Well, this was unexpected. Amazon appears to have quietly made its streaming entertainment service – Amazon Prime Video – available in Australia. Oddly, there has been no official announcement or fanfare of any kind. Is this a ‘soft launch’? Did someone at Amazon accidentally jump the gun? Is the company trying to massage The Grand Tour‘s viewing numbers?
Whatever the reason, the videos are up and running and you can watch them all legally right now. Here’s how to get started.
Update: Here’s an official statement from Amazon Australia:
We have not launched Amazon Prime in Australia. The service some Australians have signed-up for is the US or UK Prime Membership, which provides free, fast shipping within the US or UK, as well as access to some Amazon Originals, such as The Grand Tour, where we have the global rights.
This “hack” was originally spotted by a Gizmodo reader and it’s a beauty: Amazon Prime is now accepting Australian members without a VPN! Presumably, this was an intentional decision by Amazon and accessing the service won’t be a violation of its terms of service in any way.
Previously, access by Australian IP addresses was automatically blocked by the company. This change suggests that an official Aussie launch for Amazon Prime Video is just around the corner. We explain everything you need to know below.
What is Amazon Prime Video?
Amazon Prime Video is a video streaming service that provides on-demand access to movies and TV shows for a monthly fee. Like Netflix, it produces its own original content exclusively for the service – including the hotly-anticipated spiritual successor to Top Gear, The Grand Tour starring Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. For a list of original content, click here.
How do I sign up to Amazon Prime Video in Australia?
Editor’s note: With the proper launch of Amazon Prime Video in Australia, you can sidestep this entire process! Just head over to Amazon Prime Video and sign up there officially as an Australian account.
First, head to the US or UK version of Amazon and click on one of the ads for Prime membership. (Note: These won’t appear on the Australian version of the site.)
You will then be taken to the signup page: simply create an account and start browsing the catalogue. The videos will play without a hitch. You don’t have to put in any fake details here – Australian addresses and credit cards will work fine.
How much does Amazon Prime Video cost?
During the signup process, you’ll need to put in your credit card details. Membership costs £7.99 per month or $US10.99 per month, depending on whether you plump for the US or UK version of the website.
If you don’t know your currency conversions, the UK options works out a bit cheaper: $13.99 versus $14.82.
Does this mean I can actually watch The Grand Tour?
Possibly! We won’t know for sure until the show unlocks for international Amazon Prime Video members later tonight. The timing is certainly intetesring though.
Amazon Prime Video isn’t working on Android or iPhone. How come?
Annoyingly, the service currently doesn’t work on mobile devices due to Amazon’s insistence that you use the app, which currently isn’t available in Australia. This means you’re restricted to desktop and laptop viewing for now.
Should I just wait for the official Australian launch?
Possibly. When Netflix launched in Australia, it’s prices were actually superior to its US counterpart once the exchange rate was taken into account. We can’t imagine the official version of Amazon Prime Video will cost much more than $10 a month. With that said, swapping over your account to the local version shouldn’t be too difficult if you’re desperate to try it right now.
Have you tried Amazon Prime Video yet? Tell us what you think of the available titles in the comments!
Comments
5 responses to “How To Watch Amazon Prime Video In Australia”
This is a surprise.
I have been using US Amazon for a couple of years now with no problem via a geohack, US postal address and Australian credit card but suddenly in the last couple of months they started rejecting my credit card because it isn’t from a US bank.
It’s odd that they would make this change to block Australian cards then suddenly allow signups with an Australian postal address and no geohack.
It should also be noted that for me at least, I have been able to sign up to the 30 day trial of Prime with an Amazon account that has all Australian details but if I try to buy or rent a movie that isn’t included with Prime I still get an error telling me I need a US credit card. Does this mean that in 30 days when the first payment is due we will all get kicked off their service?
All these sites are Geo-restricted and they strictly bans proxies and VPNs as well on their network however, still unable to ban all VPNs like I use ExpressVPN https://goo.gl/YH6Ok6 to access Amazon Prime in here, as I am a fan of Mozart in the Jungle
Note that as per easternculture’s deal on OzBargain that Amazon are having a sale on Prime from Friday 12:00 PST. $US20 off takes it down to $US79 which is great value.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/276305#comment-4181145
There is a thread going on at Gizmodo ( http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2016/11/amazon-prime-video-is-streaming-in-australia-right-now/ ) talking about this too.
From my experience, I have a UK Prime membership being paid for with an Australian credit card and I have Australian billing address. I do have Aus and UK shipping addresses (relatives in the UK). Ive had my Prime subscription for about 4-5 months and I can see the recurring charge on my CC statement.
Amazon Originals worked whilst I was “testing” it. When you login it says something about “being able to watch whilst you are away from home”.
A couple of non-Amazon films I tried didn’t work and I wouldn’t expect to be able to rent or buy either. Basically you get the Originals and nothing else if accessing from Australia. I do get Prime shipping options if I ship to the UK, as you would expect.
Also, as I signed up with Amazon.co.uk that is where my Prime membership is. If I login to Amazon.com it states I am not a Prime subscriber, so its not global.
Hope that helps.
I signed up to Prime today. I can stream The Grand Tour but not other things I tried, such as The Man in the High Castle.
Well, I just signed up for my free trial. VPN is turned off, I’m In Melbourne and I can stream both eps of the Grand Tour. I use SlickVPN for Netflix, but I don’t seem to need it for Prime. I’ve ONLY tried the Grand Tour so far though.
I have been using Amazon on my TV for 6mths, I have a Samsung, I set the location to the US and the Amazon app loads. To change it go to smart TV and press the buttons >>, 2, 8, 9, << (fastforward 2 8 9 Reverse) then choose USA as the country. I got a warning signing in to amazon prime on the web about not being avliabe but it still works, been watching GrandTour with no issues, some quality fade at times but still fine.