Amazon is tightening restrictions on shared Prime accounts. Here's who is impacted.

Starting next month, Prime members who want to share shipping perks with other customers must live together at the same primary residential address, a change from the company's previous allowance.

With Amazon's previous Prime Invitee Program, customers could only share their shipping benefits, and those benefits could be shared with anyone, regardless of where they live. With Amazon Family, Prime customers can share shipping and digital benefits, but with household members only, an Amazon spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY on Wednesday, Sept. 3.

The change is coming at the end of the month. Once the invitee program ends, Prime members who want to share benefits and digital content with family members will have to make them part of their Amazon Family, the company shared online.

For those who are impacted by the switch, or those who enrolled in the invitee program between 2009 and 2015, Amazon will offer a limited-time Prime deal, the company confirmed to USA TODAY on Sept. 3. The offer includes 12 months of Prime for $14.99 and will be available until Dec. 31.

Amazon made the announcement on its customer service website that it is ending its Prime Invitee Program.

Amazon also sent a notice to customers announcing the change, which quickly made its rounds on social media. When asked why all shoppers didn’t get the notice, an Amazon spokesperson said the notice was sent to customers who registered for the Prime Invitee Program between the program's launch in 2009 and 2015, when the program stopped accepting new members.

The company said on its website that with Amazon Family, Prime members can share benefits with one other adult, up to four teens added before April 7, 2025 and up to four children in their household.

"Prime members can instead share a broad range of Prime benefits with Amazon Family, including: fast, free delivery; access to exclusive deals and shopping events like Prime Day; movies, series, and live sports with Prime Video; Amazon Music and additional digital entertainment; access to a free Grubhub+ membership; and fuel savings at more than 7,500 bp, Amoco, and participating ampm locations," the company said in its statement to USA TODAY.

The switch to household-only sharing comes after Amazon reported 5.4 million U.S. sign-ups in the 21 days leading up to Prime Day and the company's four-day sales event in early July. The number of new customers was about 116,000 fewer than the year before, and 106,000 below the company's goal, reported Reuters.

Here’s what to know about the change.

When will the Prime Invitee Program end?

According to Amazon, the program will end on Oct. 1. That’s when Prime invitees will lose access to Prime delivery.

What are the requirements to share Prime benefits?

Amazon Prime members who want to share benefits with others must ensure they:

• Have linked accounts through Amazon Family
• Share the same primary residential address (the address you consider to be your home and where you spend most of your time)
• Agree to share payment methods for household verification
• Have a Buy Now U.S. billing address for Prime Video sharing

What can I do if I lose access to Prime?

Prime invitees who lose access can ask a Prime member in their household to add them to their Amazon Family, or sign up for their own Prime membership, Amazon said.

What do I get access to with Amazon Family?

Amazon said on its website that Amazon Family grants customers access to:

• Free delivery on Prime eligible items
• Access to exclusive Prime events and deals
• Prime Video with ads
• Prime Reading
• Third-party benefits such as Grubhub
• Digital content such as audio books, eBooks and games

Prime members can also share their Amazon Music Prime benefits with one other adult in their Amazon Family, which includes ad-free listening on shuffle mode.

How do I sign up for Amazon Family?

Amazon said in order to sign up for Amazon Family, customers can:

• Visit your Amazon Prime membership
• Find the "Share your Prime Benefits" section
• Select "Manage Your Amazon Family"
• Send invitations to Amazon Family members

According to Amazon, Prime members and family members must share payment methods in order to share Prime benefits. Family members can use their own payment methods to make purchases.

Amazon added that family members can leave and re-join an Amazon Family anytime, but they have to wait 12 months before joining a different Amazon Family.

Why is Amazon making this change? Retail expert weighs in

Lauren Beitelspacher, a professor in the marketing division of Babson College in Massachusetts, said Sept. 3 that Amazon likely made the decision to replace the Prime Invitee Program because it's not as profitable as expected, or as it once was.

"The program was likely initially introduced as almost a referral program in the hopes that sharing the shipping option would encourage people to sign up for all the Prime offerings," she wrote in an email to USA TODAY. "My guess is that didn’t happen so now Amazon will look to other avenues to recruit new customers."

Beitelspacher said she thinks that getting rid of the Prime Invitee Program likely won't hurt Amazon financially because it's probably already costing the company quite a bit of money. If anything, the company is more likely to get people to sign up for Prime themselves, she said.

When asked if she thinks the added benefits of Amazon Family are enough to get customers to stick around, Beitelspacher said the quick shipping option is "almost ubiquitous with Amazon."  

"Taking that away from customers might encourage them to join...Prime, but Amazon does run the risk of potentially losing that customer to other companies who have advanced their own shipping capacities," she said.

While the program won't impact those who already subscribe to Prime, Beitelspacher said those using the Prime Invitee Program have likely become accustomed to the perks.

"Getting used to that 2-day shipping is a hard habit to break," Beitelspacher said.

This story has been updated to add new information.

Contributing: Betty Lin-Fisher and James Powel, USA TODAY

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at [email protected].