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I signed up for Amazon Prime Student during my freshman year mostly because my roommate kept stealing my snacks and I needed to order more without paying $8 for shipping. Not exactly a financial mastermind move. But two years later I’m still subscribed, and I’ve actually thought a lot about whether it’s genuinely worth it or just one of those things you pay for and forget about.

So here’s my honest take as someone who watches his budget pretty closely.

What You Actually Get and What It Costs

Amazon Prime Student runs at $7.49 a month or $69 a year if you pay upfront. For comparison, regular Amazon Prime is $14.99 a month or $139 a year. That’s legitimately a significant difference. You also get a six month free trial before they charge you anything, which is better than most subscription services offer.

The core stuff is the same as regular Prime. Free two day shipping on most orders, access to Prime Video, Prime Music, and Prime Reading. You also get access to Amazon Photos for unlimited photo storage, which I actually use more than I expected.

The shipping perk alone can be hard to quantify but it adds up fast. I order everything from textbooks to toiletries on Amazon, and avoiding shipping fees on even five or six orders a month probably saves me $30 to $40 over time. At $7.49 a month that math works in your favor pretty quickly.

The Part Nobody Really Talks About

Prime Video is fine. It’s not Netflix but it’s not nothing either. I’ve watched enough stuff on there to feel like it adds value, especially during finals week when I want something dumb on in the background.

But the underrated perk is Prime Reading. You get access to a rotating library of books, magazines, and comics at no extra cost. As a business major I’ve actually found some solid reads on there that I would have paid for otherwise. It’s not as big as Kindle Unlimited but it’s free with your membership so it doesn’t feel right to ignore it.

There’s also a perk called Prime Gaming if you play video games at all. You get free games every month and free in game content for stuff like League of Legends or Fortnite. I’m not a huge gamer but my buddy Marcus uses this constantly and he says it’s saved him real money on games he would have bought anyway.

One thing worth mentioning is the discount on Grubhub Plus. Amazon has had a deal where Prime members get Grubhub Plus free, which normally costs $9.99 a month. If you order delivery even occasionally, this perk alone basically pays for the Prime subscription. Just check if that deal is still active when you’re reading this because these partnerships change.

My Actual Experience Using It

Second semester of my sophomore year I had to buy five textbooks for a particularly brutal course load. I found three of them on Amazon for cheaper than the campus bookstore, and with Prime shipping I had them in two days without paying anything extra. I saved probably $60 to $80 compared to buying them new from the school store.

That was the moment I stopped thinking of Prime Student as a subscription I was passively paying for and started thinking of it as something I was actually using. It sounds obvious but a lot of us just let subscriptions run on autopilot without asking whether they’re pulling their weight.

I also use the free trial strategically now. If you know a friend who hasn’t signed up yet, they can start the six month free trial during a semester with a heavy order season, like back to school in August or September, and get the biggest value out of it before deciding whether to keep paying.

Should You Actually Pay For It

Honestly I think it depends on two things: how often you order online, and whether you’re already paying for streaming or music services separately.

If you’re paying for Spotify and Netflix and nothing else, the $7.49 a month for Prime Student might feel redundant because you’re adding another subscription. But if you’re currently paying for shipping on Amazon orders or using the school library app for books, it starts to look like a pretty clean consolidation of stuff you’re already spending on.

I’m a fan of pairing smart subscriptions with other money moves. I use a student credit card that gives me cash back on Amazon purchases, so I’m stacking a discount on top of already free shipping. If you don’t have a student card yet, something like the Discover it Student Cash Back or the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card can get you 3 to 5 percent back on categories like Amazon or online shopping. That starts to compound your savings in a way that feels almost unfair.

I could be wrong but I think most students underestimate how much they’re already spending on Amazon without Prime. The shipping fees are small enough that you don’t really notice them individually, but they add up across a semester.

One thing I’d push back on is the idea that you need to extract value from every single perk to justify the cost. You don’t have to use Prime Video every week or download every free game for the subscription to make sense. If the shipping and one or two other perks pay for themselves, that’s enough.

The six month free trial is genuinely one of the better student deals out there right now. Use it, pay attention to what you actually use during those six months, and then decide. You’re not locked in and there’s no pressure. Just set a reminder in your phone before the trial ends so you don’t accidentally get charged if you decide it’s not for you.

At least in my experience, most students who try it end up keeping it because the shipping convenience alone is hard to give up once you’re used to it.

Bottom Line

Amazon Prime Student is $7.49 a month with a six month free trial, and for most college students who shop online even semi regularly, it pays for itself. Start the free trial, use it heavily, and make the call with actual data from your own habits instead of guessing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I get Amazon Prime Student if I’m not enrolled full time? You need a valid .edu email address to qualify, but Amazon doesn’t verify your enrollment status beyond that in most cases. Part time students with a school email can typically sign up without any issues.

Q: What happens to my Prime Student membership when I graduate? Amazon will convert your account to a regular Prime membership after your graduation date, which means you’ll start getting charged the full $14.99 a month rate. Set a reminder to cancel or downgrade before that happens if you don’t want the price jump.

Q: Is the six month Amazon Prime Student free trial really free? Yes, you won’t be charged anything for the first six months. After the trial ends, billing starts automatically, so make sure you add a reminder to your calendar if you want to cancel before the first charge hits.

I’m not a financial advisor, just a business student sharing what I’ve learned. Do your own research before making financial decisions.