There a quite a few perks to paying the $99 a year to subscribe to Amazon Prime. Along with getting free two-day shipping, those with Amazon Prime also have access to Prime Music, Prime Instant Video, photo storage and can borrow books from the Kindle Lending Library, Amazon is sweetening the deal by throwing in a free trial of The Washington Post.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is giving his members The Washington Post—the newspaper that he owns—for six months. Prime users will be able to access the paper's national digital edition during this free trial period, and then order it for $3.99 a month when the free trial expires.

While this isn't the first time Bezos has bundled his business ventures together (he previously offered Kindle Fire the digital version of the Post for free, then for $1 a month after six months, then $3.99 after that), this new deal would save Prime members $82 a year. A year-long subscription for the Post's digital edition traditionally costs customers $195; however, this new Prime deal would reduce it to just $48 per year.

Consider that a steal compared with $455 a year for a digital subscription to The New York Times or the $348 for The Wall Street Journal.

The move would benefit both Amazon Prime and The Washington Post by potentially increasing members and circulation, respectively. The Post will be offered (not integrated) by Amazon Prime for a limited time.

It's estimated that Amazon has about 25 to 40 million Prime members, so there is a good chance these users will sign up for the free trial, which could then lead to long-term subscriptions to the paper. Still, it's not known how well the Post offer for Kindle Fire went.

Offering The Washington Post for a six-month free trial is just one of the many announcements Amazon has made as of late. Earlier this month, Amazon expanded its Prime Instant Video platform to become the first to offer offline viewing so that members could watch movies and TV series on their iOS and Android devices at no extra cost.

The online retailer also has plans to add takeout delivery of hot food items to its growing list of services, similar to its Prime Now same-day delivery services that rolled out in select areas.

Via: Capital New York

Photo: Esther Vargas | Flickr