On April 8th, Amazon will raise the rate of Amazon Prime from $79 per year to $99 per year.
(If you haven’t had Amazon Prime before, you can lock-in the $79.00 rate NOW for the upcoming year by going here and just skip the rest of this article.)
This rate hike was hinted at the last shareholders meeting, so it wasn’t a big surprise. I think the surprise was that Amazon kept the Prime rate so low for so many years considering the wealth of benefits you receive.
Why Amazon Prime Is Still Worth It…
I’ve been an Amazon Prime Member for over four years, and in my humble opinion it is worth $149 per year because of the benefits, including:
- FREE 2-Day Shipping on any item sold by Amazon
- Amazon Prime Kindle Lending Library
- FREE Amazon Prime Instant Video
- Up to 20% Discount on Subscribe & Save Items When You are Amazon Mom and Prime Member
Let me take it step-by-step why this is such a great deal for our family.
FREE 2-Day Shipping on any item sold by Amazon
During the Christmas season, this is not a negotiable. I do almost 90% of my shopping online, and Prime allows me to swoop up on great deals without having to worry about whether or not I have the $35 minimum threshold. This allows me to spend less overall, therefore saving me money.
Amazon Prime Kindle Lending Library
I read The Hunger Games Trilogy due to this benefit. And I’ve read countless other amazing books over the years because of it. It’s nice to be able to check out a book for free every now and again, and the lending library allows me to do that.
FREE Amazon Prime Instant Video
This is probably the most used benefit in our house (since we do not pay for cable). I can watch movies, shows, documentaries and more. It’s where I fell in love with the show Suits, Sherlock, and Scandal. My kids watch Spongebob. My husband watches Justified and Sons of Anarchy. We love our television and Amazon Prime allows us to get our fill at a huge discount.
Up to 20% Discount on Subscribe & Save Items When You are Amazon Mom and Prime Member
I often talk about the “magic 5” number when referring to Subscribe & Save Deals…that discount will only happen when you are both an Amazon Mom and Prime Member.
And I’ll throw another one out…there are several times per year that Amazon has discounts on Kindles, movies, books, or music that are only available to Amazon Prime members.
So what do you think about the rate increase? Are you going to jump ship or do you think it is worth every dollar of that Benjamin?