Pay for Amazon Prime Only When You Need It
When you think about how much it costs to get fast shipping via Amazon Prime, you’re probably thinking about the $ 119 annual membership fee – and that might be too much for you, especially if your renewal is approaching but you’ve recently experienced layoffs in links with the pandemic. On the other hand, with the rise in coronavirus cases in most of the country, you may also be looking for a way to reschedule some of your personal purchases for shipping. If you want to be able to get free shipping or free shipping for groceries but don’t want to pay for Prime for a full year in advance, keep in mind that you can pay for the service monthly instead of spending a full year. …
This is not a new trick. We first posted this tip last year after being pointed out by one of the commenters in another Lifehacker post about whether to subscribe to Prime . Lifehacker reader Nosferatu said the following about his attempts to spend less on Prime:
We just started paying monthly here and there when we have a lot going on and we don’t want to go shopping and, you know, interact.
Seems to work and keep me outside the 120 per year range … more like $ 50
Prime fans don’t need this advice – they’re too busy telling us why they love Prime. But people who have never had Prime or have not canceled Prime and missed it quite a bit (raises hand) might like this option.
If you pay for Prime monthly, you pay $ 12.99. If you are a student, you pay $ 6.49 per month . If you have an EBT or Medicaid card, you can get one for $ 5.99 a month .
This advice made a lot of sense during those times of the year when you know you will receive more packages than usual – holidays, children’s birthday – but during the COVID Times period, when the number of cases will rise and then (hopefully) will fall. again, this is especially useful. Buy it for a few months if you don’t feel like leaving your home for the grocery store. Buy it for a few months when you move and know you will need a lot of little things and you don’t want to go to multiple stores. Buy it for Prime Video so you can watch TV in peace from the comfort of your home.
And then cancel it when you no longer need it.
You can’t do without Amazon Prime by grouping your orders so that they reach the $ 25 minimum to ship for free. But in cases where you want to shop quickly and know you will be ordering at least three or four times a month, it might be worth lowering your monthly membership fee.
Just remember to terminate your membership prior to its automatic renewal .
This post was originally published on July 5, 2019 and was updated in July 2020. Changes included updating the title, checking and updating information for accuracy and timeliness, and adding a new title photo.