Should Amazon Be Cracking Down on Free-Shipping Sharing?

Amazon is phasing out Prime Invitee, a 16-year-old perk that let Prime members share free shipping with a family member or friend who lives somewhere else.

According to Inc., Amazon had long let Prime subscribers add an “invitee,” whether a friend, relative, or roommate, to their membership to let them enjoy free two-day shipping and other perks without paying for their own membership. The report said, “It wasn’t widely advertised, but it became a quiet favorite among people who didn’t want to shell out $139/year.”

Amazon stopped letting Prime members join the invitee program in 2015, but it allowed users who previously joined to continue sharing their free shipping benefit.

Amazon Nudges Consumers To Buy Prime Subscriptions

The move to end the perk was seen as a way to boost subscribers.

The New York Times writes, “Prime memberships and other subscription fees account for about 7% of Amazon’s sales, amounting to more than $12 billion in the last quarter alone. But the growth rate of Prime subscriptions has stayed in the low double-digits for almost two years. Most American households that can afford a Prime membership already have one, analysts have said. This change allows Amazon to find more customers who will sign up and pay for their own accounts.”

Amazon members that are part of the Prime Invitee program are being encouraged to join Amazon Family, a new program with no additional charge that lets account holders share the free two-day shipping perk with only one other adult in their household, up to four teens (who were added before April 7), with room for up to four profiles for children.

Amazon Family also includes additional benefits such as sharing Prime Video, Amazon Music, Kindle eBooks, audiobooks and games, but only within the same household. The Invitee program only included free shipping.

"The Invitee program, which enabled sharing of the Prime shipping benefit only, is being phased out, and Prime members can instead share a broad range of Prime benefits with Amazon Family," an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement to CBS News.

Family members or friends that used to be part of the Prime Invitee program and live somewhere else will have to purchase a Prime subscription. The Prime Invitee program ends at the start of October.

Amazon Offers an Olive Branch to Prime Invitee Beneficiaries

To smooth the transition, Amazon is offering individuals affected by Prime Invitee ending a chance to sign up for twelve months of membership at $14.99. After the year ends, they’ll have to pay the annual fee of $139 for membership, equaling to $14.99 per month.

Amazon’s move is the latest to squash the "mooch economy" or subscription freeloading. Similar changes such as end of Netflix's and Disney’s password sharing and further restrictions on Costco's membership card sharing all led to new membership signups.