Free Amazon Deliveries Ending: The Latest Crackdown After Netflix Passwords

Amazon is making some changes to its Prime membership benefits starting October 1st. The popular Prime Invitee program, which allowed Prime members to share their free shipping benefits with one other adult at a different address, will be discontinued. This move is aimed at encouraging more users to become paying subscribers, similar to what we saw with Netflix cracking down on password sharing.

The replacement program, Amazon Family, will now only allow sharing of benefits with people living at the same address. This change will impact the estimated 240 million Prime subscribers worldwide, over 180 million of which are in the U.S. With Amazon Family, members can share benefits with one adult, such as a spouse or roommate, as well as digital content like Kindle eBooks, audiobooks, and games with up to four children in the same household.

Financial analyst Dan Ives sees this policy change as a strategic move by Amazon to adapt to the times, drawing similarities to how Netflix tackled password sharing. By ending the Prime Invitee program, Amazon is taking steps to prevent revenue loss due to shared accounts and piracy, a concern that both streaming services and pay-TV providers have been grappling with.

So, if you’ve been enjoying shared Amazon Prime benefits with a friend or family member at a different address, it might be time to consider the new Amazon Family program for continued access to shipping perks and digital content.