Q. Do I need an Amazon Prime membership to watch Amazon Prime Video programming? I buy a lot of stuff from Amazon, but I don’t want to pay for the Prime membership. But I would like to watch video from Amazon since I have an account with them. — Sherry, Toledo, Ohio. 

Sherry, you’ll be happy to hear that any Amazon customer can purchase or rent select titles from the Amazon Prime Video catalog. You do not need a Prime membership ($12.99 a month) to do so.

When you buy a video from the Amazon Prime Video store, your purchases are automatically charged to your 1-Click payment method. Amazon says as soon as the orders completes, it can view the video in the Purchases & Rentals area of the site.

Amazon Prime Video offers thousands of videos for free to Prime members, but many of them can be ordered as a separate rental or buy purchase if you’re not a member. For instance, the USA Network drama, Suits, is free to Prime members, but a non-member could buy an entire season for $34.99. Captain America-The Avenger, the Marvel movie starring Chris Evans, is free to Prime members, but you could buy it as a non-member for $19.99. And so on.

In addition to purchasing Prime-free programming, Amazon Prime Video offers pay-per-view rental/buy purchases of recent movies such as 1917 (pictured above), The Invisible Man, Emma, and Ford vs. Ferrari. You can also watch movies from the Internet Movie Database library as well as subscribe to such premium channels as HBO, Starz and Showtime.

Sherry, hope that helps. Happy viewing, and stay safe!

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— Phillip Swann