Tech: 15 of the best perks you get with an Amazon Prime membership (AMZN)

It's more than just free two-day shipping.

As a member of Amazon Prime, you get a convenient and well-publicized perk: free two-day shipping on almost any item on Amazon.

But the $99-per-year membership actually gets you a lot more than expedited shipping. In fact, signing up for Prime unlocks features like Amazon's vast library of music, movies, television, and books, one-hour restaurant delivery, and unlimited cloud storage for your photos.

Here are 15 of the coolest benefits of Amazon Prime.

1. Free two-day shipping

Most things you buy on Amazon are eligible for free two-day shipping, but there are a few exceptions:

- Some items that are fulfilled by Amazon Marketplace sellers

- Magazine subscriptions

- Personalized gift cards

- International addresses and addresses in US territories, possessions, or protectorates (except for Puerto Rico)

2. Amazon Restaurants

For a $20 order minimum, you can get restaurant food delivered in less an hour in cities like Manhattan, Orlando, and Los Angeles (it's available in 24 locations total as of right now).

3. Prime Photos

A Prime membership also gives you access to Prime Photos, Amazon's cloud storage feature. Members will get unlimited storage for photos, plus 5 GB for videos and documents.

4. A discount on Amazon Music Unlimited

Prime members can get Amazon Music Unlimited, Amazon's music streaming service, for a discount of $7.99 per month. Non-members will have to pay $9.99.

5. Free same-day delivery

For orders over $35, same-day shipping is available in more than 5,000 cities in the US. Prime members can check if their ZIP code qualifies here.

If you place an order before noon, the item should arrive by 9 p.m., while an order placed in the evening will show up the next day.

6. Amazon Elements

Amazon has its own line of high-end, organic products, and Prime members get exclusive access to them. Called Amazon Elements, the line includes vitamins and baby wipes at the moment, and Amazon says its goal in making the products is openness and transparency.

7. Twitch Prime

By signing up for Twitch Prime, members can get discounts on games, an ad-free experience on Twitch, and a free monthly Twitch channel subscription.

8. Prime Now

If same-day delivery isn't quite fast enough, you can use Prime Now, which will deliver qualifying items in two hours. The service is available in 31 US cities and you order everything from an Amazon Echo to groceries.

If you need an item in an hour, you can get that in select cities for $7.99.

9. Prime Video

Prime Video offers unlimited streaming of certain movies and TV shows in Amazon's library. The service comes free with Prime, but you can also subscribe to Prime Video as a standalone service.

10. Amazon Households

If you cohabitate with your significant other, you can share the benefits of Prime with them. Amazon Household can include up to six members and you'll each split the cost.

11. Amazon Dash

Dash buttons let you quickly reorder things like household products, groceries, and beauty products. The buttons cost $4.99 each, but Amazon will give that back to you in credit after you place your first order.

12, 13, and 14. Kindle Owners' Lending Library, Prime Reading, and Kindle First

Being a Prime member offers several discounts and perks that harken back to Amazon's early days as a bookseller:

- The Kindle Owners' Lending Library is another perk of Prime that could save you lots of money on ebooks. Amazon says its library includes "hundreds of thousands of titles" and there's no due date, which means you can download the books indefinitely on your Kindle or Fire tablet.

- Along the same lines is Prime Reading, which functions more like a standard electronic library. Prime members can borrow books and magazines and read them on Amazon devices or in the Kindle app. With Prime Reading, you can keep up to 10 titles at a time. To get a new one, just return one you borrowed.

- Kindle First lets you download one of six editor's picks every month. The book will either be free or discounted and will be available a full month for the release date.

15. Prime Early Access

With Early Access, Prime members can get early access — 30 minutes in advance — to Lightning Deals, which are flash sales on Amazon.

16. Outfit Compare

The Outfit Compare lets you upload two different outfits and get an opinion on which one looks better. The feature is free and available in Amazon's mobile app, but only Prime members can use it.

17. Prime Pantry

Prime Pantry lets you order lower-priced groceries and household products for a flat rate — $5.99 per box.

Bonus: Prime Wardrobe

With Prime Wardrobe, you can pick three or more items from Amazon, have them shipped to your house, and then ship back what you don't want for free. You'll get 10% off if you keep three or four things, and 20% if you keep five items. The program is currently in beta, but Prime members can sign up to be notified when it launches.

There are plenty more features and rewards available to Prime members. Check out the full list here.

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