11 Hidden Amazon Prime Perks You’re Already Paying For

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Amazon Prime, the e-commerce giant’s $129/year subscription service, is best known for its same-day, one-day, and two-day shipping policy on millions of items.

That said, there are many more perks you can take advantage of right now without leaving the house.

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If you’ve watched everything you’re interested in on Netflix and Hulu, there are a bunch of TV shows and movies free to stream on Prime Video. Prime Music lets you stream over two million tracks on-demand, and Amazon offers a discount on its more fully featured Music Unlimited and Music HD services to subscribers. You can read new and classic books, magazines, and comics a-la-carte with Prime Reading on any computer, smartphone, tablet, or Kindle.

If you’re not a Prime subscriber, Amazon is currently offering a full 30-day free trial that’ll give you access to try out the service. Try it out for a month and if you like the perks, you can subscribe to Amazon Prime for $129.99 for the year (that’s less than $11/month, or about the price of a Netflix subscription). Students can get a free six-month trial and an annual subscription for 50% off.

What do you get with your Amazon Prime membership? We’ve rounded up some of the best deals and hidden benefits below.

Get a 30-day free trial to Amazon Prime here.

1. Amazon Prime Video

Amazon has its own video streaming service called Prime Video, which competes with the likes of Netflix and Hulu. Prime members can stream a mix of original programming (Jack Ryan, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) and catalogue titles (Downton Abbey, The Sopranos) on their PC, Mac, iOS, or Android, or streaming device. Computers can stream video from Amazon’s website, while mobile devices and video streaming boxes require the Amazon Prime Video app.

Prime Video’s catalogue is pretty deep, and has titles in every genre. Parents in particular should be aware of Prime Video because of Amazon’s deal with Viacom, which brought classic cartoons like Spongebob Squarepants to the service. Amazon Prime Video isn’t available as a standalone subscription, but you can test it out as part of Amazon’s 30-day free trial for Amazon Prime.

If you want even more content, you can access premium programming from AMC, HBO, Showtime, and more through a program called Prime Video Channels. For an additional monthly fee (the price varies per channel), you can stream the entire digital library of the selected channel on demand. Amazon offers a free one-week trial for several Prime Video Channels if you’d like to test them out for yourself. Prime Video is also available as a standalone subscription which costs $8.99.

2. Amazon Prime Music

Yes, Amazon also has a music streaming service for subscribers called Prime Music, which allows you to stream music from a library of more than two million songs. You can listen to as many songs as you’d like ad-free, with unlimited skips, and even download tracks to your phone for offline listening. Like Prime Video, all of Amazon Prime Music content can be accessed through your computer’s browser, or via the Amazon Music app on your mobile device or media streamer.

Two million songs is a lot, but if you want to be able to stream music from a library of 50 million, you can subscribe to Amazon Music Unlimited. The service costs $7.99 per month for Amazon Prime members, or $9.99 for non-prime members. It works the same way as Amazon Prime music, but you can stream more songs. Audiophiles should also consider Amazon Music Unlimited HD, which has the same song library, but lets you stream high resolution music (up to 192/24) for the highest fidelity possible. This top-tier service costs $12.99 for Amazon Prime members, and $14.99 per month for non-prime members.

If you’d like to try Amazon Music Unlimited for yourself, Amazon offers a 30-day free trial of the regular version, and a 90-day free trial of the HD version.

3. Prime Reading

Bookworms rejoice! Your Amazon Prime subscription includes Prime Reading. The digital book service allows you to choose up to 10 titles from a 1,000 item library containing books, magazines, and audiobooks. Don’t worry, you don’t need a Kindle to read or listen, you can download the Kindle app on your iOS or Android device. Amazon has curated its library with titles in a variety of genres, so there’s bound to be something you like. Prime Reading isn’t available as a standalone subscription, but you can test it out as part of Amazon’s 30-day free trial for Amazon Prime.

If you’re a voracious reader looking for more, you can subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, which is basically a souped-up version of Prime Reading. Kindle Unlimited subscribers get access to a library with over one million books, current issues of magazines, and thousands of audio books. You can download as many books as you want at one time, and read them through the Kindle app. Kindle Unlimited costs $9.99 per month, but Amazon offers a 30-day free trial in case you want to try it for yourself.

4. Twitch Prime

Here’s one for the gamers. Amazon owns the popular game streaming service Twitch.tv, and it offers a bunch of great perks to Amazon Prime members through a service called Twitch Prime. The most alluring benefit is access to free games and in-game loot. The selection of free content changes every month, but it stays in your library.

People with a favorite streamer will be happy to know that Twitch Prime gives you one free channel subscription per month. If you subscribe to a Twitch channel, you’ll get access to subscriber only perks, like exclusive emoticons and chat privileges. Twitch Prime also gives you account an exclusive badge, expanded chat color options, and exclusive emoticons; these perks can be used on the entire site, not just channels you’ve subscribed to.

Twitch Prime isn’t available as a standalone subscription, but you can test it out as part of Amazon’s 30-day free trial for Amazon Prime.

5. Amazon Wedding Registry

In our opinion, there’s no better place to register for your wedding gifts than Amazon. Amazon’s wedding registry offers millions of items on its site, from housewares to furniture to bedding and beauty, and unlike some department stores, which can take weeks to ship your items, Amazon Prime member will get their registry items with priority two-day shipping. What’s more, registrants that have received $500 or more in purchases from their Amazon Wedding Registry will receive a 20% Wedding Gift discount, to use say, on something that didn’t get selected from your registry.

Registering is easy (start here), and you can customize your page with photos, notes and special messages to your guests. Need some inspiration? Actress Jennifer Lawrence registered for her recent wedding on Amazon and is sharing her picks here.

6. Prime Wardrobe

One of the pitfalls of shopping for clothes online is that you don’t get to try them on to make sure they fit, or suit your style. Prime Wardrobe eliminates that problem.

This perk allows you order up to eight pieces of clothes, try them on for seven days, and return what you don’t like for no charge. Not all clothes on Amazon are a part of the Prime Wardrobe program, but there’s a wide selection available for men, women, girls, boys, and babies.

Adult clothing is broken is broken down into different styles (cool, sporty, classic), body type (big and tall), or clothing type (pants, shoes, dresses, socks jeans); kids clothing is broken down by item (shorts, jeans, leggings, dresses); baby clothing is broken down by age range (from preemie to 3T).

Items eligible for Prime Wardrobe come from well-known brands including Champion, UGG, Adidas, Calvin Klein, Levi’s, Theory, and Lucky Brand. You can mix and match clothes from different styles and age groups to cover everyone in your home to save multiple trips to the store. Amazon includes a pre-paid shipping label with all Prime Wardrobe orders, so you don’t even have to print one out when you’re done with your try-on period.

7. Amazon Family

New and perspective parents always need to stock up on the essentials like diapers and formula — if that’s you right now, take advantage of Amazon Family.

This perk nets Prime subscribers a 15% discount on their baby registry, up to 20% off baby products if you use the company’s “subscribe and save” feature, and an e-mail newsletter containing exclusive discounts, and parenting information from parents and influencers.

Amazon Family will also showcase the most popular items parents have been shopping on the site, so you don’t have to search for the latest toy or gadget on your own.

8. Unlimited Amazon Photo Storage

Computer crashes are never fun, but one of the most devastating things you can lose is your digital photo library, which can’t be replaced. Prime members can store their entire full-quality photo library in the cloud for free thanks to Amazon Photos.

The service lets you upload your pictures, and organizes them by when they were taken. You can create tags for photos with different people or places in them, and download any picture in your library onto any computer. You’re also able to upload 5GB of videos to the cloud. If you download the Amazon Photo app (available on iOS and Android), every picture you take will be automatically uploaded to the service for safekeeping.

9. Early Access to Deals or Deeper Discounts

Amazon is well-known for its selection of daily deals, but Prime members are eligible for two additional money saving perks.

The first is a 30-minute head start to shop its “Lightning Deals.” These deals are only available for between three and 12 hours, but they frequently sell out before they’re set to expire. If the deal is good enough, the extra half-hour can make a big difference.

Second, Prime members can get even deeper discounts on “Alexa Voice Deals,” which everyone with an Amazon account can access through an Alexa-enabled device like the Echo smart speaker.

Voice deals change often, and are only available if you ask Alexa, Amazon’s smart assistant, to run them down. These are not audio versions of regular deals Amazon is running on its site. Prime member’s wont get lower prices on all Amazon Voice Deals, but it’s always worth checking.

Saving a few dollars here or there on a Lightning or Amazon Voice deal might not seem like a lot, but it can add up quickly.

10. Prime Pantry

If you want to reduce the number of times you go to the store each week, or avoid carrying heavy bags to and from your car, consider using Prime Pantry.

The grocery service allows you to purchase a selection of groceries — a mix of shelf-stable snack foods, dry herbs, pre-packaged soups, pasta, baking goods, and cleaning supplies — and get them delivered to your door. Think of it kind of it as a virtual convenience or drugstore.

Prime members get free delivery on Pantry orders over $35 — there’s a $5.99 fee otherwise, and access to a wider selection of items. Prime Pantry items are shipped via ground services only, so they may take one to four days to arrive after you’ve placed your order.

11. Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Discounts

Amazon purchased Whole Foods in 2017, and immediately offered Prime members two great benefits.

Subscribers can take advantage of a handful of exclusive weekly deals on produce, and get an additional 10% off all on-sale items except alcohol. These perks are available at every Whole Foods location, all you have to do is scan the Prime Code in the Whole Foods app (iOS or Android).

In some cities, Prime members can get free grocery delivery through a perk called Amazon Fresh.You get to choose the items you want to purchase online, choose a date and delivery window, and receive your groceries at the specified time. Your order will be delivered for free if it’s over $35 — if not, there’s a $4.99 fee.

Amazon has been slowly expanding the availability of this perk over time, so it may come to your area if it’s not there already.

Take advantage of a free 30-day trial to Amazon Prime here

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