Should You Dump Amazon Prime in 2023?

Don't pay for benefits you don't want or need.

Amazon is taking over the world. Not really. But maybe, sort of. Delivery trucks are everywhere, especially in urban areas. It's not uncommon for a household to receive daily deliveries. Are they really getting their money's worth?

7 reasons to drop Amazon Prime

Here are some compelling reasons to drop Amazon Prime in 2023 and give your bank account a break.

1. You love Earth

The amount of packaging required to bring multiple small orders to your home compared with one trip to a big store is huge. If you care that one billion trees are used every year to create packaging, consider buying less online from companies like Amazon.

2. You want to support local businesses

Retail giants like Amazon have changed the way America does business. Small, family-owned retail businesses can't compete with the Amazons of the world. Your local shop has to charge more for almost everything, which can make it hard to stay in business. If you want to support small business owners, let the Amazon Prime membership go and shop local instead.

3. You don't order often

For most people, Amazon Prime costs $139 per year, and the lowest shipping charge is $5.99. That's potentially 23 orders before you break even if you don't take advantage of other Prime benefits (unless you can consistently order enough to qualify for free shipping). If you don't make that many orders, it might be easier on your credit card bill to let Prime go.

4. You don't make small orders

Amazon waives shipping charges for orders over $25 (not all items qualify). So if you normally order a few things at a time, you might not pay for shipping anyway.

5. You live near a hub

If you live anywhere near Amazon distribution points, and they are located all over, you're probably going to get your orders within two to three days. This is especially true for urban areas where Amazon activity is high. So it's possible that you're paying $139 for "free" two-day shipping that you'd get anyway.

By the way, Amazon hardly has a perfect record when it comes to two-day shipping. So even if you pay for Prime, you might not get two-day shipping all of your orders anyway, even if promised during checkout.

6. You have plenty of other video streaming options

Are you already paying for other streaming services? If so, Prime Video might not be a good reason to hang onto Prime. It's true that every streaming service has access to a slightly different line-up of movies and TV shows. But unless you really do watch every streaming service's exclusive programming all the time, it might be friendlier to your budget to subscribe sequentially instead of concurrently. Subscribe to Amazon Prime for a period of time and then switch to Netflix or Hulu or another streaming service.

7. Digital benefits are duplicated elsewhere in your life

Amazon Prime comes with unlimited photo storage and 5G of video storage. That's great, but are you already backing up your photos to iCloud or Google? Even if you exceed the free storage limit, Google, for example, has plans starting at $20 per year.

Like other music streaming services, Amazon Music has limited capabilities unless you pay for upgraded premium service. If you have an Apple device, you can get Apple Music with similar features for half the annual cost.

5 reasons to keep Amazon Prime in 2023

Amazon Prime does make a lot of people happy, it's true. You don't have to use all of the benefits to make the membership fee worthwhile. Here are the main reasons you might want to keep Amazon Prime in the new year:

1. You order from Amazon frequently and/or you want the option to place small orders with free shipping.
2. You qualify for discounted Prime membership (students can get Prime for $69 per year, and people on select public assistance can get Prime for $6.99 per month).
3. You live in a rural area where Amazon's non-Prime free shipping takes a really long time.
4. You will enjoy going all-in on Amazon's digital benefits, like ad-free music and photo storage.
5. You share benefits with family members and you want separate logins for everyone.

If you have Amazon Prime but you decide you want to cancel it, navigate to your account, click "Prime," and then "Manage Membership." Amazon Prime is a way of life for many people, but there's no guarantee that it'll make your life better. Consider your usage and choose for yourself.