On October 1st, Amazon will end its Prime Invitee Program that allows others outside of the same household to share a Prime membership. The announcement came on September 1, revealing the company’s switch to Amazon Family. The program will allow up to two adults, four children, and four teens (if the plan was bought before April 17, 2025) to have a prime membership as long as they share the same address. Anyone sharing an Amazon Prime account who doesn’t live in the same household will have to sign up for their own membership.  

With the switch, some customers now face a difficult dilemma: sign up for an independent Prime membership or lose the benefits that come with the program. Having a Prime subscription means members receive same day shipping, Prime Video access, and exclusive deals. As a result of the recent change the company is offering a discounted rate of $14.99 for the first year for new members. After that members will have to pay the standard $14.99/month.   

This abrupt change comes after Amazon Prime subscriptions fell by 116,000, a 2% decline from the same period last year. However, the company assures “Prime membership continues to show strong growth and customer engagement in the U.S. and internationally.” And while this shift doesn’t affect many people, since the program ended sign-ups in 2015, the almost one million people who do have it will have to change the way they now shop on Amazon.