Amazon has been operating in Singapore long enough for most shoppers to at least have heard of the Prime subscription, even if they've never tried it before. But what exactly is Amazon Prime and is it really worth shelling out for it each month?
Amazon Prime is the online retail giant's way of 'rewarding' members for shopping on the site. These rewards include free and fast delivery, access to exclusive and early deals, plus free subscriptions to Prime Video and Prime Gaming. All for just SG$4.99 a month.
That's a SG$2 price hike over the original SG$2.99 subscription cost and it shouldn't come as a shock – Amazon has increased the price of membership in all the markets that it operates in. It's still the cheapest Prime membership price, though, and it's potentially a good idea to sign up to maximise your savings if you're a regular shopper on Amazon.
So, what’s included? In a nutshell, if you sign up for Amazon Prime in Singapore, you’ll get:
- Free two-hour delivery on Amazon Fresh orders of SG$100 or more
- Free, one-day delivery on all domestic Prime eligible products
- Free standard delivery on all international purchases (i.e. those shipped and sold by Amazon US and Amazon Japan)
- Access to the Watsons storefront on Amazon SG
- Access to Prime Video and Prime Gaming
- Early access to discounts and deals
- Exclusive access and savings on Amazon Prime Day
What is Amazon Prime?
As you can see, Amazon Prime is an all-in-one subscription service that offers members a range of benefits. Its main appeal, though, is that it offers Prime members fast and free delivery on many purchases, plus access to the company’s Prime Video streaming service that houses a vast library of movies and hit TV shows like The Boys, Fallout, The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, The Wheel of Time and many more.
Prime members also get exclusive early access to select deals and offers – called Lightning Deals that are available for a short duration – and get to participate in a members-only annual sale called Prime Day (more on this later).
In other countries, a Prime subscription also includes free access to Amazon's Prime Reading service, a certain amount of storage for videos and photos, and access to Amazon's music streaming service called Prime Music.
However, countries with these added benefits also pay more... much, much more. For example, Amazon Prime in the US includes free shipping on millions of items, same-day delivery (even two-hour delivery in some cases) and access to its video and music streaming services, unlimited ebooks and audiobooks, and unlimited photo storage. However, to get all the goods and services Amazon promises in its Prime package in the US, American customers pay US$14.99 a month (US$139 a year).
How much does the Prime service cost in Singapore?
Singapore has one of the cheapest Prime membership costs of any market Amazon operates in. For just SG$4.99/month, it's good value for anyone who shops regularly on the online marketplace, particularly if it includes getting your groceries and household essentials delivered to your door on a regular basis.
As is customary with all of Amazon’s subscription services, there’s a 30-day free trial on offer. If you aren’t happy with the Prime service, you’ll need to manually cancel your membership before the 30-day trial ends or you will be charged the full monthly fee the following billing cycle.
What do Singaporean Prime members get?
Amazon has brought the promise of free delivery for its Singaporean Prime members – importantly that applies to both domestic and international purchases, albeit those marked with the 'Prime' logo depicted as a tick mark beside the pricing information of a product.
Prime eligible products can be anything that's sold and shipped directly by Amazon Singapore, Amazon US and Amazon Japan, or a third-party vendor. So, if you buy something that's Prime eligible, you won't be charged for delivery, no matter how little or how much your final order costs.
Note that if the "Prime eligible" label is not visible, speedy and/or free delivery is not an option even if you are a Prime member.
Amazon Singapore's fast and free delivery promise for Prime members also extends to any Amazon Fresh order, as long as the minimum spend is SG$100.
Prime members also get exclusive early access to Lightning Deals (Amazon’s limited-time deals that vanish within hours of going live), typically seeing them live on site about 30 minutes before anyone else can.
Alongside those shopping benefits, there’s a couple of complementary digital-media subscriptions that are included for free with Prime:
It is also important to note that, unlike other markets, in Singapore you cannot sign up for the aforementioned services as a standalone. For example, you cannot sign up for just Prime Video. If you do, it will still cost you SG$4.99 per month and get you all the Prime perks there are.
How to cancel your Amazon Prime membership
If your Amazon subscription has past its prime (pun intended), whether it be during your 30-day free trial or later, you can cancel at any time.
Cancelling Amazon Prime free trial
If you're still within the 30-day free trial, hover over the 'Your Account' button in the top right corner of your browser, and select 'Your Prime Membership' from the dropdown menu. Then click on 'Cancel Free Trial' or 'Do Not Continue' on the left-hand side of your browser window.
Our suggestion would be to go with 'Do Not Continue' as you’ll be able to keep using Amazon Prime until the end of your free trial period, after which your membership will end. The payment card that you provided details for when starting you trial won’t be charged in this case.
Cancelling a paid Amazon Prime membership
In the case of a paid membership, head to 'Your Prime Membership' as described above and, this time, click 'End Membership' on the left hand side of the page. If you haven’t used your Amazon Prime benefits like free delivery or Prime Video (this might be the case if you accidentally let your free trial overrun), then you will be eligible for a full refund.
Even if you’ve used some of Amazon Prime’s features, but not all, you may still be eligible for a partial refund based on your use.
Can you keep Prime Video?
In Singapore, you can't turn your existing Prime subscription to just a Prime Video one. It's part of the full package and, if you cancel your Prime account, you lose access to Prime Video as well.
What is Amazon Prime Day
The simple answer is that it's Amazon's take on Black Friday, held each year to celebrate the company's anniversary. It has typically been a 24-hour shopping spree exclusively for Prime members, but the duration of Prime Day has been increasing – the 2021 and 2022 Prime Day sales lasted 48 hours, which it was a whopping 6-day event in 2023.
Each Prime Day sale sees thousands of products discounted, bringing a lot of savings for Prime members across several categories.
Prime Day 2020 was a unique event – not only was much later in the year than expected (held in October as opposed to July), it was also kicked off on a Tuesday instead of the traditional start day of Monday. Amazon Prime Day 2021 brought back a little normalcy, although it was held earlier in the year in June, while Prime Day 2022 was pretty much back on schedule (just kicking off on a Tuesday instead of the usual Monday).
However, 2022 saw two major sales hosted by Amazon, with the second being the Prime Early Access held in October. This was the first and last time there was a such a sale, but it was changed to becoming the Prime Big Deal Days sale in 2023. This trend is continuing into 2024, with the second 6-day sale kicking off on October 8, and we wait with bated breath to see what the second Prime Day 2024 sale will bring.
Until then, Amazon Singapore continues to offer its daily deals online.
