
According to this, Amazon is primed (see what I did there?) to offer a “sizeable discount” on Prime Membership to people on government assistance.
Let that sink in for a moment. People who are receiving taxpayer money by way of having an EBT card, or food stamps, will pay just $5.99 a month for an Amazon Prime Membership, instead of the $10.99 monthly that chumps people not on the government dole pay (or the $8.25 monthly that folks who choose to pay for the whole year up front pay.)
Just as a reminder, Prime membership means that you get free shipping on stuff, as well as unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows. And Amazon wants features like that to be “more accessible.”
Apparently, this is a way for Amazon to continue to compete with Wal-Mart, their biggest rival.
‘We designed this membership option for customers receiving government assistance to make our everyday selection and savings more accessible,’ said Greg Greeley, vice president of Amazon Prime.
Customers will need to have a current EBT card to enroll and the card cannot be used to pay the monthly membership fee.
Those who qualify for the discount can apply once a year, up to four times.
Amazon Prime membership now reaches nearly HALF of all American households, and Amazon isn’t satisfied with that. They want more “traction with lower-income households” as well.
So how will they do that? By rewarding people for living off of others. Neat.
Now, if Amazon were offering such a discount to veterans, or to active military members, I’d be high fiving them all over the place. But to people who are on SNAP, or TANF? Seriously?
Working taxpayers are basically being penalized by Amazon for supporting themselves and not living off the government dole.
Discuss.