How Amazon Prime Works
More and more friends speak well of Amazon Prime and your curiosity towards this service begins to grow more and more? Would you like to try Amazon Prime too but you don’t really know where to start? Then make yourself comfortable and get ready to follow me in this guide that I am about to propose to you.
As you surely know, Amazon is one of the largest e-commerce platforms in the world: a gigantic online shopping center, open 24/7, where you can find products of all kinds: from food to clothing, from hi-tech to home care and the list could go on and on. To make a purchase, just select the product you are interested in and click on the computer or tap on the phone screen (as I also explained to you in my tutorial on how to shop on Amazon ).
It goes without saying that such convenience is really hard to resist. Also, as if that weren’t enough, Amazon has decided to implement a feature that makes shopping and user experience even better. I am referring precisely to Prime, which allows you to take advantage of a large series of advantages such as faster shipping, early access to offers and even a video on-demand service to watch movies and TV series via Internet connection, just to name a few. . Would you like to know more? Well, then continue reading: I will explain better how Amazon Prime works and I will show you in more detail all the aspects that I have only mentioned to you for now.
What is Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime is a program that can be used by paying an annual subscription amount of 36 euros (with a 50% discount for university students) or monthly of 3.99 euros . There is also a free 30-day trial for those who have never used the service. Subscription offers countless benefits – you can find more details on how Amazon Prime works below .
Advantages on shipping
The main field in which the Amazon Prime program differs from the basic program is undoubtedly that of shipments . In fact, Amazon Prime offers an unlimited number of shipments with single business day delivery that applies to over two million products.
For the other millions of items on the platform, delivery often takes 2-3 working days. Another big advantage to consider is the absence of shipping costs for all products shipped by Amazon that fall into the program.
Preview offers and exclusive products
Let’s face it, the advantage of being able to get a preview of great offers is always a great thing.
Well, thanks to the Prime program, in some contexts it is possible to have access to preview flash offers with an advance of 30 minutes compared to basic users. Try to imagine how advantageous it can be to receive an unmissable offer half an hour before millions of other users.
If we then add that most of the products sold by Amazon are products that when they are on offer are practically sold out, this function becomes even more advantageous. To get an idea of what I just told you, you can visit the page with all the offers of the day and Amazon’s flash offers , where you can view all the promotions available .
Another great advantage of becoming a Prime user is that you can potentially purchase exclusive items . Sure, there are millions of products on Amazon available to anyone who wants to buy them at any time, but some are available exclusively to Prime users. This is not what I just told you about, that is, discounted items that can be accessed 30 minutes in advance, but a real selection of products available exclusively for Prime users without any time limit.
Amazon Prime Now
The e-commerce world is constantly growing and in fact there is no shortage of news, which make Amazon’s functions more and more intriguing. Among these is Amazon Prime Now , which allows delivery in record time . It refers to products that can be ordered and received within one or two hours . The only problem with this feature is the fact that for now it is only active in some areas such as Milan.
In any case, you should know that from 2021 Prime Now has been integrated directly on Amazon.it . This means that you can search for fast shipping products directly through the official Amazon portal .
Amazon Prime Day
Now I’m going to talk to you about one of the most exciting benefits reserved for Amazon customers: Prime Day , or a whole day (or even more days) totally dedicated to great offers on many discounted products available exclusively for Prime users. This initiative was probably born in line with events such as Black Friday in the United States of America, in which huge discounts are applied to thousands of everyday products such as appliances, clothing, technological products and more for a whole day .
However, if Black Friday is not about a single shopping center, Amazon’s Prime Days are instead a real event that takes place exclusively on this e-commerce . To make everything even more exclusive, it is the fact that in order to access it you need to have a Prime account. The good news is that you can access it even if you are on the 30 day trial period .
Amazon Prime Video
Another attractive service reserved exclusively for Prime users is undoubtedly Amazon Prime Video , a streaming service that allows, starting from the 30-day free trial, to have access to many Amazon Original productions , films and TV series of great success wherever you prefer: via browser on your computer, via the dedicated app for smartphones and tablets or on one of the compatible Smart TVs.
Another very useful function of Prime Video is the one called X-Ray , thanks to which it is possible to identify songs or actors and deepen the contents of what you are watching through a database of biographies, images and curiosities about the cast. Also, if you are wondering, for example, how Amazon Prime works for the Champions League , you should know that generally the games are broadcast through Prime Video. For more details on the latter possibility, you can refer to my guide on how to see the Champions on Amazon .
To underline, then, the download function , which allows you to download your favorite content on smartphones, tablets and computers taking advantage of any Internet connection. For more information, you can refer to my guide on how Prime Video works.
Amazon Prime Music
In case you were wondering how Amazon Prime Music (which is actually now called Amazon Music Prime) works, you need to know that Amazon Prime subscribers have access to this music streaming service as well.
It allows you to listen to over 2 million songs for free, for a total of 40 hours per month . At the end of the 40 hours, you have to wait until the following month to resume listening. It also supports offline listening and is accessible from a wide range of devices and platforms: Windows PC, Mac, Android devices, iPhone, iPad and more. It can even be used directly via the browser via its Web Player.
Amazon Music Unlimited
If you are a more demanding user in terms of music than what is offered by the classic Prime Music , you must know that Amazon Music Unlimited is Amazon ‘s true answer to Spotify and Apple Music .
It is, in fact, a music streaming service that allows you to access a catalog of over 75 million songs, even in offline mode and from any device. There are also millions of podcast episodes . After the first 30 days of free trial (in some cases 3 months are also offered), it costs 9.99 euros / month . To find out more, read my guide on how Amazon Music Unlimited works .
Amazon Prime Reading
If you are wondering how Amazon Prime Reading works , you should know that the latter is a service, reserved for Prime customers, which gives you free access to a library of over hundreds of ebooks and comics in digital format.
The contents are in various languages, including Italian and can be enjoyed through all the apps and devices of the Kindle family . In any case, the catalog is updated regularly and there are several genres available. To be clear, ranging from thrillers to children’s books , through yellow , non-fiction , romance and fantasy . In short, you probably won’t struggle to find what is right for you.
Amazon Prime Photos
As you will have understood at this point in the guide, the benefits dedicated to Prime customers are truly unlimited, just like the storage space for your photos . In fact, if you are wondering how Amazon Prime Photos works , you should know that thanks to this service, available exclusively for Prime customers, you will be able to take advantage of a totally personal and safe online storage space in which to keep all the photographs you want. without having to burden your device or consume internal memory unnecessarily.
Whenever you want to review a photograph, just log into your account and start browsing your personal gallery . When you upload your photos to Photos, there are no quality or size limits , so your images will be kept exactly as they are, without undergoing compression and without compromising quality. Furthermore, once a photograph has been uploaded from your smartphone, it will be immediately visible also from your tablet and computer. For more information, you can connect to the official Amazon Photos page .
For the rest, associated with Prime Photos there is also Amazon Drive , which is a storage service that generally guarantees 5GB of free space for Prime customers. The service nowadays is essentially related to Photos, but for more details you can refer to the official Amazon guidelines .
Amazon Prime Gaming
If you’re wondering how Amazon Prime Gaming (formerly Twitch Prime ) works, this is the part of the guide for you. In fact, I am going to deepen the benefits guaranteed by the Prime subscription in the videogame field.
Well, you should know that a variety of gaming-level content is included within the subscription , which includes both full games for Windows PC every month (which you can keep forever, clearly in digital edition) and in-game digital elements every week for titles. popular like New World (which, on the other hand, was developed by Amazon Games Studio, but in reality there are often elements related to video games from other software houses).
In case you haven’t understood it, in the latter case we refer to skins (digital costumes), in-game virtual currencies and the like. In any case, you can learn more about the various benefits of this type included in your subscription by connecting to the official Prime Gaming portal (just press the Login button , present at the top right, then log in with your Amazon account).
To find digital items related to your favorite game, you can use the search bar (or take a look at the highlighted game tiles). In this way, after pressing the Redeem (or similar) button, you will get information on the procedure to follow to get what you have requested. Unfortunately, I cannot go into more detail, as each game is a story in itself, but generally it is necessary to link the account of the title to the Amazon one .
For the rest, in the case of full games for Windows PCs that are generally made available for a limited period of time , to redeem them and play them it is necessary to go through the Amazon Games program , obviously logging in with your account. For all the details of the case, you can refer to the official Amazon Games guidelines , as well as my tutorial on how Prime Gaming works (previously called Twitch Prime).
Twitch
Among the benefits offered by Amazon Prime Gaming, it is good to focus specifically on what is offered for Twitch, a well-known livestreaming platform owned by Amazon.
In fact, you should know that through Prime you are entitled to a free subscription per month to one channel . I remind you that having a subscription of this type available can be useful, for example, to remove advertising from the contents of the channel involved, to obtain the possibility of using customized emoticons , access the subscriber badge that will appear in chat when you write a message and have exclusive benefits available in general, chosen directly by the Content Creator involved.
For example, the streamer could decide to carry out some exclusive direct for subscribers, as well as guarantee only the latter access to the chat in certain contexts. Then there can be emoticons related to the channel , exclusive groups and maybe videos uploaded only for subscribers. In short, a lot also depends on what the channel manager decides to give to subscribers, but surely this type of subscription is also a method to support one’s favorite streamer .
If you want to learn more about this possibility, I recommend that you take a look at my tutorial on how to subscribe to a Twitch channel with Amazon Prime , as well as the official Twitch guidelines.
How to sign up for Amazon Prime
If after having explored all the benefits mentioned above you have decided to subscribe to Amazon Prime , you must know that carrying out this operation is very simple.
In fact, all you have to do is visit the page dedicated to the service and press the Subscribe button and use it for free for 30 days . Once you have pressed the button, just follow the instructions that appear on the screen and you will see that within a short time you will be able to take advantage of all the benefits and services listed above.
Amazon Prime can be tried for free for 30 days with no renewal commitment. Once the 30 days of the trial have expired , however, the registration continues automatically and the 36 euros per year or 3.99 euros per month provided by the service are charged .
If you are wondering how Amazon Prime Student works , you should know that university students can take advantage of Amazon Prime at half price (18 euros / year) with a 3-month free trial . You can find more details on the official Amazon portal.
In any case, for all the details on these possibilities, I recommend that you refer to my guide on how to sign up for Amazon Prime (and possibly, if you are interested, on how to deactivate Amazon Prime ).
Amazon app
Now that you know Prime and all its advantages a little better (which as you have seen are myriads), I can only invite you to discover the whole world that hides behind the apps developed by Amazon, which allow you to take advantage of the benefits of Prime directly. from smartphones and tablets (and in some cases other devices, such as TVs). There are several to choose from: below I deepen the main possibilities, namely Amazon Shopping and Amazon Prime Video , but clearly there are also, for example, Amazon Music and Amazon Photos .
For completeness of information, before starting with the app analysis, I also remind you that clearly the whole Amazon ecosystem in terms of software is available through the official Amazon Appstore digital store , pre-installed in products such as Amazon Fire TV Stick and tablets from the Fire range . Among other things, this store can possibly be installed via APK files for what concerns any Android device . For more details on this possibility, you can refer to my guide on how to download the Amazon Appstore .
Amazon Shopping
The Amazon Shopping app , which is very intuitive, allows you to access your account (whether standard or Prime) and purchase products , check and manage your cart , view and edit your wishlist and much more.
If you are one of those people who just can’t do without online shopping, this is the app that cannot be missing on your smartphone or tablet. You have millions of items and items within your thumb that can be purchased in just a few taps. The app is available for both Android system and iPhone and iPad and Windows.
Amazon Prime Video
Another interesting app developed at Amazon is certainly the one dedicated to Amazon Prime Video , the streaming service included in the Prime subscription . Thanks to this app, in addition to viewing content on demand , you can also download movies and TV series using a Wi-Fi connection and then be able to watch them calmly offline at no additional cost.
In addition, it is possible to use the X-Ray function , which allows you to identify actors and songs in an instant by deepening what you are watching. You can download this app for both Android (it is also present on Samsung’s Galaxy Store ) and for iPhone, iPad and Mac . There is also no shortage of versions for Windows and macOS .
For more details , you can refer to my guide on how to watch Prime Video . If you’re wondering how Amazon Prime Video on TV works instead , you might want to check out my tutorial on how to watch Prime Video on TV .
Other Amazon applications
In addition to the in-depth solutions previously, there are also other apps related to the Amazon world . Below you can find a list of the most important ones.
- Amazon Music ( Android / iPhone and iPad / Windows / Mac ): this is the official app of the music service included in the Prime subscription, which I illustrated in a previous chapter .
- Amazon Photos ( Android / iPhone and iPad / Windows and Mac ): Allows you to access unlimited storage in terms of photos. I explained everything in the chapter dedicated to Amazon Prime Photos .
- Amazon Drive ( Android / iPhone and iPad ): this is an application, now linked in some ways to the Photos service, which allows you to access a storage space. You can find more details in the dedicated chapter .
- Kindle ( Android / iPhone and iPad / Windows and Mac ): the app for reading books. If you have a Prime subscription, you can take advantage of the benefits guaranteed by Amazon Prime Reading . To learn more about the subject, you might be interested in my app guide to read .
- Amazon Alexa ( Android / iPhone and iPad / Windows ): the application to manage Amazon’s voice assistant. I wanted to put it on the list because through Alexa it is potentially possible to access some Prime benefits: I am thinking, for example, of music tracks. If you are looking for more information, you can refer to my tutorial on how Amazon’s Alexa works .
- Amazon Games ( Windows) : I have already mentioned this app in the chapter dedicated to Amazon Prime Gaming , but I want to reiterate its existence here, since not many people know this client to download free full video games for Windows PC included in the Prime subscription.
- Twitch ( Android / iPhone and iPad / Windows, Mac and TV ): this is the app to access the popular live streaming service owned by Amazon. I remind you that with the Prime subscription you have some benefits related to the latter, as indicated in the appropriate chapter . If you want to learn more about the platform in general, I recommend that you take a look at my guide on how Twitch works .
In short, as you have surely noticed, the Prime subscription ultimately allows you to access many possibilities, among other things constantly updated. Have fun exploring them all!