Image credit: HutchRock on Pixabay / CC0 / Public Domain
A few months after introducing Amazon Prime to Dutch customers, they now also made Amazon Prime Video available. For €49 per year, Dutch customers pay no shipping on select products, get notified 30 minutes earlier for Prime discounts and get access to Prime Photo, Prime Video and Twitch Prime. But is it worth your money?
Twitch Prime
Gamers who have a Twitch account can connect to Amazon to get access to special ‘loot’. When you log into your Twitch account you can claim it through a special drop-down. 90% of the time it’s games I never play like Overwatch and Runescape for the month of August 2018. I remember getting a nice skin in World of Warcraft once, but that’s about it. It’s underwhelming at best.
As far as I understand, you give other streamers bonuses through subscribing to their channels. I haven’t tried out this feature, so I can’t comment on the usefulness. I haven’t found a use for it, but if you are an avid gamer with a sizeable crowd on Twitch, this may work for you.
Prime Photo
Prime Photo allows unlimited photo storage for Prime users for free, but if you end your Prime membership, you need to pay for storage through one of the storage plans. I use Google Photos for free. Since I never keep the full resolution versions of my photos, it works for me. As far as I can see Prime Photo offers the same features as Google Photos. Both companies collect data and both companies have to obey GDPR. I don’t see the use of using this as a Prime member, especially if you don’t plan to keep it forever.
Prime Video
Prime Video sounds like a promising perk. Some of my friends wondered if Prime Video is worth the membership. I would say no. Especially when you also have access to Netflix, Amazon’s catalogue is limited. They have some exclusive ‘Amazon Original’ content like The Man in the High Castle and the German Amazon has the rights to Downton Abbey for instance, which was pulled from Netflix. I was finally able to watch the last season this way. But otherwise the other content isn’t worth paying the monthly fee for. You’re far better off paying for Netflix with its enormous catalogue. Maybe things will change because Amazon is a new player on the market, but for now, don’t bother.
Free Shipping
The most important reason for me to bite and take an annual Prime membership was the free shipping. Since I’m about to move across the country and have dietary restrictions, I order a lot of things online, not via Amazon but via a host of web shops. Now, I compare prices between them and Amazon. When Amazon offers the same product for the same price or cheaper, I order through Amazon. I calculated that I made back the €49 I spent on Prime a few times already. For me, this is making Prime worth my money.
Conclusion
Amazon offers free shipping through their Prime membership. The other players on the Dutch market like bol.com and coolblue.nl offer free shipping if your order exceeds €20 without charging a membership fee of some kind. The other services tied to your Dutch Prime membership have free alternatives or don’t offer that much extra value.
Is Prime membership worth your money? Only if you order a lot of things through Amazon that the other shops don’t carry. Otherwise it’s probably better to keep the €49 and stick with the big Dutch online retailers. If you want books, stick to bol.com, if you need electronics, shop via coolblue.nl. I won’t renew my Prime membership after I have moved and have the things I need.
