Amazon Prime Subscription On Sale This Weekend: Is It Worth It?


Have you been thinking of pulling the trigger on an Amazon Prime subscription? This might be the weekend to do it.

An Amazon Prime subscription normally runs consumers $99 per year. It might seem a bit hefty for most families until you realize that a Netflix subscription, when the monthly payments are added up, runs just over $95 per year for the lowest cost plan.

With a streaming service like Netflix consumers get some great benefits. They can stream any available movie whenever they want (e.g. Serenity or Clerks), they can binge-watch their favorite available shows (e.g. Arrow or Friends), they can even enjoy some exclusive content not available anywhere else (e.g. Jessica Jones or Orange is the New Black). With their selection and constant new original content, Netflix is a power-house among subscription services.

So, why would you need or want an Amazon Prime subscription?

For this weekend only, Amazon Prime is on discount.

New users will only pay $73 for a one year subscription to the Amazon Prime service.

The discount is in honor of the Golden Globe wins attributed to the Amazon original series, Mozart in the Jungle.

[ Photo by Rachel Murray/Getty Images for Amazon ]
Mozart in the Jungle won two awards at the 73rd annual Golden Globe awards. It’s one of the original shows made by Amazon and is only available on Amazon Prime.

It’s not the only original show loved by audiences that is only available on Amazon Prime, either.

Consumers subscribed to Amazon Prime have exclusive access to original shows such as: The Man in the High Castle, Transparent, Alpha House, and a great deal more. Amazon has many other shows in the works, including Galaxy Quest, Jack Ryan, and Barbarella.

Although streaming is a big part of Amazon Prime, the benefits for consumers do not end there.

Gamers were thrilled when Amazon announced that consumers with a Prime subscription would be able to get new video game titles for 20% off their original price.

With video games attracting more players every day, the average gaming age has gone up to 35-years-old. That puts gamers in the category of employed people with disposable income. Amazon recognized the change in the demographic and decided to market to them.

Buying one game for $50 a month is fine, but when the price goes down to $40, those games look even more tempting.

Right now the discount on video games is only for new games sold in the box. Amazon might include older games and digital downloads eventually.

[ Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Amazon ]
The perks for Amazon Prime members don’t stop there.

Amazon Prime members get free two-day shipping automatically, but some areas have same-day shipping included as well. On top of that there’s Prime Video, Prime Photos, Prime Music, and a Lending Library for Kindle owners.

Prime Video doesn’t have as many options as Netflix, but an extra fee can be paid for access to movies and shows from Showtime and Starz. Not only that, but videos and TV shows that consumers want to watch can be downloaded from Amazon Prime and watched off-line at any time.

Prime Music and the Lending Library do have some minor issues.

Prime Music doesn’t have a huge selection either. Most Amazon Prime subscribers do tend to have subscriptions for music elsewhere. The Lending Library also has a limited selection and consumers can only borrow one eBook per month from the service.

Despite the limitations of Amazon Prime, many consumers feel the $99 dollars per year is worth it, even if it’s only for the free shipping and off-line viewing.

At $73 dollars for the next year, the Amazon Prime deal seems even more tempting.

[Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Amazon]

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