Perks Of Your Amazon Prime Membership You Didn’t Know You’re Missing Out On
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One thing binds Americans of all stripes together, regardless of their differences. Something bigger than political allegiance, class, creed, or any other dividing marker separating them. That thing is Amazon Prime. According to the most recent data, a staggering 75% of U.S. shoppers have a Prime membership. That’s more than the number who vote, go to baseball games, or attend religious services. The introduction of the membership program was one ofAmazon’s biggest momentsby far. But while hundreds of millions of Americans fork over their cash to the retail giant every month, some on adiscounted Prime membership, far fewer actually take advantage of everything to which that fee entitles them.
If you’re like most Prime members, you get your expedited, free shipping on Amazon orders or maybe enjoy a show or two on Prime Video and call it a day. But if that describes you, there is a laundry list of perks that you’re missing out on despite paying for them. While Amazon doesn’t heavily advertise a lot of its best Prime features and programs, many of them are incredibly useful. Some will save you even more money on Amazon’s marketplace, while others will enhance your experience at affiliated companies like Whole Foods. And if you’re an avid reader or Kindle user, there are extra goodies just for you. That’s why we’re rounding up some of the most commonly overlooked Prime benefits. If you’re a Prime member who likes saving money and getting free stuff, keep on reading as we explore some of the best perks your Prime membership entitles you.
Amazon First Reads and Prime Reading
At the time of writing, there are a plethora of Marvel, “Star Trek,” and “Star Wars” comics on offer, including seminal stories like Marvel’s “House of M” by Brian Michael Bendis and compendiums like “The Amazing Spider-Man” by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. For lovers of literary fiction, there is the Amazon Original short story “Cut & Thirst” by Margaret Atwood, while those interested in social theory can read “The Gift of Black Folk” by the towering American intellectual W. E. B. Du Bois. What’s on offer from Prime Reading may differ depending on when you read this article, but the picks are certainly worth browsing.
Grubhub+ comes included with Amazon Prime
We all need to eat, and we don’t always have the time or ability to cook. That’s one reason why app-based restaurant delivery services have become so popular. But if you’re already paying for Amazon Prime, there’s no need to spend money on another subscription or delivery fees in DoorDash or Uber Eats. With Prime, you get a free Grubhub subscription that guarantees free delivery on orders over $12 (which, given the cost of food these days, should be the vast majority of orders). If Grubhub has a presence in your area, there’s a good chance most of your usual favorite restaurants are available on its app, which makes it worthwhile to check out next time you’re in the mood to order from that Thai spot you’re able to’t get enough of.
Grubhub usually carries national chains as well, from Chipotle to Popeyes. With no delivery fee, you’ll pay for the food itself, along with any taxes and fees applicable in your locale. And, of course, you should always tip your delivery driver since drivers rely on tips for a significant portion of their income. Honestly, the main problem with Grubhub+ as a Prime perk is how easy it becomes to spend far more than you intended on take-out and delivery. Activating this perk should be as easy as heading toAmazon’s Grubhub+ Prime Offer landing page.
Try clothes before you buy them with Prime
The main problem with online clothes shopping is that it’s nearly impossible to tell whether the items you buy will fit or look good on you. If they don’t, you’re left hoping that the retailer you purchased from has a generous return policy, lest you be stuck with your ill-fitting haul. Amazon Prime makes the process much easier with the Try Before You Buy program, which lets you pick multiple items of clothing and send back the ones you don’t like. Not only that, but you won’t even have to pay until you’ve picked the items you plan on keeping.
Not all clothes on Amazon are eligible for Try Before You Buy, but many are. The process is simple if you want to give the service a try. Simply add items labeled Try Before You Buy to your cart and check out. The checkout process will look a little different than usual since you’re not actually paying yet. Once you receive all the items in your order, you’ll have one week to return what you don’t plan on keeping, after which you’ll be charged only for what you do.
While Try Before You Buy is extremely convenient for online shoppers, you should be aware that there’s a very high likelihood that the items you return will end up in a landfill. As reported byCNBC, most of the items returned to Amazon are never restocked, even if they’re in perfect condition, and although Amazon claims it is working toward “zero product disposal,” 16 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions are generated. How you choose to shop is your choice, of course, but it’s worth bearing in mind this hidden cost.
Prime Gaming is a Prime benefit
Prime members get music and ad-free podcasts
The Prime version of Amazon Music also comes with access to ad-free podcasts. The platform has a rather robust library of podcasts ranging from “NPR News Now” and other NPR shows to true crime shows like “Morbid” and political punditry like “Pod Save America,” “Morning Joe,” and “The Ben Shapiro Show.” Those with fandom allegiances may take interest in content like “The Official Game of Thrones Podcast: House of the Dragon,” while fans of science-fiction can enjoy “The Uncanny Magazine Podcast.” With the exception of some podcasts that remain exclusive to one platform or another (for example, “The Joe Rogan Experience” is a Spotify exclusive), you’ll seldom struggle to find any of the most popular podcasts on Amazon Music. For those who want to maximize the value of their Prime subscription and don’t want to shell out for a separate streaming service, Amazon Music is a great Prime perk.
Prime members get free photo backups
At first blush, Amazon Photos will look suspiciously familiar to users of the beloved Google Photos, with an interface far too similar to Google’s offering to be a coincidence. However, unlike Google’s service, Amazon Photos lacks thefree AI features Google Photos bringsto the table, and it offers relatively few editing options. It’s a rather bare-boned storage solution that seems designed to give you straightforward access to your media or share photos with friends and family. You can sort photos into albums and search them by time or place or search based on objects in the photos. You can also share photos with loved ones using the Family Vault feature. Amazon Photos is perfect for those who are deep in the Amazon ecosystem, or for whom the free version of Google Photos does not provide enough photo storage.
