What is Prime Pantry?

Imagine that you want to buy household items all in one place without leaving the house. That’s basically what Amazon’s Prime Pantry program offers.

If you’re a part of the Amazon Prime Pantry program, you can buy toiletries, groceries, food, and so on via the internet in unlimited quantity. All of this will arrive at your doorstep, regardless if you purchase a single bag of chips or a large box of household necessities.

This article will explain all the basics of Amazon’s Prime Pantry program and all the benefits that you’ll have if you join it.

How Does Prime Pantry Work?

First of all, you need to be an Amazon Prime member to join the Prime Pantry program. As you might know, you can try out Prime for free with a 30-day free trial. After that, you just select the Prime Pantry add-on and install it. You will get a free month to try out.

After that, you’ll gain access to Amazon’s Prime Pantry products. You will be able to identify these products by the little Prime Pantry logo next to the item price. These items are cheaper than most other similar items that you can find on Amazon, and you also get all the Prime Pantry shipping benefits.

Note that you should set your zip code properly since the eligible items are not the same for every location.

Costs and Benefits of Prime Pantry

The monthly cost of Prime Pantry includes the Amazon Prime membership ($12.99) and Prime Pantry ($4.99), which leaves you at $18/month. This may sound expensive at first, but note the following benefits:

Free shipping for all orders above $9.99: Since you will probably exceed this amount with most orders, you can save quite a bit on shipping charges if you buy a lot. There are no additional charges for multiple boxes.
Access to exclusive members-only stock of low-priced products. Save up plenty on cheaper household items, food items, groceries, and more generic or store-brand items of the same quality as name-brand items at regular prices.
Exclusive members-only deals, discounts, coupons, and promotions. This is another great way to save a lot of money.
Extremely affordable baby care section. There are amazing discounts for diapers, toys, sippy cups, baby-proofing items, and a lot more things that your little one requires.

Prime Pantry with Other Amazon Orders

If you have multiple Amazon memberships, mixing them with Prime Pantry can be confusing.

You should know that Prime Pantry orders come in unique, separate boxes with a 45-pound limit. So, if you order 50 pounds, you’ll need to get two boxes. If the other box is less than $10, you’ll pay a $5.99 delivery fee.

So, you can’t combine other Amazon products with Prime Pantry. All the other orders will come separately to your Prime Pantry orders.

The only Amazon program that you can combine with Prime Pantry is Amazon Fresh. If you are already an Amazon Fresh member, you can get Prime Pantry for free, along with the $10 free shipping benefit.

Limitations of Prime Pantry

The biggest downside to the Prime Pantry program is that it doesn’t deliver to dorms and PO boxes. You need to pick up the delivery on your doorstep.

Also, due to the size and weight of Prime Pantry boxes, Amazon ships all the items by ground. This means that it may take four days to arrive. It also means that if you live in Hawaii, for example, you can’t be a Prime Pantry member.

If you like trusted or luxury brands, you won’t enjoy Prime Pantry much. Some people can be picky and trust the brands they use for a long time. Prime Pantry brands are on the lower end of the price spectrum. But if you want to save money with this membership, this shouldn’t be a deal-breaker.

In the end, Prime Pantry mostly offers non-perishable items. You won’t find any fresh groceries and produce in this program. However, if you combine it with Amazon Fresh, you can include those products in your Prime Pantry box.

Is Prime Pantry Worth It?

Prime Pantry is still a new program, so at the moment its potential is still up in the air. If you are unsure about generic brands, monthly fees, or separate deliveries from other Amazon products, maybe Prime Pantry is not for you.

Still, it is a convenient way to get your household items quickly and in a couple of clicks. At the same time, you will save money on shipping, lower-priced items, and special deals. So, if you think you are going to use it regularly and for larger purchases, you may end up saving a lot of money.