Bad news today for anyone using or interested in Amazon Prime: you're going to have to pay a bit more from now on. Amazon's popular subscription service, which gets you unlimited 2-day free shipping from the retail site and access to a library of books and streaming media, is getting a price hike. The yearly fee for the service is rising from $79 to $99 when your subscription next renews.
Amazon sent emails today to subscribers of Amazon Prime, informing them of the price increase. Amazon cites an increase in transportation costs and the value of what they're offering. Here's the statement they sent to members:
"We are writing to provide you advance notice that the price of your Prime membership will be increasing. The annual rate will be $99 when your membership renews on [insert appropriate date].
Even as fuel and transportation costs have increased, the price of Prime has remained the same for nine years. Since 2005, the number of items eligible for unlimited free Two-Day Shipping has grown from one million to over 20 million. We also added unlimited access to over 40,000 movies and TV episodes with Prime Instant Video and a selection of over 500,000 books to borrow from the Kindle Owners' Lending Library.
For more information about your Prime membership, visit our Prime membership page.
Sincerely,
The Amazon Prime Team"
This shouldn't come as too much of a shock, not that anyone will be happier paying an extra $20 a year. Amazon announced it was considering a price hike a few months ago, with a rumored $40 increase. In comparison, at least it was only $20, right? The increase would be more impactful (and a bigger deal) if this was a monthly subscription, I think.
This is not to say, obviously, that a user would prefer or want to pay more than they are, but $20 over the course of the year is likely manageable if you really utilize the services provided. A Netflix or Hulu Plus subscription for video streaming costs $95.88 a year and do not come with the shipping benefits or book library. If you order a lot of products, you can save that much on shipping, so you'll have to weigh the value of this cost against your use of the services.
Source: Ars Technica