3 Signs Your Amazon Prime Membership Is a Waste of Money

It may be time to cancel.

Earlier this year, Amazon Prime raised the cost of an annual Prime membership from $119 to $139. And that price hike forced a lot of people to rethink their memberships.

For some people, keeping Prime was a no-brainer. I should know -- I was one of them.

I can say with certainty that I place an Amazon Prime order on a weekly basis. And some weeks, I order items daily.

It's not that I'm someone who shops out of boredom. I just find that Amazon tends to have different items I need at competitive prices. And if I can wait two days to get my items, I'd rather buy them from Amazon than trek out to the store and have to spend the time shopping in person. But while paying $139 a year for Amazon Prime makes sense for me, you may want to consider canceling your membership if these factors apply to you.

1. You don't shop on Amazon very often

If you were to check my monthly credit card statements, you'd see a host of Amazon Prime purchases. But if you hardly ever shop on Amazon, then it's probably not worth paying for a Prime membership. Even if you were to pay for shipping once a month or so, that might still amount to less than $139.

2. You don't take advantage of any of the free content

One benefit of joining Amazon Prime is getting access to loads of free content, from TV shows to movies to music to books. Although I don't tend to watch a lot of TV, if my weekend plans get rained out, I might find a new show to binge-watch or curl up under a blanket and stream a classic movie. And I frequently take advantage of the free books I can download via Prime. But if you're not using any of that digital content, then you may be throwing your money away -- especially if you also don't shop on Amazon all that often.

3. You generally order enough to qualify for free shipping

You don't have to be an Amazon Prime member to qualify for free shipping on your purchases. You simply have to spend $25 or more and wait a few days for your items to arrive at your door (since you won't be eligible for free two-day shipping). But if that's generally not a problem for you, then there's probably no reason to pay for a Prime membership.

I can say with confidence that my Amazon Prime membership saves me time, money, and in many cases, aggravation. But that's just me.

There are some people who may be better served canceling Amazon Prime and spending their money elsewhere. If you're one of them, don't hesitate to take that step. Remember, you can always sign up for a Prime membership again in the future when you might get more use out of it. But for now, there's no sense in throwing your money away at a time when life has gotten so expensive.