By now, you guys know that I live in Hawaii… and it’s no secret that shipping things over here can get expensive quick!
For several years I have been using Amazon.com who generously offers free shipping, even to Hawaii! However, I always had to make sure my order was a minimum of $25 to qualify. About a year ago, I decided to give the Amazon Prime membership a try.
But is the Amazon Prime Membership REALLY worth it?
Here are my top 5 reasons that I kept it after the 30-day free trial:
- Free upgrade to 2 Day Shipping with NO minimum order amount required on all eligible Amazon items (not third party items). This means I can send a $4 gift to my niece in North Carolina with free shipping anytime the mood strikes us (like the time she broke her first tooth and we sent her our favorite special teething feeder!).
- I can share the membership benefits with up to 4 family members (so we can all send each other gifts at Christmas or Birthdays without breaking the bank).
- Access to over 40,000 Instant Streaming Videos (like Netflix), with more being added all of the time.
- Access to over 350,000 of free Kindle Book downloads & Amazon Kindle lending library. (great for us homeschoolers!)
- Extra 20% off Subscribe & Save Items when I order 5 or more items in a month. I buy about 70% of all my dry & canned goods from Amazon, so this is a no-brainer for me. I have cut my grocery budget substantially this way… especially with Gluten Free & Grain Free cooking!
Initially, I signed up for the 30-Day Free Trial, and by the end of it, we knew the $79 annual fee was worth it… just canceling our Netflix for the streaming videos paid for it. Plus, the unlimited free shipping & deeper discounts on food would be worth it to us alone.
With Christmas right around the corner, it would be a great time to sign up for a Free 30-Day Trial to see how you like it… I’d love to hear what you guys think and if it’s worth it to you!
HI thanks for this post I’m considering getting amazon prime as well since I also live in hawaii. Most of the time I have to find 3rd party eligible sellers because amazon doesn’t like to ship to Hawaii PO boxes. Do you know if amazon prime allows hawaii po boxes?
Aloha Lloyd!
Amazon Prime usually lets us ship to our PO Box… But if not, you have two choices: 1. Ship to your Physical Address or 2. Use a new service offered by the Post Office to accept packages from other carriers (FedEx, UPS, Etc) by using their physical address. All you have to do is go into your local post office where you PO Box is and sign a form allowing them to accept packages on your behalf. Then they will send you an email or put a slip in your box letting you know the package has arrived!
Hope that helps! God Bless!
~Erika
You don’t get the full benefits as a prime Member when you live in Hawaii so I would suggest to get the 30 days Amazon Prime Free Trial before subscribing to a full year.
Hi James! I live in Hawaii and use the Amazon Prime benefits ALL of the time… The Subscribe & Save service alone has been invaluable to me and saves me hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars annually on groceries. With our other family on the mainland, I use the overnight & two-day delivery for gifts & shipping and LOVE it! Not to mention, the unlimited document/photo storage, prime movies & music, discounts on books/audible, free kindle books, and more! Hope that helps – God Bless! ~Erika
Yes, we liked it mucho, so we rejoined again this year. Ordering with Amazon Prime is a Breeeezzzzzz.
I’m thinking about moving to Hawaii for grad school and I was checking Amazon’s site to see if Amazon Prime is available in Hawaii and it says on their site that addresses in Hawaii get free STANDARD shipping, not the two day shipping.
Hi Jessica!
You are correct… we don’t get free 2-day shipping, but we do get free shipping with no minimums as long as you have Amazon Prime & buy eligible items. Standard shipping is typically Priority or FedEx & takes 4-9 days depending on what you order – I just plan accordingly. This is a bargain when compared to everyone else that ships to Hawaii… most of them don’t even include us. If you move out here, shipping is just one extra expense you’ll have to budget for, as well as crazy housing & food costs. Hope that helps!
God Bless!
~Erika
Aloha, Erica
Just to let you know, Amazon no longer offers free shipping to Hawaii, even with a minimum purchase. You MUST be a Prime member to get free shipping, and of course this has gone up to $99.00 per year.
I live on the Big Island, with a PO box, and have ordered from them for years. They were my lifeline. I’m so disappointed with them now, I don’t really want Prime, but don’t have much of a choice, I’m up in Kamuela, not too many shopping options here.
Aloha Lindsay!
I just contacted Amazon about this and they said that as long as the items are sold directly from Amazon (and not another 3rd party vendor), then Hawaii & Alaska are indeed included in the free shipping as long as the $35 minimum order is met. The upgrade to 2-day shipping hasn’t ever applied to Hawaii – but I’ve always gotten free shipping and my orders arrive quickly.
Our family enjoys the Prime membership for so many more reasons than the free shipping: Unlimited Prime Movies, Unlimited Prime Photo Storage, Unlimited Kindle Lending Library; No minimum orders for Free 2-day shipping to family on the mainland; and the best of all, an Extra 15% discount on all my Subscribe & Save Items. =)
Between my Costco & Amazon memberships, I buy about 90% of my family’s groceries at a substantial discount to any of our local stores – so the membership is both a convenience & cost saver. Hope that helps! =)
God Bless!
~Erika
Hi I also live on the Big Island and I just ordered from Amazon- with free super saver shipping over $35. I think you should check with them about charging you for shipping.
The price Amazon Prime membership should be lower for us who lives in Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico since we don’t get the full benefits as being prime member.
I’m trying to order a bunch of gifts a few that are larger like drum kits ,TV, & I live in Hawaii haven’t ever used Amazon in wondering the best route to go about dealing w alI the size restrictions as well as Po box and everything else they make difficult to deal with this island.. Third party? No clue how to go about that or if it’s legit..sos please anything?
Aloha Antnee!
Amazon Prime usually lets us ship to our PO Box… But if not, you have two choices: 1. Ship to your Physical Address or 2. Use a new service offered by the Post Office to accept packages from other carriers (FedEx, UPS, Etc) by using their physical address. All you have to do is go into your local post office where you PO Box is and sign a form allowing them to accept packages on your behalf. Then they will send you an email or put a slip in your box letting you know the package has arrived!
I have bought from third parties on Amazon, but I always check what method they ship first. A lot of them will add a surcharge to Hawaii & still ship it Parcel Post. So, I try to stick with Amazon Prime Sellers only, that way you have recourse with Amazon.
Amazon is an amazing resource for us that live in Hawaii. I would prefer to shop local, but we’d pay almost double for everything.
Hope that helps! God Bless!
~Erika
Have you noticed Amazon Prime shipments taking FOREVER to get here lately? I’ve looked at my past three orders and they’ve each taken 8-9 business days to arrive (not counting the day I placed the order) meaning it typically takes 14 days after I’ve placed an order for the items to arrive. When I first moved to Hawaii prime orders would come in 4 days or so after I ordered it which was fantastic but it seems like service has slowed down.
Hi Marty, Yes, I have noticed the same thing… Sometimes things come right away & other times it can take a while. I’m still so grateful for the free shipping to Hawaii – most other companies act like we’re not even part of the US! =) God Bless! ~Erika
As of July 2018 – Very recently, many of my subscribe and save orders to Hawaii have given me notifications that there are problems with my order and that I must “update my shipping address.” The reason? The products that used to be ok to ship to Hawaii, are now restricted from being shipped here! Boo to Amazon for making this undisclosed policy change, without any warning whatsoever! Most of the problems I’m having are with bottled drinks, like 12 packs of Bai flavored water. I guess it must have been too expensive to ship? Fine, but at least suggest alternatives, if any, or flag the product page, if it can’t be shipped to Alaska or Hawaii, so I don’t have to go through the process of adding it to my cart, only to get to checkout to find that it can’t be sent here!
Also, Hawaii is ineligible for Amazon Pantry. Frustrating, that prime membership seems to be losing value for the 49th and 50th states. At the very least, I wish they would offer us an upcharged version of Prime, so we could still order the same things as everyone else in America!