The perks you get when you sign up for Amazon Prime just got even better
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Chances are that if you've made a few purchases through Amazon before, you know the basic perks of becoming anAmazon Prime member: for $99 a year, you get free shipping, and early access to lightning deals and other Amazon discounts.
While your thinking would be right on both counts, becoming an Amazon Prime member has many more lesser known advantages, and when all are considered together, that $99 price tag turns out to be a great value.
Below, we take you through all of the access that comes with a Prime membership, so you can see for yourself.
Free same-day shipping
As mentioned above, one of the most well known perks of being a Prime member is that you get free two-day shipping on all purchases. What you may not know is that in some cities, you'll have access to free same-day delivery.
Same-day delivery is currently available in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas/Ft. Worth,Fresno, Indianapolis, Los Angeles,Louisville, Milwaukee, Nashville, New York City, North & Central New Jersey, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Raleigh, Richmond, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle/Tacoma, Stockton, Tampa Bay Area, Tucson, and Washington, D.C., with more cities to be added to the list soon.
And if you're not lucky enough to live in one of those cities, two-day delivery is still pretty good.
Prime Now
If same-day delivery isn't fast enough for you, and you live in one of the metro areas listed below, Prime members also have access to the Prime Now app, which provides free two-hour delivery on tens of thousands of items, and the option of one-hour delivery if you want to pay a flat fee of $7.99.
Whether you're in need of gifts, groceries, or meal delivery, Prime Now can get your goods to your door faster than ever before.
Prime Now is currently available in Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles & Orange County, Miami, Minneapolis & St. Paul, Nashville, New York City, Phoenix, Portland, Raleigh, Richmond, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle & Eastside, and Virginia Beach.
Prime Video
Prime Video is one of the fastest growing aspects of Amazon Prime. The streaming service is making a play to compete with the likes of Netflix and Hulu, and is doing a good job at it judging by the past two years of awards seasons. With Emmy-winning original series "Transparent" and "Mozart in the Jungle" on its roster, in addition to a large library of shows and movies,Prime Video is quickly becoming a must-have for anyone who has cut their cable cord.
Showtime and Starz at a discount
In addition to access to Prime Video, being a Prime member also gives you the opportunity to subscribe to some premium channels at a discount, including Starz andShowtime. With more and more networks switching to the "a la carte" method of subscription, it's likely that an even wider array of channels will soon be available.
Prime Music
For anyone not yet committed to Spotify or Tidal, or are simply tired of paying that monthly subscription cost, Prime Musicprovides a cheaper alternative. While their library is a bit smaller than the aforementioned services, it's still a sizable catalog that will contain most of what you are looking for. If you're not a diehard music fan and simply need a way to get tunes on your devices, Prime Music can help you save that monthly fee you're sending to Spotify every month.
Kindle Lending Library
Amazon Prime also gives you access to theKindle Lending Library, allowing you to rent one book for free every month. It's a great way to keep your reading list fresh without breaking the bank.
Prime Reading
One of the newest perks of being a Prime member is Prime Reading, which Amazon announced on October 5. While the Kindle Lending Library is great, if you don't have a Kindle you're sort of left out of the reading party. Prime Reading makes a wide selection of books, magazines, and short stories available to all Prime members without the use of a Kindle device. Instead, you can simply download the Kindle app to whichever tablet or phone you have and get right to reading.
Big discounts on the latest video games
Another great additional deal for Prime members is a 20% discount on all new video games for the first two weeks of their release, as well as any preorders you might make. If you're an avid gamer, you might make back the $99 Prime subscription with discounts here alone.
Prime Pantry
Prime Pantry will deliver groceries and household goods straight to your door, saving you from the struggle of a weekly trip to the store. Fill up your box online and pay a flat rate of $5.99 per box.
Unlimited photo storage
Yet another one of the lesser known features of a Prime membership: unlimited photo storage. If you like to take as many photos as your digital camera can allow and are a bit of a photography hoarder (don't worry, you're not alone), Prime will give you access to Amazon cloud storage, where you'll be able to upload photos from your phone or computer and be able to access them whenever you want.
The perks you get when you sign up for Amazon Prime just got even better
![The perks you get when you sign up for Amazon Prime just got even better]()
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