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→Amazon Cards
===[https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Amazon&i=financial Amazon Cards]===
====Overview====
Amazon Prime currently costs $119/year. It comes with a [https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200444160 host of benefits] including free & fast shipping, a video streaming service, and a music streaming service. However you can also get free shipping at Amazon by ensuring your total order value is more than $35 (although the shipping speed will not be as fast). Therefore, whether or not Prime is of value to you depends on how important fast shipping is, whether or not you'll use their streaming services, and how much you spend per year at Amazon. If your goal is to maximize the amount of money in your pocket then you have 3 basic choices:
*Don't pay for an Amazon Prime Account and get 3% cashback with the [https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Rewards-Visa-Signature-Card/dp/B007URFTYI Amazon Rewards Card]
*Pay for an Amazon Prime Account and get 5% cashback & 0% financing on large purchases with the [https://www.amazon.com/Synchrony-Bank-Amazon-com-Store-Card/dp/B008A0GNA8 Amazon Prime Store Card]
====Calculating Cashback====
[[File:3vs5.png|right]] To help you make this decision I've calculated a few values including the "break even point" to go from the 3% card to a 5% card. Lets assume for a moment that you don't value the shipping and streaming benefits of Prime but are interested in maximizing cash in your pocket. Since the Prime membership costs $119/year you start out at a $119 deficit in cashback when using the 5% card. To get more cashback with the 5% card than with the 3% card you'll have to spend $5,950 per year at Amazon. If you spend less than this, the 3% card gives you more cash in your pocket. Now if you spend a lot at Amazon, but not quite $5,950, you can consider the delta to be a "discounted" Prime membership. For example, if you spent $4,000 at Amazon in a year you'd make $120 cashback with the 3% card or $200 cashback - $119 Prime = $81 with the 5% card. So at this point the Prime membership is "costing" you $120 - $81 = $39. Perhaps $39 is worth it for Prime membership benefits. See the graph to the right for a visual representation of the cash benefits of the 3% card vs the 5% card for various yearly spend totals.
To help you figure out how much you spend at Amazon in a year you can go to https://www.amazon.com/gp/b2b/reports and download your entire Amazon purchase history as a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma-separated_values CSV] file (that can be opened in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Excel Microsoft Excel] or the entirely free [https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/calc/ LibreOffice Calc]).
====Example Cases====
Here are a couple example cases to help you understand whether or not you want to Amazon Prime.
*'''Money Spent:''' How much you spend at Amazon in a year
*'''5% Card/Prime:''' How much cashback you earn in a year with a 5% card (after paying for your $119 Prime membership)
*'''3% Card/No Prime:''' How much cashback you earn in a year with a 3% card (no Prime membership)
*'''Effective Cost of Prime:''' How much your Prime membership is costing you as compared to having a 3% card without the $119 yearly Prime membership fee
{| class="wikitable"
!Money Spent
!5% Card/Prime
!3% Card/No Prime
!Effective Cost of Prime
|-
|$1,000
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>$69
|$30
|$99
|-
|$2,000
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>$19
|$60
|$79
|-
|$3,000
|$31
|$90
|$59
|-
|$4,000
|$81
|$120
|$39
|-
|$5,000
|$131
|$150
|$19
|-
|$6,000
|$181
|$180
| style="background:green;"| -$1
|-
|$7,000
|$231
|$210
| style="background:green;"| -$21
|}
*You'll notice that if you spend over $5,950/year you are actually making more money with the 5% card AND you have a Prime membership. So if you spend that much, it is a no brainer. You should pay for the Prime account and use a 5% card.
*If you spend less than $5,950/year and you kinda like the Prime membership benefits, then you have to decide if the "discounted" Prime membership is worth it.
*If you don't value the Prime membership benefits and you spend less than $5,950/year then you should just go with the 3% card and skip the Prime membership.
====Card Features====
Both the [https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Rewards-Visa-Signature-Card/dp/B007URFTYI Amazon Rewards Card] and the [https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Prime-Rewards-Visa-Signature-Card/dp/BT00LN946S Amazon Prime Rewards Card] provide: