Seattle Based Global Giant Ending One Member Perk, Adding Another

It feels like there has been a run on paid members or subscribers to services losing perks that they've enjoyed for a while.  Some of those losses people were upset about really weren't perks, they were just things that could be taken advantage of, like sharing your streaming service info with relatives in another state.

A dozen family members being able to use your Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime log in and password was the modern day version of the cable 'black box'.  The first two on that list ended that sharing capability already.  Amazon is set to join them in less than a month.  The difference though, is that Amazon is ending an actual Prime membership perk.

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Twenty years ago, when Amazon launched Prime, the only perk was free two day shipping.  As Amazon grew, more perks were added to the Prime subscription, like video, until the company offered a Prime Video standalone subscription from the full Prime subscription.  Beginning October 1st, Amazon is altering it's shipping perk for full Prime members.

One of the great shared benefits of a prime membership was sharing your free shipping through 'Prime Invitee'.  It gave those who lived outside of your household the ability to get free shipping through your membership.  Amazon is replacing that program with a new perk 'Amazon Family', but that can only be shared with people living under your roof, not outside of it.

So What Is The New Perk Replacing The Old Perk?

Amazon Family (which is also replacing Amazon Household) allows full prime members to share all their benefits with one adult, up to four children, and up to four teens (if they were added before April 7th of this year) as long as you share one residence.

The goal of ending the Prime Invitee perk is to get those using it to become Prime members.  To further encourage that, Amazon is offering a full year of Prime for just $14.99 (which is the normal monthly cost).  After that first year those new members will begin to pay the regular freight (unless they do the annual subscription at a small discount).

The offer for those non-household members begins this Friday (September 5th) and runs until the end of this year.