Amazon is already a treasure trove of great prices, undercutting a lot of other e-commerce and brick-and-mortar store prices. The savings only get better if you are among the over 100 million people who subscribe to Amazon Prime. It’s great for shopping benders, thanks to the service’s most basic and best feature: free two-day shipping—soon to be one day shipping standard!—on eligible products. Plus, you get access to all the streaming content they make and license for Prime Video, Amazon’s take on Netflix.
If $119 per year for Prime sounds expensive even with all that, there’s a month-to-month option for $12.99. If you keep that option for a year or longer, obviously you’re not saving much; but if you need free shipping for the holidays or want to binge-watch The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel or The Man in the High Castle for a month or two, it’s a good option.
Medicaid recipients and low-income families with a valid Electronic Benefits Transfer card can get Prime even cheaper, at $5.99 per month (though you can’t use the EBT card to pay for Prime).
Naturally, if you’re a Prime member you can take advantage of Amazon’s annual Prime Day, the company’s attempt to boost e-commerce in the summer to Black Friday-mania levels. And it seems to be working.
With Prime Day(s) looming on July 15-16, now is the time to use the 30-day free Prime trial. It’s worth it, even if you’re not going shopping, because Prime includes a slew of other services beyond just shipping and videos. Below, we’ll spell out some of the special things you can get.
