The Amazon Prime subscription service offers its members a variety of benefits, including free two-day shipping on eligible items

One of the most important pieces of Amazon’s corporate empire? Its Prime subscription business

Prime drives customer loyalty and boosts Amazon’s revenue through its monthly and yearly fees. The key components included with a Prime subscription include free two-day shipping on eligible items, as well as access to services like Amazon Music and Prime Video.

Amazon is both a vendor for Netflix, via its cloud-computing arm, and its rival

Amazon's Prime Video is a subscription streaming service that includes a variety of original shows and movies for free with a paid Prime membership. This Rotten Tomatoes ranking details 100 of the best Prime Video shows available to watch, including the dramas “Fleabag” and “The Boys.”

The world's top streaming services (by subscriber count)

With almost 270 million paying users, Netflix is the dominant force in streaming entertainment. But after enjoying a first-mover advantage for years, competitors are beginning to catch up. Most notable is Amazon, which leverages its Prime subscriptions to bundle Prime Video, and has amassed an estimated 200 million users. See an updated tracker of the world's biggest platforms by audience.

A guide to YouTube TV

In addition to giving users the ability to watch videos for free, supported by ads, YouTube also offers premium subscription products that include an ad-free version of YouTube—as well as YouTube TV, which lets viewers stream live TV channels over the internet. This CNET overview of YouTube TV explains what viewers get with the service, including which channels and networks, as well as a cloud DVR and the ability to cancel anytime.

Costco and Amazon have very similar pricing across everyday staples

This article compares the average prices of everyday staples at Amazon and Costco, like toilet paper ($1.12 at Costco, $1.14 on Amazon), to help consumers decide which discount retailer to purchase from.

The Platinum American Express card is among the most expensive mainstream travel credit cards

American Express charges a $895 annual fee on its Platinum Card in exchange for nearly $3.5K worth of credits and benefits. Some of the credits include a $600 for hotels, a $400 credit at restaurants with Resy, a $300 Lululemon credit, and even a $200 credit at Oura ring. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

A 2002 profile of unprofitable Netflix as it bet on a subscription model

The streaming behemoth saw the potential in subscriptions early, and in this 2002 profile CEO Reed Hastings was already talking about plans to offer "downloadable" movies. The profile serves as a historical artifact confirming the startup's risky bets and showcases the contingent factors that led to its success. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Amazon's One Medical, MDVIP, and SignatureMD are examples of concierge practices

Annual fees for concierge practices can range widely. At the lower end, Amazon's One Medical costs $199 (which can drop to $99 if you're a Prime member) and four figures for MDVIP and SignatureMD. Annual fees jump to $10,000 or more for options like Massachusetts General Hospital's concierge practice.

Are credit unions really worth it?

Credit union perks sound great on paper. They promise better interest rates and competitive customer service. But does this really translate to financial benefit for members? A new report dives deep into transaction data and answers with a resounding “yes.” Credit unions yield benefits of $179 per member or $376 per household. Dive deep into the data and read the report here.

In 2024, the league signed a 11-year deal with Disney, Amazon, and NBC Universal

The $2.2B deal was widely applauded in the media, but the Players Association questioned how the NBA arrived at the valuation and why the deal gives players less than 10% of total revenue compared to the NBA’s 50%.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Peloton pays artists more for music than most streaming platforms

Since the on-demand classes are technically live performances, Peloton has to pay both for the rights to the song itself and for the right to actually play the song. As a result, Peloton pays more money than many other streaming platforms to use artists' music, with some reports saying Apple Music reportedly pays 0.1 cents per stream and Peloton pays 3.1 cents per stream.

Read Jeff Bezos' letter to Amazon shareholders from 2000, when shares were down more than 80%

"Ouch. It's been a brutal year for many in the capital markets and certainly for Amazon.com shareholders," the letter begins. Amazon shares were down more than 80% from the prior year at the time.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez reportedly spent between $47M and $56M on their 2025 wedding in Italy

Bezos is no stranger to writing big checks: His Gulfstream G700 jet cost about $80M, while his yacht was reportedly $500M.

Princeton University offers a free online bitcoin course

Want to understand bitcoin and cryptocurrencies? A free online course from Princeton University unpacks the details of bitcoin, from how it works to what distinguishes it from other currencies, to the security and anonymity associated with its use. Explore explainer videos, or take the course as a series of lessons.

Why is the Amazon rainforest important?

Watch this five-minute video from National Geographic to learn about the importance of the Amazon rainforest and the risk of what's to come if humans continue to deforest it. The Amazon rainforest is about the same size as the continental United...

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

How much your blood really costs

In the US, donating plasma twice a week can earn you $400 a month. But this system only works by targeting people who need the money most. Plasma clinics are placed in low-income zip codes, and frequent donation may increase health risks.

13 things Medicare gives you for free

Even people on Medicare, the US government health insurance program for people 65 and older, have to pay for their own co-pays and prescription drug costs. But other services, like alcohol counseling and colorectal screenings, may be free for Medicare recipients. To learn about 11 more things that are free with Medicare, scroll through this list.

The dating app industry's average customer acquisition cost exceeds $40 per user

This relatively high cost of customer acquisition (according to 2022 data from saturated markets) makes profitable growth increasingly difficult for dating apps, which is why many have pivoted to focusing on their subscription tiers for reliable revenue.

Flood insurance policies from the National Flood Insurance Program cost just over $1,100 per year on average

Private residential policies range from $600 to $2,800 per year. Taking steps to lower flood risk in your home, such as installing flood vents or elevating home utilities, can make premiums cheaper.

Buy now, pay later loans typically split payments into 4 installments

While they're marketed as "interest-free" loans, BNPL loans often have penalties for late payments, such as late fees in varying amounts depending on the BNPL company used to make the purchase. BNPL users often pay 25% of the BNPL loan at checkout, and then pay the remaining balance in three more installments over the course of roughly six weeks, depending on the BNPL company and agreement.

Charles Schwab kick-starts zero-commission era for retail investors

Throughout history, retail investing was often too expensive for many individuals. That’s because investors owed the cost of the trade as well as the commission and fees due to the broker. Charles Schwab revolutionized the retail investing landscape in 2019 when it announced it would slash all fees on stock trading. This quickly prompted other brokerages to follow suit. Read more in this article.

The fees for keeping a company listed on the NYSE are typically higher than the Nasdaq's

The current maximum annual listing fee for companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange was $500K as of early 2026. The maximum annual listing fee for companies listed in Nasdaq's top tier, on the other hand, was of $193K. Companies listed must pay these fees each year.

Guns N' Roses' 'November Rain' is the most expensive music video ever

This list breaks down the priciest videos to ever hit MTV. The top spot is a 1991 video featuring an over-the-top narrative, cinematic shots, and luxurious costumes costing a whopping $11M.

Hear how Advent calendars have become a pricy branding tool

Advent calendars have shifted into a high-margin branding vehicle, with retailers prioritizing elaborate design and reusable packaging. This episode questions whether premium calendars—despite their rising prices, environmental concerns, and flashy marketing—actually deliver products worth the cost.

Read about different levels of price discrimination

Price discrimination is a business practice in which different customers are charged different prices for the same product or service. It's one way for a business to boost profits and take advantage of its market position. There are three levels of price discrimination, differentiated by the consumers targeted and the reasons for discrimination.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company, including its unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.

Use this tool to calculate the dollar value of your parental mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care, then see resources that help generate solutions.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get, and syncing with your circadian rhythms may lead to less fatigue and improved long-term health outcomes

Search a massive database of over 4 decades of clues from the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy!'

Human-to-human transmission of hantavirus remains extremely rare, so the 2026 hantavirus cruise ship outbreak doesn't mean we're facing a COVID-style pandemic risk.

Watch a 1934 short film starring jazz legend Cab Calloway, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance's music scene

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.