Amazon is ending a Prime perk that let subscribers share their free delivery with one other person outside their household.
In an email to Prime subscribers and an update to its customer service page, reported by The Verge on Tuesday, Amazon notes that the Prime Invitee program will end Oct. 1. Amazon also said in a statement to GeekWire that the invitee program was being “phased out.”
All sharing of benefits will now happen through Amazon Family — but just for people who live at the same primary residential address.
“This is the address you consider to be your home and where you spend the majority of your time,” Amazon says.
Amazon Family enables Prime members to share a range of benefits with one adult — whether that is a spouse, family member, or roommate — and Prime Video and additional digital content like Kindle eBooks, audiobooks, and games, with up to four children in their household.
Invitees outside the household who are losing their free shipping are encouraged to get their own Prime membership. Amazon is offering a discounted rate of $14.99 for one year (the deal starts Friday and ends Dec. 31). After that, Prime is $14.99 per month or $139 per year.
Amazon Family first launched as Amazon Households in 2015.
Reuters reported Tuesday that internal Amazon data reveals that Prime membership sign-ups failed to meet last year’s total and the company’s own target, despite the doubling of the company’s big Prime Day sales event to four days this year.
