Amazon’s Cyber Monday deals are here, with discounts on headphones, Roku streaming devices and more, which are all great gift ideas. However, if you share an Amazon Prime membership with others in your household, these gifts won’t be a surprise if the other members can see everything you buy.
Here are a few ways that can happen: Your Amazon Echo could light up, giving away the surprise, or the Amazon app may send a notification of all the items out for delivery or your family member could look at your recent purchase items in your Amazon orders. This makes it hard to keep the surprise when purchasing gifts. However, there is a way to surprise others on your account with a gift from Amazon.
You’ll first need to make sure you’ve got Amazon Household set up — we’ll walk you through it. Doing so will enable more benefits for others you share your account with, which can include one other adult, up to four teens and four children. Each person will have their own profile, and the adults can keep their purchase history hidden from other family members. Here’s how to get started so you can secretly buy gifts without spoiling the surprise.
How to set up Amazon Household for your Prime account
Since your Prime membership can be shared with those who live in your home, it’s recommended to set up an Amazon Household so everyone has a personal account. Note that when you share your account with another adult, they’ll have access to your payment methods. Here’s how to set it up.
1. Visit the Amazon Household webpage and sign in. If using the app, go to your settings and select Manage your Household.
2. Under the section Create your Household now, select Add Adult, Add Teen (13-17 years old) or Add Child (12 and younger).
3. For adults, you can enter the name and email address of the person you’re adding and tap Continue. They’ll have 14 days to accept your invitation. Or you can choose Sign up together on this device and enter their details.
For teens, follow the on-screen instructions, which include entering your teen’s name and birth date. Tap Continue. Once they accept the invitation, they’ll be able to create a login and you can select which payment method they can use.
For children, enter their first name, birthday and select an icon for them. Tap Add Child. Kids this age won’t be able to shop on Amazon, but it helps parents control their Amazon devices.
What benefits will other Prime account users have access to?
Aside from free Prime shipping, when you share your Prime membership with another adult, you can also give them access to digital content. That includes Prime Video, Amazon Music, Twitch Prime, ebooks, audiobooks, apps and games.
You can give teenagers access to most of the same digital content, like Prime Video. However, when they try to purchase anything on Amazon, one of the adults on the account will need to approve it.
You can give your children access to digital content and set up parental controls on their accounts.
How to remove someone from your Prime account
If for any reason you want to remove an adult or teen from your Amazon Prime account, you can do so in less than a minute. Here’s how.
1. Go to the Manage Your Household webpage and sign in.
2. If removing an adult, select Remove under their avatar. Once removed, they’ll no longer have access to any of the Prime benefits or any of your digital content. They also can’t join another Amazon Household for 180 days.
If removing a teen, select Edit Profile for that person and then tap Remove from Household. If you removed the teenager because they turned 18, their account will be converted to a regular Amazon account. However, they won’t have Prime benefits or access to your payment methods.
For more information, here are some Amazon Prime perks you may not know about. Also, here are the best shows to watch on Prime Video and all the perks of being a Prime member.