Leave it to the innovative online retailer leader to have come out with the Amazon Prime program about a dozen years ago, which gives members a multitude of benefits beyond free fast shipping on eligible products.

Amazon Prime does cost $99 per year but it does not stop at offering  free two day shipping on eligible  items and one day or same day shipping in eligible zip codes ($99 per year, plus a free 30-day trial, then $10.99 per month), plus applicable tax.  Amazon also offers a Prime Video only program for $8.99 per month.

For the big Amazon fans on your gift list, you may even want to give Prime as a gift. The price is $33 for three months and $99 for a year’s subscription, plus applicable tax. If your gift recipient happens to already be a Prime member, then they can exchange the membership for an Amazon gift card.

The program can keep members informed and entertained through access to streaming music, videos, and e-books. So you don’t necessarily have to depend only on how much you might be or might not be saving on shipping throughout the year to decide if Prime is worth it for you to join.  

The primary Benefit of Amazon Prime is the free fast shipping

On over 50 million eligible items, not only is shipping free but fast also. All Prime items are eligible for free two day shipping. In select metro areas Prime members can get free same day delivery on over one million items. And in certain areas there is even free two-hour delivery on groceries and certain essentials. This could work out well especially for people without cars or how have limited mobility. For people who want to get their hands as soon as possible on anticipated new books, games or games there is free release date delivery on eligible pre-order items.

Special Amazon Prime benefits for families:

Prime members get 15% off eligible items on their baby registry and a free welcome box after they complete their registry. But the help for families goes beyond the initial gifts form the baby registry. As any parents know the gifts at the baby shower are great for an initial boost to get started, but the expenses keep building as your child grows. Prime members can get up to 20% off on diapers and baby food; and there are savings available on other family essentials like laundry detergent and granola bars.

To help keep kids entertained, Prime members can subscribe to Amazon Free Time Unlimited for $2.95 a month extra (that’s a two dollar savings over what non-Prime members pay) to get an endless stream of PBS children’s shows, Disney, Nickelodeon and other child friendly fare like age appropriate TV shows, books, movies, games and educational apps.

Children can enjoy unlimited access to a huge selection of child-friendly content for only $2.99 per month, compared to $4.99 for non-Prime members.

Amazon Prime helps its members by offering special discounts and deals, like through the Amazon Mom program, parents get 20 percent off diapers.

Here is Amazon’s listing of Amazon Prime benefits for families.

Other Benefits of Amazon Prime:

There is a large selection of movies and TV shows to choose from for video streaming on a multitude of devices. There is also free access to over a thousand books, comics, and current issues of magazines.

An added benefit of your Prime membership is unlimited free photo storage through Prime Photos. Photos are automatically indexed to help search for them later. Invited family and friends can share storage of photos in the Family Vault. You can give free storage to up to five friends and family members. The drawback is that you could lose access to the image files if your Prime Photos account is terminated.

You get 30 minutes early access to Lightening Deals on hot products, where you can score big discounts.

With Prime Twitch you get exclusive discounts on new releases of video games. You also get, “ad-free viewing and a free monthly Twitch channel subscription to support your favorite streamer.”  There is also a social network associated with Prime Twitch which has millions of members. This would make video game loving children happy, but parents will want to consider the distracting consequences and how to deal with them.

If you decide to get a Visa card through Prime you are then automatically entered into a 5% back rewards program with everything you spend on at Amazon.com. Prime members also get a 2% back reward with every recharge on their debit spending.

A book of the month club for the 21st century with its Kindle First program, where U.S. Prime member can enjoy a free book download every month from the Kindle First picks.

Amazon offers give Prime members a half-hour jump to their Lightening Deals, but it does not guarantee Prime members get the products at the special deals, because the discounts only last as long as long as the current supply of products.

There is a 20 percent off discount available off new, physical video games which stretch from pre-order till two weeks after release. Eager video game fans can look forward t free shipping on delivery date.

Amazon is giving special consideration to students, by offering them a six-month free trial of Amazon of Amazon Prime Student, Students get a six month free trial, they subscribe at half the price at $5.94 per month. They need an email ending in .edu to qualify. Student Amazon Prime members also qualify for special deals on things ranging “From laptops and video games to study snacks and office supplies.”

By starting a 30-day free trial gives you early access to deals, plus free two-day shipping to addresses in to addresses in the contiguous U.S. In some cases, you'll even get bumped to complimentary 1-day shipping. If you're a student with a valid .edu email, you can get a free six-month trial of which gets you all of the benefits of Prime in addition to special student-specific deals and coupons. After that, Prime Student will cost students half the price of regular Prime or they can pay $5.49 per month for the months that you need it.

If you want to get even more savings on Amazon, then join Bidwey.com, where you can participate in special auction where the price goes down instead of down with each bid. Join now, the first 10 bids are free. And joining is always free.