Amazon Prime Monthly
Amazon has announced more pricing options for their Prime and Prime Video services. Now Amazon Prime can be paid monthly and you can also choose to just get the Prime Video subscription instead of the entire Prime package. Here is how the new pricing looks
So you can pay $9 per month for just the video or add another $2 per month ($11 total) to get the shipping, music streaming, lending library and other benefits of Prime. I suppose this standalone video product helps them compete with Netflix. Prime Video at $9 per month is $1 cheaper than the standard Netflix plan which is what you need for HD.
Still A Bad Deal
So why is this all a bad deal? Because you can simply pay $99 or $8.25 per month for the entire Prime package. Sure, you need to pay it up front, but why would you pay $9 per month for just video when you can pay less per month for the entire thing. Which leads me to my next point.
Clearly this Prime Video only option positions their streaming service as a competitor to Netflix. Some would argue their price is even better. Since the complete Prime package is actually less money when paid up front, it would seem to be too cheap. My guess is that with this new standalone video product, we will see an increase in the cost of Amazon Prime.
50% Off with Amazon Prime Student
For those of you who are a student or who know one, Amazon Prime Student is still the best deal around. At $49 per year you get basically all of the Prime benefits (except for household sharing). All you need is a .EDU account and in my experience once you verify an account you can renew at the student rate for four years before they ask again.
Highly recommended!
Conclusion
The new monthly Prime and Prime Video options are not a good deal in my opinion. Even worse, I believe the value proposition of the new price shows that Amazon is likely to raise the cost of Prime soon. I could be wrong, but I’ll gladly keep my annual Prime membership and forego paying monthly. How about you?
HT: Doctor of Credit
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As some of the other commenters imply, It feels like unbundling is coming and that the sum of the parts will cost more than it does now. They played it really well, as I never cared about Prime Video but over time my family got used to having it…
I often buy travel gear, electronics, etc.. in big batches a few times a year it seems. That usually coincides with a time of year when there’s some deal going on, like Chase freedom promo. I’d rather pay $11 once or twice and order tons and tons of products without worrying about gathering them up into batches of $50+
One reason Amazon may have introduced this option is to provide Prime Video to customers oversees who do not benefit or unable to access the other Prime benefits. Netflix is currently in over 130 countries. Personally, I like this deal. I don’t need two day shipping or the other Prime benefits. I don’t watch that much video and switch between streaming services, subscribing and cancelling within a month’s time. I’ll probably do that with Prime Video as well, subscribing to the service one or two months a year to catch up on the original programming.
You’d need a smart DNS or VPN to access Prime Video. My experience is that, without smart DNS or VPN, when overseas you can only view content that you’ve outright purchased or rented (that is, you paid specifically for that title) but not access the library of content that’s free to Prime subscribers.
I’m not suggesting that U.S. customers have access to Prime Video overseas. Rather, if Amazon wants to expand their offerings to customers overseas they need a service that separates the video and shipping services. Essentially creating an Amazon Prime Video Uk, Amazon Prime Video South Africa, etc., only available to customers who live in those countries. Amazon is spending millions in original programming and it would cost little for them to expand these services to new customers overseas.
Or for people who just want prime in batches?
Canadian snowbirds, or people who are just visiting for 3 to 4 weeks, and one month of prime is sufficient.
I’d totally do one month of prime, and milk the heck out of it before it expires
That is a good point. They have always refunded the prorated amount if/when you cancel, but this is a way to avoid giving them the money up front. Useful for a few, but not a great deal for most.
Or people who only want/need Prime around the holiday shopping season.
Maybe it’s a way of making the upfront 12 month subscription look like an even better value?