*This post may contain affiliate links, please see my disclosure
Michelle and I discovered the most amazing thing EVER this past week. We found out that we can get Amazon Prime free shipping FOR FREE! Now, I know that there are promotions for people who spend too much money on amazon to get the Prime free shipping deal, but I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about straight up free-dizzle for your whole family if one member has purchased a full Amazon Prime subscription.
Oops! You Now Have Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime has free trials out on the web that you can enjoy. You can give it a shot, see if you like, and then cancel if you don’t need it anymore. One of our family members (I won’t say who) signed up for a free trial and used it while it lasted. The problem was that this person did not cancel the trial membership, and ended up paying $79 for one year of service. OOPS! Well, instead of reversing it, they continued to use the services, including free movie and show streaming, which has worked out well. At just over $6 a month, you can watch as many movies and shows as you want, as well as enjoy the free 2-day shipping that Amazon Prime offers.
We Wanted A Pool
Michelle and I were looking up something on Amazon to have this other family member order for us because they had the Prime account. That something was a small blow-up swimming pool for the backyard for our 4th of July bash that we were throwing. We also had a $15 credit to help pay for the pool, and had to call Amazon to get the credit transferred over to the other person’s account. We told the lady on the phone our dilemma, who was not able to help us with the credit transfer, but she gave us EVEN BETTER NEWS! She told us how to get Amazon Prime free shipping on our own account, so we didn’t have to transfer the credit over anyways, or bother our family member for every purchase we wanted to make online.
Amazon Prime Free Shipping In 4 Easy Steps
Step 1: Go to Amazon.com and log in to the Amazon Prime account holder’s account. From the dropdown on the top right hand side, select “Your Account”.
Step 2: Scroll down under “Settings” and select “Manage Prime Membership”
Step 3: Click on “Invite a household member, and enter their information. Your birthday will be displayed at the bottom. This date will be asked of the person receiving the invitation as a precautionary security measure to ensure they actually know you.
Step 4: Click on the confirmation link in the email that is sent. You will need to enter the birthdate of the person sending you the invitation to gain access to your Amazon Prime free shipping.
And voila! You now have free Prime shipping! You can invite up to 4 “household” members, but that doesn’t mean that they have to live in the same location. So, for $79 a year, 5 total households can enjoy free two-day shipping from Amazon Prime, which can save a LOT of money, especially during the holidays.
Don’t Overspend
Once you have your wicked awesome free shipping, you will be tempted to sit on your butt for days on end, ordering everything you fancy and laughing as you watch the FedEx guy struggle to deliver the 154 packages you just ordered to your doorstep only two days later! KILL THAT TEMPTATION! Free shipping doesn’t not mean you get “FREE STUFF” for a year. You still need to keep your budget in check, only buy what you can afford, and keep yourself out of debt. Now, you WILL overspend on Amazon with this sweet shipping deal at some point, but just forgive yourself and move on.
As always, shop around for the best deals. Sometimes you need something immediately, so it doesn’t make sense to wait (“sorry hunny, new diapers don’t get here for two days”). And some stuff you can still find cheaper elsewhere online or in a store. But Michelle and I have found that the savings in shipping sometimes makes s difference enough to make the purchase at Amazon instead of elsewhere. Even when the price is cheaper at another online store, the shipping bring the price above the Amazon total. Plus, we get our stuff in two days instead of 14 with the crappy ground shipping at some online retail outlets.
Comments: Do you have Amazon Prime free shipping? How has it helped you? Do you find that you order more stuff online with free shipping? And why do we even need to get off our butts anymore with Amazon Fresh and all? Soon we’ll be like all the humans in WALL-E! It’ll be AWESOME!
Disclaimer: The Amazon Prime free shipping benefit can be used by other household members, however, you do NOT get the Amazon Prime movie and show streaming benefits.
We love Amazon! Haven’t used the Prime yet, only because we haven’t needed it, but it’s always in the back of our minds when the little screen pops up. :-)We have, though, been using Amazon’s Subscribe and Save which, on certain items, has saved us a ton of cash.
Amazon has so many ways to save, it really is going t kill the box stores soon. Prime has been awesome, but is definitely a little dangerous.
We have Amazon Mom which comes with Amazon Prime. It has helped us save a nice amount of money on diapers, wipes and everything else for our daughter.
We had “Mom” for a bit, and def. used the Prime shipping with that.
We love Amazon Prime, we get everything there and that free shipping comes in real handy.
I know. Why leave the house. Especially with a kid, Amazon is just so much easier for us too!
Great tip! I didn’t realize you could split the membership. Amazon Prime is so handy, but so so tempting for over spending.
Just find someone who has Prime and get hooked up! But yes, keep that spending in check! 🙂
I have Amazon Prime and love it. We get free and fast shipping along with good streaming content. Win/Win here!
Yeah man. It’s really a great deal. And it’s great business for them, because I know we ALWAYS cross check pricing on Amazon before ANY purchase (except food and gas).
A few years back, I joined the Amazon Mom program (even though I’m a dad) because they had incredible deals and such on diapers and other supplies. Part of it included a free Prime trial. Even though it’s been a few years, I don’t think they’ll give another trial membership, though I certainly plan on trying! 🙂
We were on Mom for a while, and loved the prime as well. Now we get the shipping for free as long as that family member keeps Prime. Here’s to hoping 🙂
If you go to the Amazon Prime Terms & Conditions, it states:
“If you sign up for a free trial or paid Prime membership, you may invite up to four eligible household members (living at the same address)”
So yes, it does mean they have to live in the same location.
That’s funny, because we explicitly stated that we had a different address, and even punched it in the system, and the Amazon support rep. had no problem with it.
And this link even indicated you can add co-workers, which would presumably be at a different address.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=200444180
Either way, if the Amazon rep says it’s legit, then I’m going with it 🙂
I’ve had a Prime membership for YEARS, and it’s only ever let me and my sister be a part of it…so only 2 total different addresses.
Your sis is one lucky gal 🙂
Although I do not buy enough to make it worthwhile, I could get the free membership thanks to my daughter.
Hey, might as well get free shipping on those few purchases 🙂
Mr. PoP’s mom has Prime, and so we have it through the household feature, too. The only thing that’s annoying is that it’s not free shipping on everything, just the things in Amazon’s warehouses. So we’ve still paid for shipping a few times because the items we wanted were outside of the Amazon warehouse.
True, you need to find “Prime Eligible” stuff, and not everything is.
I had no idea. I love Amazon for our family who don’t live nearby. It has saved me tons in not shipping things from the post office. I did do the free prime membership month, but cancelled it because we liked Netflix better (spoiler, we finally cancelled our satellite TV and tried out all the other options, post about it soon)Anyway, I just need to find someone who has Prime and join in. Thanks for the tip!
Make it happen! Def. worth the savings 🙂
Haha – I remember I signed up a few years back, but I’ve used Prime so much I never cancelled (or even evaluated). It’s hard because they keep adding new features… Kindle Freebies? Streaming Video? Thanks guys!
It really is becoming the be-all subscription service to have. Just wish the APP was built into more devices, like my tv.
Very cool. We’ve been considering Amazon Prime vs. Netflix and while Netflix definitely has more in terms of content, this could be a neat way to share some of the cost of Amazon Prime. Thanks for the tip.
Welcome 🙂
That’s awesome Jacob. We love Amazon! I hope your little one liked your pool!
LoL. Pool never showed. Some kinda error with the transaction that we didn’t see until later. Oh well.
We use and love buying from Amazon a lot and every time I see the prime free shipping but I have never checked it out. I always feel they want me to keep shopping more. But after reading this I will definitely check it out.
We use and love amazon prime. We buy our dog food, dog supplements, and many other items we need there regularly. The prices are often far cheaper than bricks and mortar stores and the items are delivered right to my door, love that!
WOW. Not sure why I didn’t think of getting our dog food on Amazon. Looking up now!
Ahh, the dog food we get is not Prime eligible. Bummer 🙁
I love Amazon prime! I can still use my student discount so I only pay half of the normal price. Totally worth it! Its nice to have your items ship free if they are under the $25 mark.
Free shipping is a big deal and big money saver in some cases. We love getting big crap shipped for free 🙂
Great tip. Now, I just need to figure out who has an Amazon Prime membership so I can get them to invite me.
Just make sure it’s a family member or coworker (per Amazon’s terms).
i`m using Amazon Prime and I`m very satisfied with it…