Allow me to start with two important remarks. One: I'm a huge fan of Amazon Prime. I recommend it to pretty much everyone who has regular internet access.

Two: even though I don't personally use Prime Pantry, that doesn't mean I think it's a bad service. It's actually one of the lesser-known benefits of Amazon Prime that can be great under the right circumstances.

Is Prime Pantry worth it, though? You'll need to consider a handful of things that will inform your decision. If you decide that it won't benefit you, that's fine. If you think it will, even better. I have no stake in this—I just want to help you come to the best decision according to your needs.

What is Prime Pantry? Here's everything you need to know.

1. How Does Amazon Pantry Work?

As the name implies, you'll need an Amazon Prime membership to take advantage of Prime Pantry, which means committing to $129 per year. Is Amazon Prime worth it? I think so. The two-day shipping alone is fantastic, but you also get Prime Video, Prime Music, and more.

As an Amazon Prime member, you have three ways to shop Prime Pantry:

  1. On Prime Pantry orders that total under $35, shipping costs a flat $5.99.
  2. On Prime Pantry orders that total $35 or more, shipping is free.
  3. With a Prime Pantry supplemental subscription, orders that total $10 or more have free shipping. The supplemental Prime Pantry subscription costs $4.99/month on top of the regular Amazon Prime membership.

Only Prime Pantry-eligible items count towards Prime Pantry orders. The easiest way to shop Prime Pantry is to visit the Prime Pantry Store page. However, you can also browse Amazon normally as long as you look for the Prime Pantry label, which you can see on the items below:

prime-pantry-label-examples
How does Amazon Pantry work? If you already use Amazon, you won't find anything crazy here.

When Prime Pantry-eligible items are added to your cart, they'll be displayed separately from normal Amazon items. In your Cart, you'll see a Prime Pantry item that has a bunch of sub-items below it, along with how much each item costs and the total cost of the box. You can also see any eligible coupons (more on this later in the article):

How much does Prime Pantry cost? The basic version is free with Amazon Prime.

If you're a student with an active EDU email, you can actually get Amazon Prime for 50 percent off through the Prime for Students program. This discount applies every year for up to four years or until you graduate, whichever comes first. This makes Prime Pantry a much better deal for students!

2. Prime Pantry Shipping Restrictions

As far as shipping restrictions go, you'll need to know three things before proceeding.

Prime Pantry Is Only Available in the Continental US

If you live in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Canada, or any other country in the world, you can forget about Prime Pantry. Since its debut, the service has only been available to users in the 48 states that make up the continental US. (There are ways to get around this, but may violate the terms of Amazon Prime. Do so at your own risk!)

Prime Pantry Items Are Only Shipped by Ground Shipping

Amazon Prime has spoiled us with its two-day shipping policy, so now anything longer than that feels like an eternity. Unfortunately, the Amazon Pantry delivery time on average leaves something to be desired.

Amazon Pantry isn't included in the two-day shipping policy that makes Amazon so convenient. All Prime Pantry orders are shipped using ground shipping, which takes an average of four days. If you have non-Prime Pantry items in your cart when checking out, they'll ship out separately. Small blessings.

Prime Pantry Orders Can Only Be Shipped to Residential or Business Addresses

For the most part, Amazon Prime can ship anywhere—including PO boxes, Amazon Lockers, and even APO, FPO, and DPO addresses. One major downside to an Amazon Pantry delivery is that those exceptional address types are excluded: no PO boxes, no Amazon Lockers, no APO/FPO/DPO addresses.

3. Prime Pantry Is Mainly Non-Perishable Items

This point isn't so much a downside as it is an observation: 99 percent of the items you'll find in the Prime Pantry catalog are non-perishable household goods. You probably could've surmised that from the name itself, but it certainly should be emphasized.

Common Prime Pantry-eligible item types include:

  • Snacks, like cookies.
  • Canned and bottled beverages, like soda.
  • Cleaning supplies, like bathroom sprays.
  • General supplies, like paper towels.
  • Laundry supplies, like detergent.
  • Food storage, like containers.
  • Hygiene products, like soap and makeup.
  • Healthcare products, like vitamins.
  • Medication and first aid products.
  • Pet care products, like litter.

As you can see, Prime Pantry covers many categories, along with several others that aren't mentioned above. However, you will not find any fresh produce or groceries in the Prime Pantry catalog. For that, you should look to Amazon Fresh instead.

4. Prime Pantry Lacks Generic and Luxury Brands

Here's another potential deal-breaker: Prime Pantry is only stocked with “regular” brands. I personally don't care about brands all that much, but I know a lot of people who are picky about this sort of thing. If that's you, you may be disappointed with what Prime Pantry has to offer.

Is Amazon Pantry worth it if only the best will do? Some of your preferred brands won't be available through Prime Pantry, especially if your tastes lean toward the more expensive end of the spectrum. The same goes for a bargain hunter who always opts for generic brands. There is little to be had here that is not middle-of-the-road.

Related: Online Grocery Delivery Services That are Fast and Easy

5. Save Money With Prime Pantry Coupons

Did you know that Amazon has a coupons program for Amazon Prime members? I had no idea this existed until I did the research for this article. In short, you can browse Amazon's catalog of coupons and click Clip Coupon to get an instant discount on that item at checkout.

Is Amazon Pantry worth it? We'll let you be the judge of that.

As it turns out, a lot of Prime Pantry items are also eligible for these digital coupons. Individually, these discounts may seem worthless, but when you have an entire cart's worth of stuff and all of it is discounted to some degree, the savings add up. If you have time to clip coupons regularly, you might even save enough to negate the Amazon Pantry shipping fee.

Each coupon is only available for a limited time and is only applicable up to a certain quantity.

Is Prime Pantry Right for You?

After looking at all of these facts about Prime Pantry, a couple of things become very clear:

  • Convenience is the main reason to use Prime Pantry. You don't have to leave your house, you can shop at your own leisure, and everything gets dropped off right at your doorstep. It's a great value if you're eligible for the student discount, and supremely useful for those who don't have cars and don't want to walk back from the supermarket with heavy bags of groceries.
  • Prime Pantry is NOT a way to save money on groceries. It's convenient, but that convenience comes at a cost—namely, flat-rate shipping and the lack of generic brands. The four-day shipping is also a bit disappointing, but not a deal-breaker.

There are plenty of benefits and drawbacks to using Prime Pantry. Cost and convenience will inevitably be two of the determining factors. It all depends on your situation and budget.

Is Amazon Pantry Worth It?

If Prime Pantry isn't for you, Amazon Prime is still worth getting for other reasons. Amazon didn't earn its reputation as the original e-com platform for nothing.

Is Prime Pantry worth it? We've all got different things going on in our lives. For many of us, the opportunity cost of going to the store instead of, say, doing our work or taking care of our families can be steep. For the dedicated professional and the supermom in us all, Prime Pantry may be something worth considering.