Is Amazon Family (Mom) Worth the Cost of Prime? A Review of Membership Perks

Whereas users were once able to sign up for the service exclusively, today’s version of the program is an exclusive perk for Amazon Prime members.

As of May 2018, the price tag for Amazon Prime is $119/year. It seems like a steep price to pay just to access savings – so consider the whole package (read more details on those perks below) when you decide whether or not it’s worth the investment.

Who can benefit?

Amazon Family is for moms, dads, grandparents and guardians of all sorts – basically, anyone expecting, raising or regularly caring for small children.

Especially if you’re already a Prime subscriber, the program comes at no cost – only adding benefits. Definitely something I wish I would have known about when my preschooler was still in diapers.

If you’re not already a Prime subscriber, you can try it out free for 30 days.

And if you don’t like it – cancel anytime.

Amazon Family Perks

The key perks that come with Amazon Family are:

• *Up to 20% off diapers, baby food and more (*excludes formula and baby wipes, requires minimum 5 subscriptions through Amazon Subscribe & Save)
• 15% baby registry completion coupon and **free registry welcome box (changes frequently and comes filled with goodies for parents and babies!)
• Exclusive Amazon Family coupons
• An email newsletter with parenting tips, product recommendations and exclusive deals

Of course, that doesn’t paint the whole picture.

As an Amazon Prime subscriber, you also enjoy:

• Free unlimited two-day shipping on more than 100 million items
• Free same day and two-hour delivery (in select areas)
• Free release date delivery on eligible pre-order items
• Unlimited access to thousands of movies and TV shows on Prime Instant Video
• Access to a growing collection of more than 2 million songs with Prime Music
• Unlimited reading of over 1,000 books, magazines, comics, articles and more with Prime Reading
• Free game content on Twitch Prime
• Access to Prime Photos with secure, unlimited storage for you and five others (new – upgraded search to help you find photos fast)
• Prime Early Access to select lightning deals, 30 minutes earlier than non-subscribers
• Ability to borrow one free Kindle book each month
• Discounted access to Amazon FreeTime

How to sign up for Amazon Family

If these perks have you sold on a Prime membership, you can start a 30-day trial or join at www.amazon.com/family (or www.amazon.com/prime).

Scroll down the Amazon Family page and click “Join Prime.”

You’ll need an Amazon account to continue.

If you don’t already have an Amazon account, here’s how to register:

• Step 1: Start at the top of the Amazon Family page, near the product search bar, find where it says “Hello, Sign In.” Click it.
• Step 2: Click “Start Here” as a new customer.
• Step 3: Enter your email and name and create a password then click “create your Amazon account.”

Step 5: Amazon will run you through the rest of your account setup, including adding preferred payment methods, and more.

If you already have an account but you’re not logged in, you’ll be prompted to do so.

To join Prime, go to your “Account & Lists” drop down and select “Your Prime Membership.”

If you’re already a Prime subscriber, congratulations! You’re already set to benefit from Amazon Family as one of your perks.

Adjust Your Household Info

Within your Prime account, you can adjust your Amazon Household to include another adult member of your home who can access your free shipping perk, as well as up to four kids – including teens and younger children.

Up to two adults in a Prime household get parental controls over children’s electronic devices (with Amazon FreeTime) when you do this.

If you do add children to your online household, Amazon will give you product and content recommendations based on their ages.

How does Amazon Family work?

Amazon itself has a lot of moving parts.

The site, though well designed and mostly easy to navigate, can be overwhelming.

Here’s a closer look at the Amazon Family section of the site and the services and discounts you can access there.

Subscribe & Save

Subscribe & Save (read my review of Amazon Subscribe & Save here) is the key to unlocking up to 20% off diapers and more with Amazon Family.

All you have to do is set up at least five monthly subscriptions with Subscribe & Save. Quantity and price doesn’t really matter.

Subscriptions are automatic deliveries of your favorite items to your home. They can be set at a quantity and schedule of your choosing, from monthly to every six months. They can be canceled at any time. No commitment is necessary.

Subscribing to five or more products to be delivered to your home monthly can get you 15% off extra savings automatically. Prime members get 20% off diapers, baby food, etc., for doing the same thing, thanks to Amazon Family.

Manage subscriptions

To manage your subscriptions, go to your “Accounts & Lists,” drop down and choose “Your Subscribe & Save.”

To add more, click “Add more subscriptions” to visit the Subscribe & Save store.

Products are listed by category.

They include:

• Baby care
• Grocery
• Pet supplies
• Household
• Health & wellness
• Beauty & personal care

You can also search for products if you’re looking for something specific. If you want to see only Prime eligible items, you can refine search results as such in the left column of the page.

Choose a product you’re interested in. Choose your preferred quantity and delivery frequency and click “subscribe now.”

Before each delivery, you’ll get an email reminder showing the price and any applicable discount available. The price may vary slightly from delivery to delivery, depending on what the going price for that particular product is.

In your account, see “your deliveries” for scheduled delivery dates. If you need to skip a certain product one month, just hover over the product and choose “skip.”

If you’d rather edit the subscription to come less frequently, click “edit” and edit the subscription.

Exclusive coupons

As a member of Family, you’ll get access to exclusive coupons.

To see what’s available, click “Amazon Family Coupons” in the left-hand column of the Family webpage.

There are coupons available for:

• Health & personal care
• Grocery & gourmet
• Beauty
• Office & school supplies
• Automotive
• Baby
• Books
• Electronics
• Industrial & scientific
• Kitchen
• Lawn & garden
• Movies & TV
• Pet supplies
• Sporting goods
• Tools & home improvement
• Toys

When you see a coupon you like, click “clip coupon.” Once you’ve collected all your coupons, you can see them from the coupon main page by clicking “recently clipped.”

To use them, just add the appropriate items to your cart, and the discounts will be added at checkout.

Shortcuts to products & deals for families

From the Amazon Family homepage, you’ll find quick links to sections of the shopping website that aren’t necessarily about savings but are geared toward products that you might find useful.

They include sections on children’s books, groceries, and baby and children’s apparel.

Children’s books

From the Amazon Family main page, check out an awesome section on children’s books.

Although this section isn’t really about discounts, it can be hard to find good books for your kids, especially when they’re young and not in school yet.

Amazon does part of the work for you by sorting suggestions for children of every age and stage.

The site also includes lists – including Best Book of the Month, 100 Children’s Books to Read in a Lifetime, Award Winning Books and Best Sellers.

Grocery

Think dragging yourself to the store to buy groceries on the regular is a struggle?

Try doing it with a little person in tow!

The option to do your grocery shopping online is truly a lifesaver.

Baby and children’s apparel

Clothes shopping is also a breeze with quick links to children’s apparel on Amazon. It’s like they thought of everything!

Articles on parenting

Aside from savings and quick links, Amazon Family offers exclusive content in the form of articles spanning the first trimester of pregnancy to when a child is 6 years old.

Examples include “Embracing Your Kid’s Superhero Identity,” “Plot Twist: Now Your Kiddo Tells the Stories” and “The Building Blocks of Toddler Friendships.” These examples, in particular, are from Parents Magazine.

You can also get these tips and tricks via email when you sign up – that’s completely optional.

Monthly recommendations

Lastly, Amazon Family includes a number of featured deals, new releases, etc., all geared toward the family demographic.

Reviews

Many online reviewers speak highly of the program.

They say that while finding five monthly subscriptions to set up sounds hard to do, it’s easier than it seems.

After adding diapers and baby food, they recommend filling the three remaining subscriptions with cleaning supplies or other household needs, toiletries and beauty supplies or pet needs.

One regret is that the program is no longer available outside of Prime memberships and that the five items rule is a fairly new adjustment to the program.

Final thoughts

Even with the hike from $99 to $119 for a Prime Membership, for my two cents, the perks make the subscription beyond worth it. Especially if you enjoy online shopping, are a TV cord cutter or music or reading fan, it’s at least worth a 30-day free trial subscription.

While researching the Amazon Family program for this article, I’ve only realized that I’m not utilizing my own Prime membership to the fullest of its capabilities, which is something I plan on changing moving forward.

I missed a chance with my first child to maximize savings on baby supplies, but if there’s a next child, I won’t be missing out on this opportunity. If you can afford the monthly or one-time investment in Prime, I suggest you take advantage as well.

Your turn

Tell us about your experience with Amazon Family (or Amazon Mom) and how you review the program and the savings it offers.