Which service is best for you – Amazon Prime or Gamers Club Unlocked? Let's take a look….

With Amazon Prime throwing a spanner in the works with their 20% off new physical games offer, we thought it might be time to take a look at two of the leading memberships available for gamers in the USA.

Gamers Club Unlocked and Amazon Prime both represent excellent value to customers who make regular purchases, but which suits you best? Depending on the type of games you like to play and the services you like to have on hand, one service may suit you better than the other. In some cases, both services may be the way to go for you if you place high value on music, TV/Movies and book discounts also.

So below we have put together an overview of the two services side by side (keeping in mind that both have the right to change pricing and the terms of their membership at any time) to give you some guidance as to which service you feel suits your needs best.

This should be used as a guide to assist you in identifying which service you may prefer the most and we recommend you read all the terms and conditions of any service before signing up to it.

 

Gamers Club Unlocked – $30 USD Bi-annually Amazon Prime – $99 USD Annually
2X My Best Buy points (1 base point plus 1 bonus point) for every dollar spent on new Video Game Software, including pre-orders, Video Game Accessories, new PC Game Software, including pre-orders, Gaming Subscription/Currency Cards, Digital Gaming, Gaming Geek Squad Onsite Service, Precinct Service, Monthly Coverage, and Protection Plan.  
2 My Best Buy points for every dollar of Video Game Software traded in.  
My Best Buy points on gaming consoles.  
Access to exclusive Gamers Club and Gamers Club Unlocked promotional offers.  
20% discount off new physical Video Game Software (excludes Pre-owned Video Game Software and Digital Gaming). Limit 3 copies of each title per platform per year per member. 20% off new physical video games during pre-order through two weeks after release (valid for the first purchase of that title, any additional will not have the 20% reduction applied)
10% bonus trade-in credit on Video Game Software  
10% discount off Pre-owned Video Game Software (excludes PC Game Software).  
Upon enrollment, a welcome email will be sent to the email address provided. The welcome email will contain special one-time-use coupons.  
Buy two, get a third free – pre-owned games via special welcome coupon  
50% off strategy guide via special welcome coupon
2 year membership 1 year membership
In store and online purchases valid Online purchases only
Must register in store (you can buy the membership online but must complete registration in store) Online registration
20% off toys-to-life figures such as Amiibo, Skylanders, Disney Infinity and Lego Dimensions
Release day delivery
  Free Two-Day Shipping on millions of items
Unlimited, ad-free access to over a million songs
Instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with Prime Video
Free unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive
Read free books each month through Kindle First and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library
Get 30-minute early access to Lightning Deals on Amazon

 

As you can see, the Gamers Club Unlocked (GCU) certainly has a stronger focus on the ‘games’ aspect of their service, which makes sense as this service is all about the games, whereas the Amazon Prime (AP) service looks to provide good returns to gamers whilst also catering to movie buffs, book enthusiasts and various other services.

The 20% off new games for both services seems to be better value on the GCU side of the chart at first glance, as you are not restricted to the 2 week after launch window along with your discount only applying to one copy per title, however if you are planning on getting your games posted to you this is where AP really shines. Not only is the postage free but you will receive your items within two days (including Sunday’s) plus they will arrive on release day. If you don’t live near a Best Buy and picking your games up is off the table this is certainly an important point to keep in mind.

If you choose to get your items shipped via GCU there will be some postage involved for purchases under $35 (differs depending on location) for standard delivery, however if you opt for express postage it can become quite costly.

At the end of the day the decision here needs to be one based on what services are important to you, if you prefer to have your items shipped, or pick them up at the store, and how often you are likely to make a purchase.

To use video games again as the main example here:

A standard full release title will typically cost $59.99 USD.

20% of $59.99 = $11.99

To cover the cost of your $99 membership via AP through game purchases alone you would need to buy 8.25 games (so 9 realistically). When you make your 9th purchase during that 12 months you have begun making a saving. (This is also keeping in mind that postage has not been applied as a factor here).

If you consider that paying for standard postage would cost you $3.99 per purchase or $14.99 for express on average, your savings start to accumulate much faster.

 

In a nut shell, here are three different groups of questions to ask yourself:

Do you buy at least 9 full release game titles a year?

Is receiving them on release day important to you?

Is two day free shipping a must?

Do you watch lots of TV/Movies and read often?

Listen to a lot of music?

Do you buy a lot of non-electronic or miscellaneous items?

We suggest you look into the Amazon Prime service.

 

Do you want to make savings on all your game purchases?

Not bothered by having to wait a couple of extra days to get your game?

Happy to pay for postage for purchases under $35?

Not really that concerned with TV/Movies, music and books?

Don’t want to fork out $99 to be able to accumulate rewards for your expenditures?

We suggest you look into Gamers Club Unlocked.

(Note: Gamers Club Unlocked requires a My Best Buy account, which accrues points for every purchase made. Once a certain amount of points are accrued customers receive monetary awards certificates in starting denominations of $5 but can be released in higher denominations should you choose.)

 

Want all possible discounts?

Need all of the above services?

Can you afford two memberships?

Don’t want to comprise on shipping but want to buy whatever games or items you like?

Take a look in to both services.

For an additional $15 per year you can have the best of both worlds.

 

If you are leaning towards AP then you should also keep in mind that Amazon Prime currently has a deal for new members offering their service for $73 for the first year for a limited time only.

We hope you have found this useful, and please keep in mind, we are not saying one service is better than another, simply that each service will suit different people better so it’s important to educate yourself on what the service will provide and identify what is most important for you before jump in.

Happy gaming/reading/watching/dancing!