HOUSTON – Millions of Amazon customers pay for a Prime membership to get free two-day shipping; but there are a ton of lesser-known perks you get with the $99 membership.
Here are 5 of them that can help you save money.
Prime Samples
If you're looking at buying a product online that you've never tried before, you may not want to risk it. If you're a prime member, you can get a prime sample to try it before you buy a whole bottle. There are samples for beverages and food, personal care and household, vitamins and baby products among others. Just search "Prime Samples" in your Amazon account to see them all. The samples start at just $2, but if you end up buying the full-size product, Amazon deducts the price of the sample from the cost essentially making the sample free.
Free movies and TV shows
Have you cut cable? You can stream hundreds of movies and TV shows from Amazon Prime Video.
Amazon Prime rewards cards
If you're already doing the bulk of your shopping on Amazon, you can sign up for the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa card. You'll get 5 percent back on all Amazon and Whole Foods purchases, 2 percent cash back at restaurants, gas stations and drugstores and 1 percent cash back on everything else.
Prime shipping refunds
If your Amazon Prime package is late, you can get a shipping refund. You may even get an extra free month of Prime. Just contact Amazon when your package hasn't showed and ask for the refund.
Rewards for slower delivery
You may not need everything you order in two days. If you select "no-rush shipping" at check-out, you'll still get your package within 6 days and you can get a reward credit to use on e-books, videos or groceries from Prime Pantry.
Free two-hour delivery
If you haven't tried Prime Now, you should check that out too. Instead of two-day delivery, Prime members can get items delivered to their door in two hours for free with a minimum $35 purchase.
