Amazon is ending a program that allows members of its Prime subscription program to share free shipping benefits with people living outside their household.
The company recently announced the move on its customer service website, stating that the Prime Invitee Program will end on Oct 1. Affected members are encouraged to sign up for their own Prime subscription membership.
“We are writing to inform you that the Prime Invitee Program, which allowed sharing Prime’s fast, free delivery with others, will end on October 1, 2025,” the notice states, according to CNBC. “Your invited guests will be notified directly about this change by September 5, 2025.”
The program allowed Prime members to share their free two-day shipping with one other adult in the household, even if they lived at a different address.
A new promotion for affected members includes the free shipping perk
Affected customers are encouraged to enroll in the program at a discounted rate of $14.99 for one year. After that, they will pay $14.99 per month or $139 annually. The promotional offer starts Sept. 5 and ends Dec. 31, according to The Associated Press.
Amazon is also replacing the phased-out Prime Invitee Program with Amazon Family. This new initiative offers shared free benefits and digital content with another adult, up to four teens (who were added to the account before April 7), and up to four children in the household. The company insists that this is the best way for everyone to manage all the key perks of the program while maintaining separate accounts, according to the website.
According to reports, Amazon’s Prime Day fell short this year
The online retail chain has been making changes to its operations and services following an exclusive report from Reuters, which stated that Amazon’s Prime subscriptions have decreased in the U.S.
This decline occurred during the three weeks prior to Prime Day and its four-day sales event. There were 116,000 fewer subscriptions than last year — a 2% decline in metrics — and 106,000 less subscriptions than Amazon’s own goal.
Despite this, Amazon reported that this year’s event had large turnout numbers in both the U.S. and internationally. “Prime membership continues to show strong growth and customer engagement in the U.S. and internationally,” the company said in a statement to Reuters.
