Here’s How Many Times You Need to Order on Amazon to Make Your Prime Membership Worth It
It’s official: Prime Day 2025 is just around the corner. In a press release this week, Amazon confirmed that the biggest online sale of the year will run from July 8 to 11. For the first time, the sale will last more than two days — in fact, it will be twice as long as in previous years. But to take advantage of this mammoth sale, you’ll need to be a Prime member.
Millions of Amazon Prime members currently pay $14.99 per month or $139 per year for their membership , though other plans cost less if you qualify. For example, the new Amazon Prime Student program allows young adults ages 18 to 24 to get all the benefits of Prime for half the cost — $7.49 per month or $69 per year.
For regular shoppers, Amazon Prime can pay for itself quickly, thanks largely to shipping bonuses. But for casual users, it may not be a financially viable option. If you’re still on the fence about signing up for (or renewing) Prime, here’s how to evaluate whether the benefits outweigh the $139 price tag.
Amazon Prime Benefits
Before we get into the math, here are the main benefits of Amazon Prime that make it worthwhile for many users.
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Free two-day shipping on millions of items: This is the main perk of Prime. If you shop Amazon often and want fast, free shipping, the shipping bonuses alone can make Prime worth it. Prime members also get free same-day shipping on more than 3 million items in eligible markets. Super-fast (and morally dubious ) shipping typically costs $9.99 per order for non-members.
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Access to Prime Video : Prime includes unlimited streaming of movies, TV shows, and Amazon Originals. If you ask me, the content library isn’t as powerful as Netflix or Hulu, but it can still add value.
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Other Prime benefits: You also get Amazon Music for streaming songs, Prime Reading for ebooks and magazines, Prime Gaming, free photo storage, and discounts/deals.
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Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card : Cardholders earn 5% back on Amazon/Whole Foods purchases, so Prime members who actively use the card can earn rewards that offset the annual fee.
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Number of Users: Prime benefits can be shared with other members of your household. The more users, the more value per person.
Let’s do the calculations
Let’s say you don’t really care about Prime Video, Amazon Music, or free ebooks, and you just want to see if you’ll save money you’d otherwise spend on shipping.
Looking at my non-shared, non-Prime Amazon account, I see that shipping costs are typically around $6 per item. Of course, shipping costs will vary depending on the item and how quickly you want it, but let’s compare the cost to the appeal of Prime’s two-day shipping option. So we have the cost of individual online orders (around $6 each) compared to free shipping, which comes with a $139 annual fee. That means the cost you’ll save on shipping alone justifies the cost of Prime if you order online more than two dozen times a year.
In other words: The $139 annual fee pays for itself if you order from Amazon Prime at least twice a month . Of course, that’s just the shipping cost. How that looks ethical is up to you and the person in the mirror.
And then there’s the big caveat: You can get free shipping from Amazon without a Prime membership if your order contains items worth $35 or more. However, that won’t give you Prime’s shipping speeds — your order will typically arrive in five to eight days.
Summary
The cost of a Prime membership is a solid value for those who use Amazon 23 times a year or more, especially if you also watch shows on Prime Video and share your account with loved ones. But if you only shop on Amazon a few times a year and don’t take advantage of the other benefits, that $139 annual fee isn’t worth it.
Of course, if you’re looking for great Prime Day deals, you can always sign up right before the sale starts and then cancel your membership after Prime Day is over , but Amazon doesn’t always make it easy for you . For more deals and discounts, keep an eye on all of Lifehacker’s Amazon Prime Day coverage.
This post was originally published in October 2024 and updated on June 18, 2025 to reflect current prices and sale dates.