Amazon Prime: Get Your Money's Worth from Prime Shipping, Instant Video, Music, and the Kindle Lending Library

Here's a concise guide that simply explains how to get the most bang from your Prime bucks. Hi, I'm Steve Weber, publisher of KindleBuffet.com, a daily list of free and discount Kindle books. If you enjoy special deals on great books, please visit the site and tell me what you think. Way back in 2005, I received an email from Amazon.com announcing a new program called "Prime." It was a simple proposition: If I paid $79 a year for the annual membership, I'd get free two-day shipping on most of my orders. Plus, I could upgrade to overnight shipping at a huge discount--just a few dollars per order. I'm plenty thrifty, but Amazon didn't need to twist my arm before I coughed up my $79 fee for a Prime membership. It was a no-brainer. I order something from Amazon at least once or twice a week--books, groceries, electronic gadgets (the list has grown every year). So I didn't need to scribble the numbers on the back of an envelope to see that my annual Prime membership would pay for itself within a few months. Easily! In the decade since then, Amazon has increased the Prime membership fee just $20. Meanwhile, the company has stacked up more and more benefits to Prime, much beyond the special shipping deals that attracted me at the start: -- Free on-demand streaming of movies and TV shows. The service, called Amazon Instant Video, is similar to Netflix's online video service. And while Amazon's video store doesn't yet match Netflix's selection, Amazon is gaining rapidly. -- Free monthly rentals of popular Kindle ebooks, thanks to the Kindle Owners' Lending Library. Anyone with a Kindle device and a Prime membership qualifies for the freebies, up to one book per month, with no due date. -- Free streaming music, a service like the popular Pandora or Spotify Internet music services. Whether you're like me--someone for whom Amazon Prime is a must-have--or a more infrequent Amazon customer--this book will explain how to get the most bang out of your Prime bucks.