A guy has paid for Amazon Prime for 9 years. He uses two things: free shipping and Prime Video. That's it. Every…

A guy has paid for Amazon Prime for 9 years. He uses two things: free shipping and Prime Video. That's it. Every month. For 9 years. $1,251 in total membership fees. He thinks Amazon Prime is a shipping subscription that also has a streaming service. His coworker, a former Amazon employee who spent 5 years on the Prime membership team and helped design the benefits most members never see, watched him pay $14 for a 3-month supply of allergy medication at CVS during lunch. "You have RxPass. Every eligible generic prescription you take is $5 a month total, not per medication. Delivered to your door. Free." He didn't know what RxPass was. "You're also paying $9.99/month for Google Photos storage. Amazon gives you unlimited full-resolution photo storage free, with Prime. You're paying $9.99/month for Grubhub delivery fees. Grubhub+ is included free, with Prime. You're paying $19.99/month for Alexa+. That's included free, with Prime. You've never opened Prime Reading, which has 3,000 free books. You've never claimed a single free game from Prime Gaming. And you've been a solo member for 9 years on a plan that lets you share every benefit with your entire household." She pulled up a calculator. "The retail value of the benefits you're not using is $642 per year. You're paying $139 for a membership worth $780+. You've been capturing $139 of that value shipping and video. The other $642 is sitting in your account, untouched, every single year." Here are the 11 benefits he'd been paying for and never activated 🧵

First what Amazon Prime actually is versus what most people think it is. Most people think Amazon Prime is a shipping membership with a streaming service attached. That's what it was in 2005 when it launched at $79/year with nothing but free 2-day shipping. In 2026, Amazon Prime is a bundle of 15+ services that individually would cost over $780/year if purchased separately. Shipping is one of them. Video is another. The other 13 are the ones most members have never opened. Amazon doesn't promote most of these benefits aggressively because the business model doesn't need you to use them. Amazon needs you to renew. And most people renew for shipping alone. Every additional benefit you don't use is a service Amazon provides on paper but never delivers in practice pure margin. The average Prime member uses 2-3 benefits out of 15+. The strategic Prime member uses 8-10 and extracts $600-$800/year in value from a $139 membership. Same price. Same account. Different awareness.

1. He activated Amazon Photos and canceled his $9.99/month Google One storage plan. Amazon Prime includes unlimited full-resolution photo storage. Not compressed. Not downgraded. Full-resolution, original-quality backup of every photo you've ever taken unlimited, forever, included with Prime. Google Photos compresses your images unless you pay for Google One ($9.99/month for 2TB). Apple iCloud charges $2.99-$9.99/month depending on storage tier. Both have caps. Amazon Photos has no cap on photos. Zero compression. Full resolution. Every image backed up exactly as your camera shot it. How to set it up: 1. Download the Amazon Photos app on your phone 2. Sign in with your Prime account 3. Turn on auto-backup 4. Every photo you take is automatically uploaded to unlimited cloud storage He had 47,000 photos on his phone, eating 78GB of local storage. He was paying Google $9.99/month to back them up. Amazon Photos backed up every single one at full quality for $0 beyond his existing Prime membership. He canceled Google One that evening. That's $120/year he'd been paying for a service Prime already included. Annual value: $120.

2. He activated Grubhub+ a free membership worth $9.99/month he never claimed. Amazon Prime includes a free Grubhub+ membership. Not a trial. Not a one-time promotion. A full, ongoing Grubhub+ membership included with Prime. What Grubhub+ gives you: $0 delivery fees on orders of $12+ from eligible restaurants. Lower service fees on delivery orders. 5% back in Grubhub credit on eligible pickup orders. Exclusive member-only deals and offers. If you order food delivery even twice a month, the delivery fee savings alone are worth $8-$15/month. Over a year, that's $96-$180 in delivery fees eliminated. How to activate it: 1. Go to amazon.com/grubhub 2. Click "Activate Grubhub+" 3. Link your Amazon and Grubhub accounts He'd been ordering delivery 3-4 times a month and paying $4-$7 in delivery fees every time. The Grubhub+ membership was sitting in his Prime account, unactivated, for over a year. He activated it in 2 minutes. His next order had $0 delivery fees. Annual value: $120 (membership) + $100-$180 in saved delivery fees.

3. He activated RxPass and started getting all his generic prescriptions for $5/month total. This is the Prime benefit that makes pharmacists raise their eyebrows. Amazon RxPass gives Prime members access to eligible generic medications covering over 80 common conditions for a flat $5 per month. Total. Not per medication. Not per fill. $5/month for every eligible generic you take, delivered free to your door. Conditions covered include: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, anxiety, depression, acid reflux, allergies, diabetes, thyroid disorders, and more. How it works: 1. Go to amazon.com/rxpass 2. Check if your medications are eligible 3. Enroll for $5/month 4. Prescriptions ship free via Amazon Pharmacy with 2-day delivery He was taking 2 generic medications an allergy med and an acid reflux pill. Combined cost at CVS: $26/month out of pocket. With RxPass: $5/month total for both. Delivered. That's $252/year saved on medications he was buying every single month. Amazon Pharmacy also price-compares against his insurance sometimes the RxPass price is cheaper than his insurance copay. Annual savings: $252.

4. He opened Prime Reading and found 3,000+ free books, magazines, and comics he didn't know he had. Prime Reading gives every Prime member access to a rotating catalog of over 3,000 ebooks, magazines, comics, and books with Audible narration completely free. No extra subscription. No credits. No limits on how many you read. This is not Kindle Unlimited (which costs $11.99/month). This is a separate, smaller but substantial library included with Prime at no additional cost. How to access it: 1. Open the Kindle app on any device (or your Kindle e-reader) 2. Search "Prime Reading" or go to amazon.com/primereading 3. Browse by category: bestsellers, fiction, nonfiction, magazines, kids, comics 4. Tap "Read for Free" it downloads instantly He'd been buying 1-2 Kindle books per month at $10-$15 each. His first Prime Reading browse turned up 5 books on his reading list all free. He also found magazines like People, Newsweek, and Better Homes & Gardens available at no cost. He didn't know this existed. He'd had the Kindle app on his phone for 4 years. Prime Reading was one tap away the entire time. Annual value: $60-$120 in books and magazines he no longer buys.

5. He activated Prime Music and stopped paying for a separate music subscription he didn't need. Amazon Prime includes access to Amazon Music with a catalog of 100 million songs included with Prime at no extra cost. Most Prime members don't know this exists. Or they confuse it with Amazon Music Unlimited ($10.99/month), which is a separate, premium tier. The Prime-included version gives you: Access to 100 million songs. All-access playlists with on-demand playback. Ad-free listening. Offline downloads on mobile. Podcast access. It has some limitations compared to Unlimited most listening is shuffle-based for full catalog access, and on-demand playback is available on select playlists. But for most casual listeners people who play music at the gym, during commutes, or while cooking it's more than enough. He was paying $10.99/month for Spotify Premium. He tried Amazon Music for 2 weeks. For his listening habits curated playlists during work, background music at home it was functionally identical. He canceled Spotify. That's $132/year back. Annual value: $132 (if it replaces a paid music subscription).

6. He activated Alexa+ a $19.99/month AI assistant included free with Prime. In 2025, Amazon launched Alexa+, an upgraded AI-powered version of Alexa with advanced conversational abilities, smart home intelligence, and personalized assistance. Non-Prime members pay $19.99/month. Prime members get it free. What Alexa+ does beyond standard Alexa: Natural, multi-turn conversations ask follow-up questions without repeating context. Proactive suggestions based on your habits, calendar, and routines. Deeper smart home integration controls devices with contextual awareness. Shopping assistance finds deals, compares prices, tracks packages conversationally. Personalized daily briefings tailored to your interests. He had an Echo Dot in his kitchen that he used for timers and weather. Alexa+ turned it into a personal assistant that knows his schedule, controls his lights contextually, and answers complex questions without robotic one-liners. The $19.99/month value is the sticker price Amazon charges non-members. Whether it's worth that to you depends on how much you use voice assistants but the fact that it's included free with Prime means there's zero reason not to activate it. Annual value: up to $240 (retail price for non-members).

7. He activated Prime Gaming and started getting 5-8 free PC games every month plus a free Twitch subscription. Prime Gaming gives every Prime member free PC games, in-game loot for popular titles, and a free monthly Twitch channel subscription worth $4.99. What you get every month: 5-8 free PC games to download and keep forever. In-game content for games like Fortnite, League of Legends, Call of Duty, Apex Legends, and more. One free Twitch channel subscription ($4.99 value) to support any streamer you choose the streamer gets paid, you pay nothing. How to activate: 1. Go to gaming.amazon.com 2. Sign in with your Prime account 3. Claim free games and link your Twitch account He's a casual gamer. He'd been spending $10-$20/month on new indie games. In his first month on Prime Gaming, he claimed 6 free titles including 2 he'd had on his wishlist. The free Twitch subscription alone is worth $60/year. The games vary in value but typically total $15-$30/month in retail price. Annual value: $60 (Twitch sub) + $100-$200 (free games).

8. He started using fuel savings $0.10/gallon off at 7,500+ gas stations. Prime members save $0.10 per gallon on fuel at participating bp, Amoco, ampm, and Thorntons stations. Over 7,500 locations across the U.S. How it works: 1. Download the bp/Amoco app or Amazon app 2. Link your Prime membership 3. Activate the fuel discount at the pump He fills up his car roughly 4 times a month. Average tank: 15 gallons. The math: $0.10 × 15 gallons × 4 fill-ups × 12 months = $72/year. Not life-changing on its own. But stacked with every other benefit in this thread, it's another $72 sitting in his Prime membership he never collected. He'd been driving past a bp station on his commute every day. The discount was activated in 3 minutes. Annual value: $72.

9. He set up Amazon Household and shared every benefit with his partner for $0. Amazon Household (now called Amazon Family) lets you share your Prime membership with one other adult and up to four children at no extra cost. Same $139/year. Two adults. Full benefits. What the second adult gets: Free shipping on their own account. Prime Video on their own profile. Prime Reading, Prime Gaming, Prime Music all on their own account. Amazon Photos unlimited storage. Fuel discounts. Grubhub+. Every benefit in this thread doubled. And here's the critical detail: each adult maintains a completely separate Amazon account. You don't see each other's orders, search history, or purchase data. He'd been a solo Prime member for 9 years. His partner had been a separate Prime member for 6 years paying her own $139/year. He added her to his Household. She canceled her membership. That's $139/year saved immediately. Every Prime benefit now covers both of them on one membership. Annual savings: $139 (eliminated a duplicate membership).

10. He activated Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh grocery discounts and started saving on food he was already buying. Prime members get exclusive discounts at Whole Foods Market both in-store and online. These aren't generic coupons. They're Prime-member-only prices on rotating products throughout the store, typically saving 10-20% on select items every week. How to activate: 1. Open the Amazon app or Whole Foods app 2. Link your Prime membership to your Whole Foods account 3. Show your app QR code at checkout or log in for delivery He also discovered Amazon Fresh grocery delivery where Prime members get free delivery on orders over $50 in eligible areas, with prices that compete with or beat local grocery stores. He'd been doing his weekly grocery run at a regular supermarket and occasionally shopping at Whole Foods at full price not realizing his Prime membership unlocked member-only pricing on dozens of items each week. He linked his account and saved $8 on his next Whole Foods trip on 4 items he was already buying. Annual value: $200-$400 depending on grocery frequency.

11. He discovered One Medical primary healthcare at $9/month instead of $199/year. Amazon acquired One Medical, a primary care provider with over 200 offices across the U.S. Prime members get access to the One Medical membership for $9/month (or $99/year) compared to the standard $199/year for non-members. What One Medical includes: Same-day appointments both in-person and virtual. 24/7 on-demand virtual care message or video call a provider at any hour. Full primary care services physicals, blood work, referrals, prescriptions. In-app messaging with your care team. Free health AI-powered message visits 5 free visits in 2026 for eligible members. He'd been going to an urgent care clinic for minor health issues $150+ per visit after copay. One Medical's flat monthly fee covers unlimited messaging with a doctor, same-day appointments, and 24/7 virtual access. He signed up for $9/month. His first virtual visit a prescription refill he'd been putting off for 3 weeks took 12 minutes from his couch at 9 PM on a Tuesday. Annual cost: $99 (vs. $199 for non-members $100 savings). Annual value vs. urgent care visits: $300-$500 in avoided per-visit costs.

The full math. Benefits he activated and their annual value: 1. Amazon Photos (replaced Google One): $120/year saved 2. Grubhub+ (free membership + saved delivery fees): $120-$180/year 3. RxPass (generic prescriptions): $252/year saved vs. pharmacy 4. Prime Reading (free books and magazines): $60-$120/year 5. Prime Music (replaced Spotify): $132/year saved 6. Alexa+ (included free): up to $240/year retail value 7. Prime Gaming (free games + Twitch sub): $160-$260/year 8. Fuel savings ($0.10/gallon): $72/year 9. Amazon Household (eliminated partner's membership): $139/year saved 10. Whole Foods / Fresh grocery discounts: $200-$400/year 11. One Medical (discounted healthcare): $100/year saved + avoided visit costs Conservative annual value captured: approximately $1,575 Aggressive annual value (if all benefits fully utilized): approximately $2,200+ Annual membership cost: $139 He'd been paying $139/year and extracting roughly $260 in value shipping and video. The other $1,300+ was sitting in his account, untouched. Total time to activate everything: one evening. Approximately 45 minutes. Every benefit was already included. Nothing changed about his membership. Nothing changed about his price. He just opened the settings.

The uncomfortable truth. Amazon Prime has 200+ million members globally. The vast majority use it for shipping and video. Amazon knows this. Every benefit Amazon adds to Prime Grubhub+, RxPass, Alexa+, Gaming, Photos, Music serves one purpose: reducing churn. Amazon doesn't need you to use Grubhub+. Amazon needs Grubhub+ to be the reason you don't cancel when you question whether $139/year is worth it for shipping. The benefits are real. The savings are real. But the business model doesn't depend on you activating them. It depends on you knowing they exist just enough to justify renewal without actually using them. That's why the activation process isn't automatic. Grubhub+ requires you to visit a specific URL and link accounts. RxPass requires a separate enrollment. Amazon Photos requires downloading a separate app. Prime Gaming requires visiting a separate website. One Medical requires a separate sign-up with a separate monthly fee. Every benefit has a door. None of the doors are open by default. "Amazon built a $780/year bundle and sold it to you for $139. Then they put every benefit behind a separate activation step and bet that you'd never complete more than two of them. For 9 years, they were right. The membership was never the problem. The defaults were." One evening. 11 benefits. $1,300/year in value he was already paying for and never touched. The membership was always worth it. He just never opened it.

If this changes how you use Prime, one ask: Repost the first post so the next person paying $139/year for shipping and video sees this before their next renewal. Follow [ @jamescoder12 ] I break down the hidden benefits, buried settings, and unclaimed features that companies profit from you never discovering. Next thread: the 9 settings inside your iPhone camera that a National Geographic photographer changed in 5 minutes and why your $1,200 phone has been taking $200 photos.