The Amazon Invitee program with free Prime shipping is coming to an end. Here is what Amazon is offering you if you are affected
On September 1, Amazon sent out emails notifying affected members that the Prime Invitee program will end on October 1, 2025.
The Prime Invitee program allowed Amazon Prime members to share the free, two-day Prime shipping perk with up to four people in their “household,” even if they lived at another address. It didn’t include other Prime benefits, like Prime Video or Amazon Music.
Allowing the sharing of the Prime shipping benefit seemed like a good idea at the time for Amazon. Free shipping encouraged people to order more things from Amazon without worrying about shipping fees or needing to hit a minimum spend amount to get free shipping.
Not many people knew about this benefit since it had been replaced with Amazon Household, which was then renamed to Amazon Family. However, all the people who were receiving the free shipping benefit were grandfathered in and continued to receive free Prime shipping for years. Some users, including yours truly, had been getting free Prime shipping for over a decade. That is, until now.
Affected users received the following email update informing them that the program is coming to an end.
Two Options For Prime Invitee Enrollees
In the email to members who were receiving the free Prime shipping benefit, Amazon offered two options:
- Starting September 5, 2025, users can sign up for their own Amazon Prime membership at a special introductory rate of $14.99 for a whole year. After the year is up, you will renew at the current Amazon Prime rate of $14.99 a month or $139 annually. This offer ends December 31, 2025.
- Join a Prime member’s Amazon Family and receive all the following Amazon Prime benefits: free two-day shipping, Prime Video, Prime Reading, Amazon Music, third-party benefits, and digital content such as audiobooks, games, photos, and more. Prime members can add one adult, four teens (added before April 7, 2025), and four children to their Amazon Family.
Read More: How to Save Money on an Amazon Prime membership
Why Is the Amazon Prime Invitee Program Going Away
Amazon did not publicly reveal the reason why the Invitee program is ending.
In an article published on September 2, Reuters reported Amazon Prime signups leading up to Amazon Prime Day were fewer than the same period in 2024 and below its own internal goals.
If the report is accurate, ending the Prime Invitee program could be a quick way to boost Prime memberships. You have a pool of customers who are already Amazon customers and accustomed to getting free two-day shipping from Amazon for years. Dangling a Prime membership for a year at $14.99 could entice many Invitee refugees to get their own Prime membership. This comes just in time for the anticipated Prime Big Deal Days coming in October.