With the holidays quickly approaching, Amazon is doing everything it can to get its Prime service in as many households as possible.Â
The e-commerce giant announced a new pricing option today (Oct. 11) for its Prime Student service. Effective immediately, students with a valid .edu email address can choose to pay $5.49 per month for access to Prime Student services. The new option lets students use Prime Student on a month-to-month basis, instead of making them sign up for a full year at $49 annually.
Students who've studied hard in math may have spotted the catch here. The $5.49 monthly payments for Prime Student add up to $65.88 over the course of a year — more than $15 higher than the annual membership fee. But monthly payments are aimed more at students who might want to use the service for a little while before dropping out. If you're going to use Prime Student for longer than 8 months, you're better off paying upfront for the full year.
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Interestingly enough, a similar option has been available to traditional Prime members, albeit at a pricier $10.99/month.Â
Whether you sign up for the full year or go month-to-month, Prime Student includes free 2-day shipping — and, in some cases, one-day — unlimited streaming video and music, and discounts on select video game pre-orders, among other shopping perks.
New Prime Student members still get a 6-month trial period, as opposed to traditional Prime subscribers who only get 30 days, so your monthly billing would start after your trial. Â
To sweeten its service, Amazon also announced Prime Student members would get access to exclusive student coupons. A quick glance at some current Prime Student coupons includes $3 off Gillette or Venus refills, 30 percent off Colgate toothpaste, and $1 off Viva paper towels.Â