Is Amazon Prime Worth It?

When it comes to the competitive book market, it's hard to always support the locals, when international sellers can offer much better prices. These savings can add up, even if you are only collecting one series. I always look out for the best price when it comes to buying manga, and I usually save more than $5 compared to buying from the cheapest local seller, but it depends on the type of manga you are buying. Most of the series I collect are from Kodansha and Yen Press, but when I monitored prices for Viz series, you can still save about $2. 

Anyway, as Amazon established itself in Australia since 2017, it's been offering decent prices, but these prices are usually offered by Amazon US through Australia. The products sold by Amazon Australia are cheap, but not the best deal. However, since the best prices are from Amazon US, this means hefty international shipping prices. The only way to bypass this problem is Amazon Prime, which offers free international shipping when spending at least $49 on products from Amazon US. So far, I have only used the free 30 day trial, but I will still weigh in my thoughts on whether it's worth it for Australian customers.

What Amazon Prime offers to Australians [More Info]:

Delivery Benefits:

• Free 2 Day Shipping on Products sold by Amazon Australia
• Free International Shipping when spending $49 on Products sold by Amazon US
• Free Release Date Delivery (I never used this, but if you pre-order products from Amazon Australia, you get it on the date of release if you live in metro areas. It sounds too good to be true though)
• Discounts on Faster Shipping Options

Amazon's Other Services:

• Prime Video
• Prime Music
• Prime Books
• Twitch Prime (Free sub to a channel)

There's two ways to buy Amazon Prime. You can buy monthly for $6.99 AUD or yearly for $59.00 AUD (a saving of $24.88 compared to buying it monthly). Amazon also allows you to try Amazon Prime for 30 days before you start paying. Compared to a similar competitor like eBay, eBay allows people to try 4 months of eBay Plus for free, but individuals can only lock in for an annual contract of $49 AUD. 

When to Purchase Amazon Prime?

I recommend getting Amazon Prime when you see an incredibly low price for a product and if you are making savings that will offset the price of Amazon Prime. Other notable periods is Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday and Mid Year, since there's sometimes special coupons for Amazon Prime members only. An example for Australian Amazon Prime members received a $10 coupon where you need to spend at least $49 to redeem the code during Amazon Prime Day.

Final Question: Is Amazon Prime Worth It?

It's very worth the price if you are using all the services that comes along with Amazon Prime. Furthermore, it's still better to just pay for Amazon Prime even for one order if you are purchasing an Amazon US product as the international shipping costs is usually double the amount of Amazon Prime. It's fair priced and it's not going to hurt your pocket, and is especially beneficial for people who regularly order products. However, if you are a person who rarely orders, then Amazon Prime is probably not worth it. I usually only order one or two times a year, so there's a lot of benefits if you are thinking of buying the annual pakacge. If I was to purchase Amazon Prime, I would probably once purchase the one-month subscription.