AMAZON is no longer allowing customers to share their Prime perks with those outside their household.
The company’s “Prime Invitee Program”, was launched back in 2009 and let customers share their Prime delivery benefits like free shipping.
Amazon officially ended its Prime Invitee Program on October 1[/caption]
Amazon announced last month that the perk would be ending on October 1 to widespread anger on social media.
One customer wrote on Reddit that the Prime Invitee program was a big draw for them.
They said: “This was the main reason I retained my Prime subscription.”
In its place, Amazon is rolling out “Amazon Family”, which only allows membership sharing for customers who live in the same household.
Amazon Family supports household sharing for up to one adult, four teens or four children.
These teenagers must have been added to the family Amazon Prime plan before April 7, 2025.
Amazon is giving those impacted by the switch a limited-time Prime deal, according to reporting from USA Today.
The offer will be available until December 31 and will include 12 months of Prime for $14.99.
The deal will also be made available to those who used the Prime Invitee Program between 2009 and 2015.
SIGNS OF CHANGE
The signs of change at Amazon have been there for a few months now.
Back in June, Jamil Ghani, vice president of Amazon Prime, told the outlet Fortune that a membership crackdown was coming.
He said at the time: “Prime is meant for the household.
“Our membership is different to a lot of other memberships in that it is purposely meant for household individuals living together.”
WHAT TO EXPECT
In a statement to The US Sun, an Amazon spokesperson confirmed what perks customers can enjoy with Amazon Family.
Amazon Prime perks you might have missed
Check these out…
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First up is Prime Try Before You Buy, which is a Prime exclusive.
This lets you try new styles and sizes of clothes before buying them.
You can return them within seven days at no cost – and you’ll only have to pay for the products that you keep.
It’s a thriftier way to try on clothes, as it means you’re not fronting up money every time.
Second is Amazon Photos, which is extremely handy if you’re a serial snapper.
This gives you access to unlimited full-res photo storage, plus 5GB of video storage.
Third is Prime Reading, which serves up “a rotating collection of over 3,000 digital books, audiobooks, magazines, comics, and more”.
Fourth is another perk for book-lovers: Amazon First Reads.
This gives you early access to a brand new book for free every single month.
Fifth is a brilliant perk called Prime Gaming.
This gets you free games and in-game content every single month, as well as a free Twitch channel subscription to use each month.
You’ll also be able to play a rotating selection of free games on Amazon’s cloud gaming service Luna.
Sixth on the list is Membership Sharing.
This lets you share your existing Prime membership with your family – specifically between two adults, four teens, and four children under 13.
Seventh on the list is Amazon Music.
This gets you ad-free listening to over 100 million songs, along with thousands of playlists and popular podcasts.
And finally, don’t forget to unlock Grubhub+.
If you’re a Prime member in the US, you can get a one-year Grubhub+ trial, which normally costs $9.99 a month.
This gets you unlimited $0 delivery fees on any order over $12.
- Get a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime here
They said: “The Invitee program, which launched in the U.S. in 2009 and stopped accepting new invitees in 2015, enabled sharing of the Prime shipping benefit only and is being phased out.
“Fewer than 1% of U.S. Prime members are affected by this change, and the majority of invitees can instead enjoy a broad range of Prime benefits with Amazon Family, including: fast, free delivery; access to exclusive deals and shopping events like Prime Day; movies, series, and live sports with Prime Video; Amazon Music and additional digital entertainment; access to a free Grubhub+ membership; and fuel savings at more than 7,500 bp, Amoco, and participating ampm locations.
“Amazon Family enables Prime members to share a range of benefits with one adult—whether that is a spouse, family member, or roommate—and Prime Video and additional digital content like Kindle eBooks, audiobooks, and games, with up to four children in their household.”
HOW TO SIGN UP
To sign up to Amazon Family, you can go to the website and search for the “Share your Prime Benefits” option.
Then, you need to select “Manage Your Amazon Family” to send invitations to those in your household.
Those who have been longtime Amazon users might know that the company actually stopped letting customers join the Prime Invitee Program about a decade ago.
Amazon only let those who had already been signed up to it to keep using the benefits.
