Amazon Prime: What Is It, How Did It Come About, How Much Does It Cost, Advantages And Services It Offers

Find out why you should be Amazon Prime and take advantage of the benefits it offers.

Amazon Prime is a subscription that has more and more registered users every day. We are going to tell you what advantages this subscription has, how much it costs, all the services it offers, the possibilities that you can take advantage of, and how to unsubscribe if you no longer want to continue being Prime.

Amazon is a world reference in terms of the online store that it is, but the sales numbers grow disproportionately every month. A Prime user will know to tell you to subscribe because you will have a series of benefits that other stores do not offer you. Not only will you have fast and free shipping, but also endless services and guarantees that will make you stay.

Everything that includes Amazon Prime: advantages and services

Amazon Prime includes a series of services, advantages, and guarantees that other electronic stores are not able to offer. From free shipping on millions of products to free returns or exchanges to music and TV on demand for the same annual fee. The Amazon Prime service is not something easy to explain, so we better take a look at it in a short list:

• Free 1-day shipping on over a million products. All the products that Amazon has in warehouses are distributed in our country.
• Free express or standard shipping on millions of products that do not have the ‘ship in 1-day’ option.
• Free shipping on the day of the launch of certain products. These are usually movies, series, and/or video games, among others.
• Priority access to flash offers. Many of Amazon’s daily deals are available to Prime members 30 minutes earlier than to other shoppers.
• A to Z Guarantee – This is Amazon’s commitment that every transaction in its store will be successful if there is a problem for one of the two parties.
• Prime Video: a streaming platform for movies, series, and documentaries where you will find all kinds of audiovisual content from external production companies and Amazon’s own production company, Prime Video. Prime Video’s app is available for Android and iOS.
• Prime Music: You can listen to up to 2 million music tracks without advertising. You have the Amazon Music app available to use on your Android and iOS device.
• Prime Reading – This is a service similar to Prime Music, where you can read millions of eBooks for free. You can add up to 10 books to your Kindle library to read.
• Twitch Prime – Use your Amazon Prime subscription to support your favorite streamer on Twitch and also take advantage of exclusive content each month for PC games.
• Prime Now: This is a service currently available only in the cities of Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia. This is the possibility of receiving your purchase at home in less than 2 hours at certain times, depending on the city in which you live.
• Amazon Photos: with this service, we will have an unlimited cloud to only upload photos. We will not be able to upload videos or any other type of files that are not images. The mobile app is that of Amazon Photos, but it is not yet fully polished, everything must be said.
• Amazon Fresh: only available for users who live in the city of Madrid. It is a shipment of more than 10,000 fresh products delivered quickly to the customer’s address.
• Amazon Locker: in certain locations, more over time, there are huge cubicles in the shape of yellow containers where we can pick up our shipments. In the purchase process, we will be told if it is possible to pick it up at a Locker or not, due to the size of each package. If so, you will be assigned a unique 6-digit code to be able to open the gate of this Locker.
• Amazon Family: for those who are about to become parents, Amazon offers you an additional 15% off products related to newborns, such as diapers, baby food, or coupons to redeem on toys for the little members of the family. Don’t forget to create a birth list to share with your family and friends, and thus receive all the gifts you need for the newborn and the new life that awaits you.
• Amazon Business: This is an exclusive service for companies that helps reduce expenses, with free and fast shipments of material, and with invoices with VAT reflected at all times to be able to deduct company purchases. It adapts to you, whether you are self-employed, if you have an SME or if you are creating a Start-up.

But if a service has not been clear to you, we will detail below the ones that you will best take advantage of being Prime.

Prime Video

Prime Video is an on-demand content platform for movies, series, and documentaries where you will find all kinds of audiovisual content from external production companies and Amazon’s own production company, Prime Video. Prime Video’s app is available for Android and iOS.

Super productions such as the series The Man in the High Castle, Bosch, Hanna or Hunter, with great reception from the public, or feature films such as The Big Sick, Paterson, or Without Remorse, are making many more users switch to using Prime Video instead from other popular platforms such as Netflix, Disney +, Apple TV + or HBO Max.

Prime Music

With Prime Music, you can listen to up to 2 million music tracks without advertising. You have the Amazon Music app available to use on your Android and iOS device. It’s very simple, you download the app, open it, and automatically log in with your access data to the Amazon shopping app.

You can create your playlists and share them with your friends. Similarly, you can download the available songs and listen to them offline whenever you want from the Amazon Music app.

Prime Reading

The Prime Reading service is similar to Prime Music, where you can read millions of e-books at no cost. You can add up to 10 books to your Kindle library to read. You must use the Kindle app (available on Android and iOS ) to be able to read those works you have listed whenever you want.

The app is very easy to use and very intuitive. At a glance, you will see the books you have added to your list, with their color covers (in black and white if you are going to read them on a Kindle eBook reader), and you can easily switch from one to another at the time you want.

Prime Gaming or Twitch Prime

With Twitch Prime you use your Amazon Prime subscription to support your favorite streamer on Twitch and also take advantage of exclusive content every month for PC games. Just by being Amazon Prime, you can subscribe to a different streamer every month. You can repeat if you want, but this allows you to support multiple streamers after a year.

Amazon Pictures

If you use Amazon Photos you will have an unlimited cloud where you can only upload your photos. We will not be able to upload videos or any other type of files that are not images. The app for this is Amazon Photos, but it’s not quite polished yet. In the same way, as with the rest of the apps, you must install the app and log in with your Amazon account, as long as it is not automatically detected.

What is Amazon Prime, how much does it cost, and how to hire it

We have already detailed everything that Amazon Prime includes, and now you will want to know how it works, how much it costs, and how you can sign up for all the available services. All this is very simple and cheap. Do you want to continue learning about Amazon Prime?

What is Amazon Prime and how does it work?

Amazon Prime is a special subscription to Amazon with which you will be able to benefit from a series of actions, prices, and events that you will only see on the website of the American giant.

The subscription is very simple, you sign up for free and you can now make your purchases online by adding your payment methods, addresses, and other personal data to be able to complete your purchases most safely.

A user who is not Prime will not be able to access a series of services, discounts, or exclusive days of offers such as Prime Day which is celebrated once every year. In this period of discounts, you will benefit from offers for 48 hours in what is one of the biggest shopping moments on Amazon each year, with the permission of Black Friday.

How much does Amazon Prime cost?

UPDATE:

To be a Prime member we can choose two payment methods: annual or monthly. Currently, the price is 36 euros per year or 3.99 euros per month. However, from next September 15, 2022, Amazon will charge a fee of 4.99 euros/month and 49.90 euros/year.

If you are a Prime user and have recently renewed your subscription or you have to do it before September 15, you will pay the current rate (not the new one), that is, 36 euros/year. In the next renewal, you will have to pay 49.90 euros.

How to sign up for Amazon Prime

To become a Prime user, you just have to go to the Amazon website, in the Prime section, and start registering as a new user. You will only need an email address. Once you activate your account and want to make your first purchase, you will be required to add a payment method and postal address to both collect the order and correctly deliver the package.

From this date, you will have 30 days of use of your Prime subscription at no cost. Once the trial month is over, you will be charged the annual fee, if so, the payment method you have chosen when registering your account.

How to unsubscribe from Amazon Prime

To unsubscribe, you just have to cancel your Prime subscription through the Amazon website. If you want to unsubscribe during the trial period, you will not have to pay any amount. If, on the other hand, you decide to stop being a Prime member during a paid subscription, you can ask Amazon to refund you the proportional part of the remaining year.

How to get cheaper Amazon Prime

Although the Amazon Prime subscription is a bargain at the current price, it is possible to pay less or even nothing for the service. Depending on our situation, Amazon offers us two options to be able to enjoy all the advantages of Amazon Prime:

30 days free trial (36 euros/year after)

Any new user will have a one-month free trial. You can make purchases by taking advantage of free shipping, watching all you want Prime Video, listening to Prime Music songs, or reading many books included in the Prime Reading section. Once the trial period is over, the cost of the annual subscription of 36 euros will be automatically charged.

90 days free with Prime Student (18 euros/year after)

If your economic situation is not very favorable, as it is for most students, you may be interested in belonging to the Prime Student users. It is a membership similar to that of Amazon Prime, but with a much lower cost.

University students can benefit from a 50% discount on the annual Amazon Prime fee. In addition to this, the free trial goes up from the usual 30 days to 90 days. Therefore, we have a Prime subscription for 18 euros per year and with 3 free months to try the service and all the extras that it entails.

UPDATE: As of September 15, the price will rise from 18 euros/year to 24.95 euros/year.

In addition to the reduction of the annual fee, being Amazon Prime Student you have a series of additions that will surprise you:

• You’ll get up to 20% off Amazon’s brand, AmazonBasics, and everyday college products.
• An additional 10% on garments from the Amazon Fashion section, on Microsoft tablets, on OnePlus mobiles, and Lekué kitchen products.
• Another 20% discount on the purchase of SmartGyro brand electric scooters.
• And a 15% discount on Polar brand devices for sports activities.

Services NOT included in the Amazon Prime subscription

Perhaps the 36 or 18 euros a year paid by Amazon Prime subscribers is not profitable for the company. For this reason, there are a series of added services that you can contract as a Prime user with additional monthly fees to the Amazon Prime subscription.

Services with extra payment to Amazon Prime

The truth is that with all of the above, Amazon Prime is already the most profitable subscription in terms of numbers and services that it offers for only 36 euros per year (18 euros if you are a student). But Amazon also has other services, complementary to the previous ones, with which to gain more and more subscribers little by little.

• Music Unlimited + Music HD – This is a service like Spotify, Apple Music, or Deezer, among others. We will have more than 75 million songs available to listen to without ads and even be able to download them if we want to listen offline. In addition to this, Music HD is incorporated into this same service at no additional cost so that you can listen to lossless music in the best possible quality. And all this for a price of 9.99 euros per month or 99 euros per year. It is equal in price to the rest of the competitors in the sector, although the possibility of music in original quality is not available to all.
• Kindle Unlimited: if you are a book lover, for 9.99 euros per month you can enjoy the entire catalog, which is millions and millions of literary works. You can read all the books you find on Amazon, with very few exceptions.
• Prime Video Channels: These are thematic channels with an added cost to Prime Video. Channels like StarzPlay, MGM, Mezzo, OUT TV, TVCortos, MUBI, or Noggin by Nick Jr., among others, offer us extra content for a modest price that goes from 1.99 euros/month to 4.99 euros/month in some cases.
• Audible: the Amazon podcast and audiobook service that is making its way in our country does not stop acquiring new subscribers. The cost of Audible is 9.99 euros per month.
• Business Prime: with this service, you will be able to have all your shipments planned, you will unlock progressive discounts, you will have total transparency of your expenses and Amazon will guide you in the products you need for your company or business. Business Prime has 5 plans, ranging from 25 euros/year (+ VAT) to 2,000 euros/year (+ VAT), to which more than 100 users will have access.

Is it worth being Amazon Prime?

The question offends. Of course, it is worth it. Just because the Prime Video service is included, it’s already worth it. And if we also add the rest of the services, the guarantees to the buyer, the very flexible return policy, and the free shipping in 1 day, we have the best and most complete subscription that you can have today.

Despite not being a very long-term subscription, Amazon Prime has gained a large number of millions of new users and very good opinions in general in a short time. To be the sales service that grows the most every year and that sends the largest volume of packages throughout the planet, it is more than normal that the opinions are positive.

As an Amazon Prime user for over 9 years, I only have good words for Amazon and their return policies and guarantees. If it is a product of a brand belonging to the dozens of firms that Amazon has, any fault or deterioration, they will exchange it for a new unit in a few days. With other brands and sellers outside of Amazon, what we call Marketplace, it depends on each situation, I’ve had the occasional problem, but nothing major. If Amazon enters the rag, the buyer usually has the upper hand.

How this subscription was created and what awaits Amazon Prime in 2022

We must look back to the fall of 2004. At that time, Amazon only had DVDs and books for sale on its website. At that time, eBay was one of the great references for buying and selling online, and Amazon had not yet reached the numbers of the majestic online auction house par excellence that eBay became.

During these times, Amazon Prime was just an idea among its workers, who called it in the closest circles as ‘Futurama’. At this time, Amazon had a market value of $18 billion, compared to eBay’s $33 billion.

The service was finally launched in February 2005, with an initial payment of 79 dollars, users could benefit from the delivery of their orders in a maximum of 2 days. Before that, Amazon charged a whopping $9.48 for this type of express shipping. Therefore, with only 9 purchases per year, it was already a profitable service for the customer.

The Prime subscription completely put an end to people’s reluctance to buy products online. Something that today very few people follow in that evasive line against the internet market. Convenience made the number of sales on Amazon skyrocket, and today we can say that Jeff Bezos’s instinct came out great.

Amazon Prime in 2022

The service continues to grow year after year, and this was not going to be less. The number of Amazon Prime users is expected to increase exponentially as it has been doing every year. Many audiovisual productions are still active under the Amazon Originals umbrella today, so we expect big releases, in the form of movies and series, in the coming months.

As Amazon continues to open mega warehouses around the world to achieve much faster shipments of all (or the vast majority of) its products, as well as buying thousands of transport vans, we will continue to have added services to enjoy for an annual payment. derisory.

Rumors were heard about the gradual increase in the price of the annual subscription, but for now, there is nothing new to comment on. The price is unbeatable, the number of services and platforms is hands down better than any other member on the market, and the return policies and guarantees are exceptional.