Moving to regular Prime on purpose
Paying twice as much for the same benefits sounds absurd until you notice the one thing the discounted membership will not let you do.
The short answer
The discounted membership costs $7.49 a month; regular Prime costs $14.99. The only documented reason to move up is sharing: Amazon states benefits received through Prime for Young Adults cannot be shared, and that switching to it means you cannot continue sharing. If a household depends on shared benefits, the cheaper membership cannot serve it.
Prime benefits received through Prime for Young Adults can't be shared.
Figures on this page checked against Amazon’s own pages on — Amazon's shared memberships help page. How we check.
The trade, priced
| Discounted membership | Regular Prime | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $7.49 | $14.99 |
| Annual | $69 | $139 |
| Sharing | Not available | Available under Amazon's regular Prime sharing rules |
| Eligibility | 18-24, or enrolled in higher education | Anyone |
| End date | Graduation, four years, or 25 | None — it continues while you pay |
The difference is 7.50 dollars a month, or 70 dollars a year on the annual plans. That is what sharing costs, stated as a number. The full comparison.
When the trade is worth it
Worth it
A household relies on your membership
If a partner, parent or roommate has been using shared benefits, moving them off is a real cost to them.
70 dollars a year to keep two or more people covered is straightforwardly cheaper than two memberships.
Not worth it
It is just you
There is no benefit difference to buy. The catalogs, delivery and cash-back terms do not improve at the higher price.
Paying more for the same thing is the definition of a bad switch.
The arithmetic is worth doing properly rather than in your head. Family account or your own membership runs it in both directions.
The switch that happens without you asking
Most people arrive at regular Prime without choosing it. Amazon converts the discounted membership automatically at graduation, after four years on the student route, or at 25 on the age route — and states it will email several weeks before if it believes you are no longer eligible.
If that is what happened to you and you are still eligible, re-verifying may restore the discounted rate rather than requiring anything else. That is worth checking before accepting the higher price. How re-verification works.
What we cannot tell you
- How a mid-cycle switch is billed or prorated. Not published on the pages we track. What Amazon does say about refunds.
- Whether you can move back to the discounted rate afterwards in the same term, and on what timescale.
- How the sharing setup is re-established after a period without it. That is a regular-Prime interface question, not a program rule.
If any of those decide the matter for you, Amazon customer service can see the account and we cannot. Why we leave gaps rather than fill them.
Prime for Young Adults
Or stay at half the price
$7.49 a month against $14.99, for as long as you qualify.
#ad — this is a tagged Amazon link. If you sign up through it we may earn a flat referral fee, at no cost to you. How this site is funded.
Before you switch up, check one thing
Whether the person you want to share with qualifies for their own discounted membership. An 18-24 year-old in the household qualifies on age alone, with no enrollment at all — two discounted memberships at $7.49 each is 14.98 dollars a month, against $14.99 for one shared regular membership.
Which of those is cheaper depends on the number of people, and it is worth two minutes of arithmetic. The 18-24 age route.
Common questions
Why would anyone switch from the student rate to regular Prime?
Sharing. Amazon states benefits received through Prime for Young Adults cannot be shared, so a household that depends on shared benefits needs a regular membership.
What does switching up cost?
7.50 dollars a month, or 70 dollars a year on the annual plans.
Do I get more benefits on regular Prime?
Nothing we can verify says so. The documented differences are sharing and the end date, not the benefit list.
Amazon moved me to regular Prime automatically. Can I get the discount back?
If you are still eligible, re-verifying may restore it. That is worth checking before accepting the higher rate.
Prime for Young Adults
Ready to start?
Six months at no cost, then half the regular Prime price. Cancel anytime.
#ad — this is a tagged Amazon link. If you sign up through it we may earn a flat referral fee, at no cost to you. How this site is funded.