customers who use its store-brand credit card, which has no annual fee.

Time for a Rethink

Considering the cost of delivering Prime member benefits and how much Amazon has struggled to operate its core retail business profitably, a blanket price cut for Prime subscriptions isn't a realistic option. However, Amazon could create a multi-tiered subscription structure to better align Prime's cost with the benefits members actually use. Many subscription-based businesses have multiple tiers of membership with additional benefits available at higher price points, including Costco, Sam's Club, and Netflix.

For example, Amazon could reduce the base price of a Prime membership while moving all the ancillary benefits like free streaming content into a separate add-on subscription. This would have something in common with Netflix's decision to separate its streaming video service from its legacy DVD-by-mail business in 2011. That move was painful in the short run but paved the way for rapid growth over the following decade.

Years ago, it made sense for Amazon to offer free video content as a loss leader to attract consumers to the Prime program. Today, Amazon is a mature business that has already captured a big slice of the U.S. retail market, so there aren't many potential new customers left to acquire. If services like Prime Video, Prime Music, and Prime Gaming still can't stand on their own, the company should probably shut them down rather than subsidizing them.

Amazon could also consider creating a "basic" tier of Prime that would cost less and offer free 2-day shipping a limited number of times annually. This would give the company an opportunity to keep members who aren't using their Prime benefits much and would otherwise cancel.

There are doubtless many other ways that Amazon could restructure the Prime program to support profitable growth going forward. Maintaining the status quo, however, isn't going to cut it as Amazon enters a new era where growth is harder to achieve.

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Amazon Prime Is Past Its Prime - The Robin Report

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Amazon Prime's U.S. membership growth ran into a brick wall last year. As recently as 2021, Prime was still growing rapidly in its home market. The program's

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Is Amazon Prime worth the $139 cost? | CNBC

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76.6M households have an Amazon Prime Membership according to Statista

Annual membership: $139

Monthly membership: $14.99

Prime Student: $69 annually or $7.49 monthly

Prime Video: $8.99

As inflation rises, so do the costs of Amazon products

Estimated true value of Amazon Prime is worth around $1K is each service is fully priced out

Amazon Prime allows for expedited shipping and delivery (same day delivery as well)

Another benefit is video, music, and game streaming + other digital serives

With Amazon Prime, you have access to Prime Video, Amazon Music, Prime Gaming, Luna, Amazon Photo, Prime Video Channels discounts, Amazon Music Unlimited, and Amazon Kids+

Shopping and food delivery is much easy if you have Prime membership

Prime Reading and Books with the Audible Narration aka Kindle and Audible or Amazon First Reads is accessible with Amazon Prime

Amazon’s delivery perks cannot be compared to any other companies because of how good it is

To save more money on Amazon Prime is to split the subscription with people you trust

You can get immediate Amazon credits if you apply for an Amazon Prime credit card

If you have Prime but are not using its advantages, its better to cancel the membership

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It's likely that you and nearly everyone you know have an Amazon Prime membership, or at least access to one. Statista estimates that more than 76.6 million households have an account, after all.

The popular subscription service costs $139 per year for annual members. Those paying for Prime on a monthly basis pay $14.99 per month, while those with Prime Student accounts pay $69 per year.

Having an Amazon Prime membership might seem like a rite of passage - or sometimes an absolute necessity - but is it really worth an extra line on your monthly or yearly budget?

Below, CNBC Select breaks down the rewards, benefits and perks of having an Amazon Prime account, plus a few things to keep in mind if you're on the fence about purchasing the service.

The subscription service is so well-received because of the many benefits it offers its members - most notably, perhaps, is its complimentary two-day (or sometimes faster) shipping perk. But as the cost of doing business continues to rise, companies including Amazon are also increasing their prices.

Amazon Prime pricing

All current Amazon Prime members will pay the following rates when their membership is up for renewal (they're already in effect for new members):

$14.99 per month or $139 per year

$8.99 per month for Prime Video

Those with Amazon Prime Student accounts can expect to pay the following rate:

$7.49 per month or $69 per year

If you're currently on a government assistance program such as EBT or Medicaid, you may qualify for a discounted Amazon Prime Access membership of $6.99 per month - click here to find out more.

No one can argue against the value that Amazon Prime delivers. JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth estimated the true value of an Amazon Prime membership to be worth around $1,000 if you were to fully price out each service.

Here's a peek at some of the perks that come with Amazon Prime - visit the website to view the entire list of available benefits.

Expedited shipping and delivery: With Amazon Prime, you'll get faster shipping options, including complimentary two-day, one-day or same-day delivery, as well as two-hour delivery for groceries

Video, music and game streaming + other digital services: You'll get access to a wide variety of digital services, including Prime Video, Amazon Music, Prime Gaming (including Amazon's new cloud gaming platform Luna), Amazon Photos (unlimited cloud photo storage) and discounts on Prime Video Channels, Amazon Music Unlimited and Amazon Kids+

Shopping: You'll score Prime Member deals at Whole Foods Market, early access to Lightning Deals, an option for Prime Try Before You Buy (for clothing, shoes, jewelry and other accessories) and free shipping on Woot, among other benefits

Food delivery: Amazon recently added a free one-year membership to Grubhub+ for Prime members, which gives unlimited $0 delivery fees on orders from eligible restaurants, exclusive discounts and donation matching

Reading: Fans of digital books and audiobooks will get access to Prime Reading and Books with Audible Narration via Kindle and Audible and other perks like Amazon First Reads

Other discounts: You'll score free two-day and next-day shipping at shopbop, free expedited shipping from Zappos and access to major savings as part of Prime Day

Prime membership comes with a seemingly never-ending list of benefits, but how does it really stack up against similar services? Unfortunately, there aren't too many 'true' competitors out there since Amazon Prime offers such a robust amount of perks, although that may not be the case for long as other retailers continue to launch and test their own subscription models. Here's how it holds up against Walmart+.

Amazon Prime vs. Walmart+

Walmart+ offers a similar subscription model where you can have orders delivered quickly to your door. Walmart+ members receive the following benefits:

Free next-day and two-day shipping on items from Walmart.com (with no order minimums), although that excludes most Marketplace items, location & freight surcharges

Free same-day grocery delivery from your store when you spend at least $35 (based on availability)

Discounts on prescriptions and the ability to save five cents per gallon at Walmart and Murphy gas stations

A nifty Scan & Go feature to use when shopping in the physical store

Walmart+ costs $12.95 per month or $98 per year, which is moderately less expensive compared to Amazon Prime. If you're the type of consumer who simply wants to receive your products as quickly as possible and prefers shopping at Walmart, without needing any of Prime's additional benefits, Walmart+ may be a better fit. However, Amazon Prime offers similar shipping services and a much more widespread list of benefits for about $40 more per year.

If you're unsure about whether or not Walmart+ is right for you, try signing up for a 30-day free trial. If you enjoy using the service and want to keep it for yourself, consider applying for the Platinum Card® from American Express, which offers a monthly statement credit to cover the cost of Walmart+.

There is no service out there quite like Amazon Prime, which could make it a difficult decision to part ways with it, especially if you're taking advantage of many of the benefits. Thankfully, there are a few ways you can save on your Amazon Prime subscription.

The simplest method is to split your subscription with friends and family. My family and I share the cost of our Prime account and use Venmo to pay one another. Instead of paying $139 per year, I end up paying only one-third of that since we are splitting the cost three ways. Amazon even has a guide on how you share your Prime benefits on its website.

You may also want to consider applying for one of the Amazon Prime credit cards, each of which comes with immediate Amazon credits that can help offset the cost of the membership and earn you additional rewards on your purchases.

Amazon Prime can be appealing to many types of consumers, including those who live in either urban and rural areas. It's great for those who prefer shopping online rather than in person, those who want to keep their shopping all with one retailer, those who want free and quick shipping and for anyone who enjoys shopping at Whole Foods Market. It's also worth looking at if you're a food-delivery fanatic who may have already subscribed to a service like Grubhub+ or Doordash's Dashpass (normally $9.99/mo), since you'll now get one year of free food delivery through Grubhub+.

Even if only a few of Amazon Prime's benefits appeal to you, their utility could make the cost of the service easily worth it. If you were to pay for even a few of the services individually you'll likely be paying more than if you were just to subscribe to Prime itself.

That said, if you rarely order items online or aren't interested in other Prime perks outside of quick shipping, you may be better off either paying the shipping cost per item or opting for a more affordable service like Walmart+. Alternatively, to be even more cost-efficient, you could always ask a friend who already has an Amazon Prime account to order the product for you.

Doing the math

So, how do you consider subscribing to Amazon Prime and making the price seem ''worth it?"

On my regular, non-shared, non-Prime Amazon account, a pack of toothpaste would cost $5.99 to ship to my home in one day. If each order is going to add six more dollars in shipping costs, that means Amazon Prime would pay for itself in 23 orders, or an average of two orders per month.

With a Student membership, it makes even more sense to pay for Prime. Ordering a textbook for dental school, for instance, would cost an extra $7.64 in shipping charges, so you would have to order roughly 10 textbooks a year to make the service worth your while.

Shipping costs will vary depending on the item and how quickly you want it, but if you're choosing two-day shipping often, you'll likely come out ahead with Prime if you order online more than two dozen times a year. Remember that you also can get free shipping from Amazon without a Prime membership when your order has $25 or more of eligible items, however, your order will take five to eight days to be delivered.

If you value any of the other benefits outside of speedy shipping you'll be even closer to Prime being worth it for you. Plus, if you're using the Prime Visa, Amazon Prime can quickly pay for itself with its 5% cash-back earnings on Amazon purchases.

Amazon Prime has now become a normal line item on most American consumers' budgets as we've quickly adopted online shopping as a way of life. Whether you're splitting the cost with your friends and family or using a rewards credit card to save on the membership cost, Amazon Prime is likely worth having if you shop online regularly. That said, if you're currently paying for the service but rarely take advantage of its many benefits, this may be a good time to cancel your membership and save $139 for your emergency fund instead.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every personal finance guide is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of personal finance products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.
For rates and fees of the Platinum Card from American Express, click Information about the Amazon Credit Cards has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer prior to publication; if you purchase something through Select links, we may earn a commission. .
Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.

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Is Amazon Prime worth the $139 cost? Here's our analysis

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Select breaks down the benefits and features of Amazon Prime, and some things to consider if you're on the fence about keeping the pricey service.

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Is a Prime membership worth it? | AboutAmazon

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Prime saves money everyday with exclusive deals, fast delivery, prescription savings, and entertainment services

Prime is worth it for members that use the benefits because it offers a lot

Amazon delivery options are fast, free, and flexible

More than 300M items are eligible for free Prkme shipping

There are also Same-Day Delivery

Prime members are accessible to 30 min. early Lightening Deals and exclusive savings and events

Prime Day is one of Amazons biggest events only for Amazon Prim members

Prime subscribers can watch shows and movies at no cost on Prime Video

Prime Reading allows Prime members to read thousands of books, audiobook, magazines, newspapers, and comics

Medications and prescriptions cost less with Prime

You are to share the Prime membership among two adults, four teens, and four kids using the Household Benefit

Prime Access is for govt assistant recipients

Prime Student is more members enrolled into college

Amazon 30 day trial is for those who want to have a membership for 30 days without paying

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If you've been considering joining Prime and are not quite sure if a membership is worth it, the answer is yes. Prime saves members money every day with exclusive deals, fast, free delivery, prescription savings, and quality entertainment.

Prime is well for members who take advantage of the benefits it offers (and it offers a lot).

Prime's benefits span every part of your life, from shopping to delivery to entertainment to health care-all offered to make life a little better, easier, convenient and more fun. If you're an avid shopper, the fast, free delivery alone might make a membership worth it. If you're big into , the access to an expansive library of content on Prime Video, Prime Reading, and Amazon Music might do the trick.

Here are some of the reasons a Prime membership is often worth the cost.

One of Prime's most notable benefits is the fast, free delivery. There are more than 300 million items eligible for free Prime shipping. You can even find items with free , depending on where you live (not all cities and towns are currently eligible). If you're looking to schedule your Amazon deliveries on a specific day, you can use the free Prime member perk, Amazon Day. On top of making deliveries work for your personal schedule, choosing is a great way to combine multiple orders into one delivery, potentially reducing the amount of packaging you receive.

Prime's fast and free delivery options will make your life so much easier. Because we could all benefit from some saved time.

Prime members get 30-minute early access to as well as exclusive access to savings during shopping events like Prime Day.

is one of Amazon's biggest shopping events, and it's completely exclusive to Amazon Prime members. The site offers savings across top categories including tech, furniture, clothing, and much more. It's the perfect time to stock up on essentials and save on big-ticket items you've been waiting to shop, that is if you're a Prime member of course. (Prime members than any other Prime Day event.)

Prime members can enjoy a variety of digital entertainment benefits at no additional cost to their membership, including .

offers a huge library of content, including Thursday Night Football, Emmy winners The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, Emmy-nominated satirical superhero drama The Boys, and the smash hits The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power, Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, Thirteen Lives, Being the Ricardos, Reacher, and Coming 2 America.

connects readers to a rotating selection of thousands of books, audiobooks, magazines, newspapers, and comicsand gives readers a taste of the millions of page-turning reads available with a monthly membership to . (You don't need to have Prime to subscribe to Kindle Unlimited.)

Readers can also enjoy pre-release, editorially-selected Kindle books across genres through .

Prime members also have access to ad-free listening to over 100 million songs and millions of podcast episodes with , and in-game content, free games, and a free subscription with .

Prime members can receive all of their eligible generic medications for just $5 a month with and have them delivered free to their door. Medications that treat more than 80 common conditions, such as high blood pressure, anxiety, and acid reflux, are included in the RxPass subscription.

Amazon allows a family to share a single Prime membership among two adults, four teens, and four kids under 13. Using the , everyone can use the benefits of Prime (like Prime Video, Prime Gaming, and Prime Reading, for example) and the adults and teens can also use Prime to shop with fast, free delivery.

A Prime membership is $14.99 per month, or $139 per year if you pay annually-but Amazon also offers several discounted membership options with the same valuable benefits including fast, free delivery on millions of items, exclusive perks, and savings for eligible members.

is just $6.99 per month for qualifying government assistance recipients, including SNAP EBT and Medicaid.

-another discounted membership-is $7.49 per month or $69 per year for members enrolled in two or four-year colleges that includes additional exclusive perks specifically for .

Amazon offers a for Prime and Prime Access, so you can take advantage of Prime's benefits without paying a membership fee for 30 days to see if a membership is right for you.

Learn more about . Also learn more about all of .

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Is a Prime membership worth it? The short answer is yes.

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Here are all the perks and benefits that make a Prime membership well worth the cost.

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15 Reasons Why An Amazon Prime Membership is Worth the $139 Annual Fee | Business Insider

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Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial

New and eligible returning members can try Prime for 30 days, free. That includes all of the benefits, like two-day shipping and Prime Video access.

Save on shipping costs

Your Prime membership includes free two-day delivery on over 10 million items. And if your order is over $25, you might even unlock free one-day or same-day shipping. Without Prime, you'll only get free regular shipping if your order is over $25.

Shipping fees usually cost between $4 and $10. It doesn't take many purchases with Prime's free shipping to start noticing your savings.

A 2019 study showed that Amazon Prime members spend an average of $1,400 on the platform every year. If it weren't for free shipping, that number would be hundreds of dollars higher - more than enough to pay for a Prime subscription by itself.

Order fresh groceries with two-hour delivery

Amazon operates two different grocery store brands: Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh. With a Prime subscription, you can order groceries and everyday essentials from both brands and have the products delivered right to your doorstep. And the prices aren't much different than those in physical grocery stores.

This service isn't available everywhere, and you need to meet a minimum price of $150. But if you're in a big city like New York or Los Angeles, you'll probably be able to have your groceries delivered in less than two hours.

Stream movies and music in HD

Your Prime subscription comes with a free membership for both Prime Video and Prime Music.

Prime Video is one of the hottest streaming services around, offering thousands of movies and TV shows. These include popular titles from the past few years and original Amazon shows like "The Boys" and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." Some titles can't be streamed for free, but you can still buy or rent them for an extra fee.

You'll also have access to Prime Music, Amazon's music streaming app with over 2 million songs and podcasts. There are no ads, and all the music streams in high quality.

Compare these two services to Netflix and Spotify Premium, which cost about $25 together. Saving $25 a month with Prime Video and Prime Music pays for Prime's yearly membership cost in six months.

Amazon Prime Video Monthly Subscription

Prime Video has thousands of movies and TV shows, including popular original series and films you won't find anywhere else. The service is available as part of a full Amazon Prime membership for $15/month or as a stand-alone plan for $9/month. Ad-free streaming costs an extra $3/month.

Earn free video games and Twitch subs

Prime Gaming lets you subscribe to one Twitch streamer for free every month - it normally costs $4.99 - which unlocks exclusive emotes and lets you watch ad-free.

But what some Prime subscribers don't realize is that Amazon gives out free games to every Prime subscriber every month. These include fighting games, puzzle games, RPGs, shooters, and more. You'll also have the chance to redeem free rewards in popular games like "Warframe" and "League of Legends."

Few Amazon Prime perks give you more than Prime Gaming - be sure to take advantage of it.

Store all your photos and videos safely

Amazon Photos lets you save and share an unlimited amount of full-resolution photos across all your devices. You can share that unlimited storage with up to five people. If you're paying every month for extra iCloud or Google Drive storage just to make room for your photos, you can cut out that cost.

You'll also get 5 GB for videos and files. And Amazon Photos comes pre-installed on Amazon devices, so you can also view your photos on a Fire TV or Echo Show.

Save money with Prime Day and exclusive deals

Amazon Prime Day is an annual shopping holiday, like Black Friday or Cyber Monday, where thousands of items go on sale. Log into Amazon on Prime Day, and you'll find gadgets, furniture, clothing, accessories, and more selling for lower prices than they do all year.

But here's the catch: Those deals only show up for Prime subscribers. Aside from free shipping, Prime Day is probably the number one way to save money with your Prime membership. If you've been saving up for a certain product, like a TV or game console, check it out on Prime Day for the best price. You can learn more about the perks in our " What is Prime Day" guide.

Your Prime membership also unlocks an exclusive coupon book and regularly rotating deals. And if you choose the "no-rush" option when placing an order, you'll earn discounts on future purchases in exchange for waiting a few days longer for that order to arrive.

Try clothes on at home before actually buying them

The best part of going clothes shopping is getting to try clothes on before you buy them. But Amazon Prime subscribers don't have to give that up when they shop for clothes online.

The Prime Try Before You Buy perk lets you order up to eight items to try on for a week. Keep the ones you want to buy, and send back the ones you don't - you'll only be charged for what you kept.

And for an extra $4.99 fee, you can hire a personal stylist to pick out a set of clothes for you.

If you've ever gotten burned by online clothes shopping, Try Before You Buy is a great way to save money and frustration.

Sign up for kid-friendly subscriptions

Amazon Prime isn't just for the grown-ups. Prime members earn discounts on two premium kid-focused subscription services: Amazon Kids Plus and Amazon Book Box.

Kids Plus offers a suite of age-appropriate books, movies, shows, and apps for kids ages 3 to 12. There are also parental control options that you can use to fine-tune exactly what your child is seeing. It costs $4.99 a month or $48 a year for Prime Customers - down from $7.99 or $79 for non-Prime users.

If you want to stay away from the apps and games, consider Amazon Book Box. Made exclusively for Prime members, Book Box lets you order a box full of curated children's books every month. You get to pick an age group before you order, so the books will always be age-appropriate. It costs $16.99 for the first box and then $19.99 for every box afterward.

Get cashback on every purchase with a special Visa card

Want to keep saving money, even outside of Amazon? Prime subscribers can apply for the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card.

This card will get you 5% cash back on all Amazon or Whole Foods orders, 2% back at restaurants and gas stations, and 1% back on everything else. And that's not even counting the points, which you can turn into more cash back or Amazon discounts.

If you're approved for the card, you'll also immediately receive a $70 Amazon gift card.

Get Prime 50% off if you're a student or EBT recipient

If you're currently a student at an American university and have a .edu email address, you're entitled to a six-month trial of Prime Student at no cost. Once it's over, your Prime membership will be half the price of a regular membership ($69 a year or $7.49 a month). It'll last four years or until your indicated graduation date - whichever comes first.

Similarly, qualifying customers with an EBT or Medicaid card only have to pay $6.99 a month. There's no yearly plan.

Amazon Prime Student

New subscribers to Amazon Prime Student can enjoy a six-month free trial and then Amazon Prime at 50% off the regular subscription price at the end of the trial.

Give yourself time and flexibility

More so than money, maybe the most valuable thing Amazon Prime can give you is time. Between quick shipping times and release-day deliveries on brand-new products, you'll rarely have to wait long for your orders to arrive.

Features like Amazon Day and Amazon Key In-Garage deliveries give you more control over when your packages arrive, too. You don't need to worry about missing your deliveries because you're not home.

Amazon Prime gets you millions of items quickly and cheaply. There are few deals better for your money.

Who Amazon Prime isn't worth the money for

For most customers, Amazon Prime is a great way to save money over time. But every customer is different, and not everyone will be amazed by Prime's benefits and features.

If you don't buy items from Amazon often, you might not save enough on free shipping to justify the $139 yearly fee. The same is true if you don't plan on using the entertainment services that Prime unlocks, like Prime Video, Prime Music, and Prime Reading.

Some of Prime's benefits are also pretty niche. Kids Plus and Book Box won't mean much if you don't have children. And the Prime Gaming perks are aimed at users who regularly watch Twitch streams and play games like "League of Legends," which might not be you.

There's also a human cost. Reporters have written countless articles about how Amazon's push to ship products as fast as possible has led to unsafe working conditions for its employees. The more customers order products using Prime, the faster Amazon's warehouses must move to fulfill those orders. Depending on your views, the money saved with Prime might not be worth that.

Amazon Prime is a massively popular and cost-effective subscription. But it's not for everyone - think about what services you know you'll use before you sign up and pay $139.
Mara Leighton and Tercius Bufete contributed to a previous version of this article.

Tech Reporter for Insider Reviews

William Antonelli (he/she/they) is a writer, editor, and organizer based in New York City. As a founding member of the Reference team, he helped grow Tech Reference (now part of Insider Reviews) from humble beginnings into a juggernaut that attracts over 20 million visits a month. Outside of Insider, his writing has appeared in publications like Polygon, The Outline, Kotaku, and more. He's also a go-to source for tech analysis on channels like Newsy, Cheddar, and NewsNation. You can find him on Twitter @DubsRewatcher, or reach him by email at wantonelli@businessinsider.com.

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15 reasons why an Amazon Prime membership is worth the $139 annual fee

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Amazon Prime is worth it for most customers, even at $139 a year. Between free shipping and exclusive discounts, it'll save more money than you spend.

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Should You Cancel Amazon Prime? | Kiplinger Personal Finance 

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Price hicks and disappearing subscription benefits led Prime members to question if the subscription is still worth it

Anyone can buy from Amazon and you don't have to be a Prime member

Though you may lose some access to some benefits, you might not need all those services anyway

If you pay for annual membership, you are shelling out $139 each year

If you pay for monthly subscription, that is $14.99 a month which is more than the annual membership

Amazon Prime is not the only retail membership available.

The 30-Day Amazon free trial is an option that could be taking advantage of.

Amazon's uniqueness used to be the free two-day shipping but nowadays, this feature is no longer unique as many businesses also have this feature

Other companies also have these types of shipping plans and they don't come with an annual $139+ price tag

Not everyone needs a prime membership to receive free shipping

Amazon has a $25 free shipping threshold for non Prime members

Many other sources for e-books and video streaming media bases are far better than the ones Amazon provides

Some Amazon exclusive deals do not offer the lowest prices

At other companies, you are able to find better prices

Some consumers might prefer to try/support smaller, independent companies instead of large corporations like Amazon

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Should You Cancel Amazon Prime? Here Are 12 Good Reasons

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After lots of recent ups and downs, is now the time to cancel Amazon Prime?