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Amazon has just slightly reduced its benefits for Prime members.
Starting from October 1st, Prime members will no longer be able to share the benefit of free two-day shipping with people outside their household, as reported by the Associated Press (AP).
Previously, the Prime Invitee program allowed Prime members to share with another adult, even if they had a different residential address. But this has been replaced by a program called Amazon Family that extends Prime membership benefits only to people who share the same home address, as indicated in a note on the Amazon website.
The change comes after a report that Prime sign-ups leading up to Prime Day event – which this year was extended to four days – were lower compared to previous years. According to Reuters, Amazon did not reach their estimated goal of about 2%.
The new program, Amazon Family, will offer Prime benefits to another adult, up to four teens (if added to the membership before April 17, 2025) and up to four children, provided they all have the same primary address.
Adults sharing the Prime membership must share payment methods to verify their billing addresses and link their accounts through the Amazon Family program. Students and Prime members between 18 and 22 years old, free trial members, and Prime Video-only members cannot join the sharing program, so college students are out of luck.
If you don’t have the same address, Amazon says you will have to sign up for your own Prime account. AP reported that Amazon is offering a limited time discount of $14.99 per year, valid until December 31st. After that, you will have to pay the full subscription price of $14.99 per month or $139 per year.
Prime membership is a great deal for those who purchase many products from the retail giant. It offers free two-day shipping, exclusive deals for Prime Day, access to Prime Video, audiobooks, and other benefits.
