I've been a member of Amazon Prime since March 2005. The annual membership fee has not changed since its inception. All purchases fulfilled by Amazon.com do NOT incur a sales tax. With the Amazon Prime membership, you will NOT have to pay any shipping fees for two day shipping for in stock items. My first major purchase after joining Amazon Prime was an electric lawn mower - the Black & Decker Lawn Hog 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Mulching Mower. The unit weighed 47 pounds and shipping would have been at least $25 or more from most online retailers. Tax would have been about $16.50 (California sales tax of 8.25%) for a $200 item. This one purchase alone from Amazon.com has saved me more than $40 - this alone paid for two years of Amazon Prime membership for me (read on for more on why). And I hope Jeff Bezos will keep the Amazon Prime program around for at least another decade!

Amazon Prime is a membership program that gives you and your family all-you-can-eat fast shipping for eligible purchases for an annual membership fee of $79.

Benefits as detailed by Amazon.com web site includes:

• Free Two-Day Shipping on more than one million in-stock items sold by Amazon.com
• Upgrades to One-Day (Overnight) Shipping for just $3.99 per item
• Two-Day and One-Day shipping usually apply across business days. Prime also offers special weekend and other shipping options for qualifying merchandise
• Free Standard Shipping for eligible items shipped to P.O. boxes in the continental United States (excluding Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories, possessions and protectorates) and APO/FPO addresses with U.S. zip codes
• No minimum purchases required
• Shared benefits with up to four family members living in the same household

You can share your membership benefits with up to FOUR family members living in the same household. ‘Family members' are defined as follows:

• Spouse
• Unmarried partner
• Brother/Sister
• Parent
• Child
• Grandparent
• Grandchild
• Aunt/Uncle
• Niece/Nephew

Sharing this with my many siblings, my membership portion comes to under $20!

If you have video gaming teenagers or kids in college, this is a blessing as they are making online purchases YEAR ROUND. Or even if you shop online regularly yourself, one major purchase (think Jewelry or HDTV or a Notebook Computer) will justify the fees. If you own a small business, purchasing office supplies will more than justify the savings. If you or your kids belong to a local book club, you will never have to worry about what books are selected and whether they have it in stock at your local bookstore - you can always order it at Amazon for no sales tax and free shipping. If you live close to one of Amazon's warehouses, you will usually receive your items within one business day! For example, there is a warehouse in Nevada and most of my books arrive in one business day for California addresses!

Christmas shopping is just around the corner. Special occasion like Birthdays, Valentine's Day, and Anniversaries are year round. You will never run out of chances to leverage your Amazon prime membership - guaranteed!

You will NEVER have to think about shipping charges when you order from Amazon.com ever...

Just a few exceptions:

• The Amazon Prime program is not available for customers who purchase products for the purpose of resale.
• If only some items in your order are eligible for Amazon Prime you'll be charged applicable shipping fees for the ineligible items.

The following items are not eligible for expedited shipping under Amazon Prime:

• Amazon.com Gift Cards
• Oversize or heavy items*
• Items regulated as hazardous materials
• Other items with special shipping characteristics*
• Products sold by third parties, such as Target, or through third-party areas, such as Amazon Marketplace.

*Due to their size and shape, some Prime-eligible Amazon.com products may not be available for Free 2-Day Shipping. As a Prime customer, you will still receive free shipping on these items; however, they can only be shipped via Standard Shipping.

You can cancel your Amazon Prime membership (except for any promotional trial memberships) and receive a refund of the membership fee if you or your registered guests have not made any eligible purchases.

Yes! For those of you who want to try it out to see the amazing benefits the Amazon Prime program offer, please sign up for the trial program - it's free for 30 days.

Note that Trial memberships cannot be canceled but trial members can at any time choose not to upgrade to regular annual membership at the end of the trial period.

What are you waiting for? Sign up for Amazon Prime now and start your Christmas shopping early!