Why We Prime

Amazon.com has a feature, I guess you'd call it, called Amazon Prime. We pay for this service, which is $99/year, and here are the reasons why:

• Free 2-day shipping -- although not everything you can buy from Amazon.com falls in the "Prime" category, there are many items available that are eligible for Prime shipping. If you purchase something one day, it will be on your doorstep in 2 days, and you don't pay for shipping. If you need the item by the next day, you can pay for next-day shipping. You can usually choose "No Rush shipping" and get a $1 credit for a digital download of some sort if you don't need the item quickly.  
  
  The free shipping comes in particularly handy when you need to buy birthday presents for other kids but you want to stay out of the toy aisle at Target with your three kids in tow. I have also used it to ship diapers and wipes to new moms, and birthday presents for my adult friends!
• Video Streaming -- At $99/year, Amazon video streaming is less expensive than Netflix per month. We cancelled Netflix when we signed up for this and haven't missed it. Obviously, you can't watch the Netflix Original shows, but other than that, most of the same shows are available from Amazon Prime for free. We can stream them on our TV through our Blu-ray player, on our iPad, or our iPhones. There are movies/TV shows that are not included in the Prime streaming that you must rent or purchase to view. The "No Rush shipping" credits can be used for that, or for purchasing kindle books. We don't own a kindle, so we only use it when we want to splurge and rent a movie.  The credit is automatically on your account, but it does expire, so be aware of that. Also, when renting a movie, there is usually the option to watch in HD for $1 more. I will say that the extra $1 is well worth it. I chose the non-HD movie one time and the quality was horrible on our TV. For us, the video streaming itself is worth having the Amazon Prime.
• Wish List -- I have an ongoing Wish List. I add an item that I may want in the future (books for kids, Christmas present ideas, household supplies, other gift ideas) then I just let it sit there. I go back and check on the price every so often to see if it has decreased.
  
  While in the Wish List, it will let you know if the price decreased since you added it, and by what percentage. Unfortunately, it does not tell you if the price increased. When something I know I want has decreased in price, I usually go ahead and order it while it's less expensive. One thing I order on a regular basis is dog food. It is usually the same price as in the store, I don't have to remember what I ordered last time because it stays on my account, and I don't have to deal with a 30lb bag of food at Kroger. It's the little things...
• Registries -- I have friends and family that have created an Amazon registry for a wedding or a new baby and it is SO convenient to order something for them without stepping into a store. I can ship it to me if I'm going to be attending a shower, and I can even ship it to them if not.
• Amazon Smile -- You can choose an organization to support and an extremely small percentage (something like 0.5%) of your purchases goes to that organization. It by no means replaces supporting important charities and helping others financially, but it doesn't hurt either! I chose rettsyndrome.org for our sweet friend Blakely Goodman!
  
• Selling on Amazon -- You can sell all sorts of things on Amazon. All we have ever sold were textbooks, but the process was very easy. You look up how much your book is worth, print a free shipping label, box it up and take it to the post office. Once it arrives, they credit your account and that's it.

There may be other reasons to use Amazon Prime, and probably other reasons not to as well. But the service has been very convenient and helpful for us. Feel free to comment with any questions and I can try to answer. NINE WEEKS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!! I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS!!!!!!