7 Amazon Prime Perks You've Forgotten to Use

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With the recent news of Amazon changing how they charge for Prime, and allowing users to pay on a month-by-month basis, it has many revisiting their membership and asking themselves if they're using Prime to its fullest potential. It's with this frame of mind that I wanted to talk about some of the lesser known Prime perks. After all, Amazon Prime these days is much more than just free two-day shipping, and some of these perks can actually replace monthly premium pay services and help reduce your overall entertainment costs.

1. Unlimited Photo Storage

One of the least used Prime perks is the free unlimited photo storage service. Their cloud drive is secure and allows you to upload and access photos from your PC, mobile device, or via any web connection. So the next time your smartphone or SD card on your digital camera is reaching capacity, you can easily upload your photos to the Amazon cloud.The only limit that Amazon places on your cloud storage is with 1080p video — you're only allowed 5GB of storage, where the Google free storage option allows unlimited storage.

2. Prime Music

The Amazon Prime Music Streaming Service has gotten much better in recent months and is worth revisiting. Its improvements make it a fantastic alternative to premium pay music services like Spotify Premium and Pandora One. For example, all Prime Music Stations and custom created playlists now offer ad-free listening with unlimited skips, making it very comparable to premium services. You can now also download songs directly to your listening device, allowing for offline playback when an Internet connection is not available.

3. Prime "Early Access" Deals

As a Prime member, have you ever heard of a site called MyHabit? If you're like most members, probably not, but it's definitely worth a look as it's owned by Amazon and specializes in highly discounted clothing, shoes, handbags, jewelry, and home items. The deals, often in the 70% off range, are only available to registered Amazon members, and 30-minute early access to these deals is granted only to Prime members. Once on the MyHabit website, simply look for the Early Access logo and start your bargain shopping before popular items get snatched up by non-Prime members. It's also worth mentioning that, unfortunately, free two-day Prime shipping is not available on your orders from MyHabit. Their standard shipping rate is a flat $5.95.

4. Amazon Prime Pantry

Another perk that many busy families are not taking advantage of is Prime Pantry, which offers "low-priced everyday essentials in everyday sizes, delivered to your home." The key takeaway to their tagline is "everyday sizes," as you no longer have to order in bulk and hope you use it all. You can now order the amount that you'll actually use. As long as it fits in your "virtual box," you'll get it delivered to your doorstep for a flat $5.99. It becomes kind of a fun game to follow your box "fill-percentage" while building your online order. Popular Amazon Pantry product categories include groceries, snacks, household, pet supplies, and baby care. If you've never explored this Prime service, and you could use some help keeping your kitchen pantry full, it's definitely worth a look.

5. Free Video Streaming

Are you a Prime member and currently paying for an online streaming service like Netflix or Hulu Plus? If so, you probably haven't explored Prime Video recently. For many users, it has become an excellent replacement for the above mentioned pay services. Improvements in recent months include several highly rated Amazon original series, more monthly-added Prime movies and TV shows, and an easier to navigate interface.

6. Amazon Family

My wife and I had our Prime membership for two years before we took the time to see if the Amazon Family program (formerly Amazon Mom) could benefit us. Come to find out, I wish we had used it much earlier as it saves us a lot of time and money every month. Straight from their site, "Amazon Family provides Prime members exclusive family-oriented offers, coupons, age-based recommendations, 20% off diaper subscriptions, and a 15% Baby Registry completion discount." The 20% diaper savings alone would have been of a great benefit. Also, if you have young children, the coupon offers will often save you 15%–20% on baby health items, baby food, as well as kitchen and beauty items.

7. Free Trial for Students

I was just recently chatting with a college freshman, and he was telling me about all the things he needed to buy for his dorm room. I asked if he had taken advantage of the free six-month Amazon Prime trial that they offer. Surprisingly, he had never heard of it and was excited to get the free two-day shipping on all products sold directly by Amazon. It's worth noting that other perks like Prime Video, Prime Music, and the Kindle Lending Library are not available during the trial period. But after your six-month trial ends, you'll have the option to purchase Amazon Prime for 50% off the $99 price tag at which point you'll gain access to all the Prime perks.

How do you use Amazon Prime to its fullest potential? Or if not a member, do any of these perks sway your decision to join?

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