How Amazon Prime Members Can Save Big At Whole Foods

Before being acquired by Amazon in 2017, Whole Foods Market was popularly known as "Whole Paycheck." I can still hear the screams coming from my wallet years ago, when my Whole Foods purchases pushed my college shopping budget to its limit. While Whole Foods Market is still considered one of the most overpriced grocery chains in the United States, their overall prices, sales, and deals have dramatically improved. But the deepest price cuts go to Amazon Prime members.

Pime members receive an extra 10% off prices (excluding alcohol) on sale items. They also can take advantage of saving more than just 10% on certain weekly sale items, such as 20% off air-chilled, boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Additionally, Whole Foods offers recurring deals on select items to Prime members every Tuesday and Friday. Tuesday sales include buy-one-get-one-50%-off on all Whole Foods Market Kitchen brand prepared soups and individual meals, as well as fresh half loaves of Whole Foods Market Bakery bread, Sunset Angel Sweet and Wild Wonder packaged cherry tomatoes, and 80% lean ground beef packages from the Whole Foods Market 365 brand. There's also $2 off rotisserie chickens, which are one of the best grocery store rotisserie chickens, according to customers.

Every Friday, there's BOGO 50% on packaged sushi rolls and Gusto four-ounce charcuterie meat packages, as well as $12 large hot one-topping pizzas, $12 for 12 live oysters, $10 Whole Foods Market Bakery family packs of tiramisu and tres leches cake, $9.99 12-stem roses, and $7.99 bottles of Akira wine.

Prime membership benefits extend beyond the grocery aisles at Whole Foods. For grocery pick-up orders at Whole Foods Market, there is no minimum purchase requirement or service fee (unlike the extra costs that Kroger places on curbside pickup) for either Prime or non-prime members. However, Prime members can score a sweet additional deal on unlimited grocery delivery with either a monthly subscription for $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year. Otherwise, service fees per delivery for Prime members is $9.99 and $13.99 for non-prime members. 

And if you want savings on top of savings on top of savings — yes, three times the savings — Prime members are eligible to receive the Prime Visa or Prime Store Card, that earns 5% back on any purchase made at Whole Foods Market or Amazon.com. Upon approval, members also receive a $150 Amazon gift card as a bonus.

If you're a frequent shopper at Whole Foods Market and not already an Amazon Prime member, it might be worth it to join, especially if you shop exclusively for items on sale. In my recent shopping experiences at Whole Foods Market as an Amazon Prime member, I often notice the sale prices for listed for Prime members are less than what several mainstream grocery stores have listed as their sale prices. That's definitely several steps away from the old "Whole Paycheck" nickname.