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Amazon Ends Shared Prime Free Shipping Outside Your Home (theverge.com)

(Tuesday September 02, 2025 @11:22AM (msmash) from the no-freeloading dept.)


Speaking of [1]Amazon Prime , Amazon is [2]axing the program that lets Prime members share their free shipping perk with people outside their household. The Verge:

> In an update to its support page, Amazon says it will cut off Prime benefit sharing on October 1st, 2025, prompting invitees who don't live with the account holder to sign up for their own subscription at a discounted $14.99 rate for an entire year (and then $14.99 per month after that).

>

> Instead, Amazon is replacing this program with Amazon Family, which lets account holders share Prime benefits -- but only with people they live with. Amazon says everyone in a "Family" must live at the same primary residential address, defined as "the address you consider to be your home and where you spend the majority of your time."



[1] https://slashdot.org/story/25/09/02/1230217/amazon-us-prime-sign-ups-slow-despite-expanded-promotion-data-shows

[2] https://www.theverge.com/news/769051/amazon-prime-free-shipping-benefit-sharing-ending


The replacement system sucks. (Score:3)

by mysidia ( 191772 )

You should not use Amazon Family even if you do live in the same household.

The system Amazon has devised is an Unacceptable security risk.

The problem is the new "program" requires that you Make all your Payment methods, such as your credit card, available for everyone else in the household -- They can click a button in the Family section of their Account management to automatically add your credit card to their Amazon wallet.

That means, for example.. If you wanted to share Prime delivery with your Elderly parent you are housing; They can go into their Amazon account and instantly add Your credit card, and then make a purchase on you instead of using their own card. Also, If they set their password to 1234 or their account gets hacked, and let a few other people access their account, now your account suddenly has a massive issue as well, and there is really no way to manage this risk. You just have to trust your family members more than is due or warranted in most cases.. Spouses often have some non-Joint bank accounts and cards for Personal and Joint for the household costs only - the very deliberate reason of not putting all the eggs in one basket, and making sure people retain a level of independence, and still have their own funds allocated just for each person's personal usage.

Re: (Score:2)

by registrations_suck ( 1075251 )

Oh calm the hell down.

This isn't new, it's always been this way, and it is by design. As Amazon explains, it's their way of ensuring people in your Prime Family are actually family members living with you. It seems perfectly reasonable to me too, as you're not likely to share access to your credit card with your friend's sister's boyfriend's dog sitter who is too cheap to get their own Prime membership.

If you want to "maintain financial independence" from your wife, then don't add her to your Prime Family M

I didn't know (Score:2)

by registrations_suck ( 1075251 )

I didn't even know this benefit existed. Oh well.

Your goose is cooked.
(Your current chick is burned up too!)