Amazon.com is the original Amazon store. Jeff Bezos founded the company on July 5, 1994, in Bellevue, Washington, under the name Cadabra, and it started out as an online bookstore. Today it is based in Seattle and sells almost everything: electronics, groceries, household basics, toys, fashion, tools and its own devices such as Kindle and Echo. A large share of the catalog comes from independent Marketplace sellers as well as from Amazon's own stock.
The main membership is Prime, which costs $14.99 a month or $139 a year. In the US, more than 300 million items ship free with Prime, and tens of millions of the most popular ones can arrive Same-Day or One-Day. Students in higher education and 18 to 24-year-olds get a six-month $0 trial, then pay $7.49 a month or $69 a year. Prime Access gives the full membership for $6.99 a month to people who receive SNAP EBT, Medicaid, WIC, SSI and other qualifying government assistance, or who verify their income, with a free 30-day trial first. Delivery charges and the return window for each item are shown at checkout and on the product page.
For bargains, look at Today's Deals, Amazon Outlet for overstock, Amazon Resale for returned and used items, Subscribe & Save for discounts on repeat orders, and the Trade-In program, which gives you an Amazon gift card for eligible old devices.
Prime for higher-education students and 18 to 24-year-olds: a six-month $0 trial, then $7.49 a month or $69 a year, half the regular Prime price.