Big Bummer: Amazon is Ending Prime Sharing Benefits
Find out how to keep your Prime perks before October 1st.
BIG changes are coming to Amazon Prime, and it’s not very exciting! On October 1st, they’ll be phasing out their Prime Invitee Program, which previously allowed members to extend free shipping to people outside their household.
Current invitees will be notified by September 5th and will need to purchase their own Prime Membership starting at $14.99 for one year (then, $14.99/month or $139/year). This discounted offer runs from September 5th through December 31st.
Going forward, Amazon will emphasize Amazon Family, which allows sharing with one other adult (spouse, family member, or roommate) up to 4 children, and 4 teens with the same address (read more about the differences here).
Are you as bummed about these changes as we are? Let us know! 👇
Take a look at the benefits of Amazon Family sharing…
But can you still send gifts to people in other households?
Hi Julie! After chatting with a customer service agent, it seems that Prime accounts can still send items to other addresses. This change looks to affect the ‘Amazon Invitee’ program, as Amazon is moving more toward ‘Amazon Family’ options. Hoping this is helpful! ❤️
Thanks!
You’re welcome! ❤️
So they are going back to offering teen accounts? They recently kicked two of my kids out of their teen account (understandable, as they had aged out) and I couldn’t put a new teen in their place. There is no longer a teen option.
Hi Christy! Here’s more details on how Amazon Family works, if that’s helpful. We’re hoping to learn more details as October arrives, and these changes take place. 🥰
It’s so confusing now. To have teens on your account, it would have needed to be done sometime in April, so now my teenage son doesn’t have an account. I received the email last night saying that I needed to sign up for my own account. I’m on my husband’s account, so we are in the same household. Not quite sure why they sent me that email then.
Recently canceled Amazon Prime, which has been great for us. However, now I see more and more items that are priced significantly higher for non-Prime members! Has this always been the case or are they just trying to lure me back?
Great question, Molly! Yes, Amazon has offered some lower prices and exclusive deals for Prime members for a bit, so it’s normal to see a difference. Appreciate you sharing what you’ve noticed! ❤️
I noticed that too. They’re trying to lure back people like us who got fed up with them. It’s always on extras we don’t really need anyway. I save so much $ not having Amazon prime! I wonder why H2S doesn’t do a write up on THAT one?! I suppose cause of the commission…🙄 it’s such a big operation now. Miss the days when it was just Colin and her sister and they had the searchable coupon database.
I’m an adult living with my parents. If I join their account, can they see my orders?
With Amazon Family, it seems you should not see eachothers orders, since you’d likely have separate logins. I did find how you can “hide” your browsing history if this would be helpful too. –
🎁 Hide from Browsing History
Sometimes items show up again in your “Recently Viewed.” To hide them:
Go to Browsing History (hover over “Accounts & Lists” > “Browsing History”).
Find the item.
Click Remove from view.
They no longer have the archive orders option. They did away with that in March, I think.
Thanks, Megan!
Megan, even without the archive feature, are family accounts separate in that we won’t be able to see each other’s purchases?
i recently discovered this, when I wanted to “hide” a bday gift. I will certainly miss that feature.
My daughter is the second adult on my household account. She is now in college, so the shipping address will be different. Does that still work, or will she need her own account?
Hi there! I did find these details – “To share benefits, you and your invitee must live together at the same primary residential address.” It seems she will need her own account.
We also found this offer – “Current invitees will be notified by September 5th and will need to purchase their own Prime Membership starting at $14.99 for one year (then, $14.99/month or $139/year). This discounted offer runs from September 5th through December 31st.”
AND this could be helpful for her too! 🤗 https://hip2save.com/deals/amazon-prime-student-discount/
I am an invitee and have a lot of $$$ in credits from returns/etc. What will happen to that money?
Good question. You could always reach out to customer service to see if they may be able to check on that for you. ❤️
This isn’t going to go well lol
I got the email about the Invitee program, but we have been on Amazon Family for years, so I was super confused, as I had never even heard the words “Invitee Program” before, but it said I that! Ha! Unless back in 2005 when I joined I joined under my husband? But it lists me as primary in Amazon Family? Did every Prime member get the same email?
Hey there, Materof8! You might reach out to customer service to be sure on your account settings and find out if any of the upcoming changes will impact your account. 💓 I’m a Prime Member (without the Household), and haven’t received an email on this personally, if that’s helpful. 🤗
Thank you! I just received an email before I could even reach out stating that the email was a mistake. Amazon issued an apology and said that if you are a current Amazon Family member, nothing will change.
Oh, good! Glad it seemed to be a mistake and all is good on your side. You’re welcome, and thanks for popping back over to share this update! 🥰
I get that they don’t want people outside the house to share kind of like streaming. I’m an invitee on my sister’s account and in the same household. We are all senior citizens -there are 4 of us and I’m going to have to get my own membership. After the first year I’m not going to pay for a full membership as a don’t order that much from them a teenager probably orders more than I do
Can we still get people into the Prime Invitee Program right now so that they can get the 14.99 for the first year once it has ended?
Great question, Dawn! The Prime Invitee Program is being phased out by October 1st, and being replaced with Amazon Family. It looks as though accounts are no longer able to add users to that program. Here’s the details on this change! ❤️
I’ve had 2 adult children on my account for years. They both live elsewhere so I was wondering if there’s any way to keep them both. Could I say they live with me or change one to a child’s account?
Hi Dgal! You might want to reach out to Amazon customer service directly to see what options they can provide for your situation. ❤️
…because Bezos doesn’t have enough money?! 🧐🤦🏻♀️🤨