Amazon.com Inc. is cracking down on shared Prime accounts.
The company says it is ending a little-known but long-standing feature of its Prime membership that allowed subscribers to extend free shipping benefits to friends and family outside their homes.
The move, announced this week, will shutter the company’s “Invitee Program” on Oct. 1, redirecting members to a stricter household-sharing model known as Amazon Family.
What exactly are they ending?
For years, the Invitee Program quietly let Prime users designate one outside individual, often a relative, roommate or close friend, who could enjoy the free shipping perk without paying for a separate subscription.
Amazon stopped accepting new invitees in 2015 but allowed existing ones to remain grandfathered in. Starting next month, that door closes for good.
Affected invitees will be notified by Sept. 5 and offered a discounted annual subscription of $14.99 for one year, before transitioning to Amazon’s standard rates of $14.99 per month or $139 annually, according to company statements and customer notices.
Instead, Amazon is steering customers toward its Family program, which permits sharing with one adult, up to four teenagers, and four child profiles living under the same roof. Unlike Invitee, the Family program is explicitly tied to a single household.
The change comes as Amazon faces slowing Prime growth in the U.S., despite record-breaking global engagement around this year’s Prime Day sales event.
Wall Street is loving it
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