Want discounted Amazon Prime? Move fast

Amazon is using its winning of five Emmys on Sunday at the 67th Annual Emmy Awards to throw its competitors yet another fastball.



The company is reducing the price of its Amazon Prime loyalty program, which includes unlimited free two-day shipping, from $99 per year to $67 for one year. The catch is the deal will only run for 24 hours, between midnight Sept. 25 and ending midnight Sept. 26.



The special deal comes as Amazon faces competition from new upstart e-commerce platform Jet.com and eBay, which is preparing to test a Prime-type service in Germany. And with Wall Street still appearing very flexible with regards to Amazon’s profitability, the online giant can afford to use special promotions to encourage consumers to join Prime at an initial loss in the hopes of building market share and new lifetime customers.



It is also likely not a coincidence that Amazon is prompting more people to at least check out Prime as the holiday shopping season looms.



Amazon says the offer is in celebration of the five awards its original program “Transparent” received at the Emmy Awards.



Only new members will be eligible for the discount.



Amazon has been doing quite a bit to promote usage and membership of its Prime program recently. The retailer ran a “Prime Day” promotion on July 15 that promised more discounts than Black Friday. That promotion also included a free 30-day trial membership for non-members, and the chance to start a free 30-day trial continued for some time after Prime Day ended.



In addition, Amazon has been expanding the availability of its Prime Now one-hour delivery service to Prime members in what is now 13 U.S. metro areas, and also piloting the availability of new items such as fresh produce and alcohol.