Amazon just raised the price of annual Prime memberships from $99 to $119. The student discount also inflated from $49 to $59 per year. The price increase only applies to the United States.
That's a whopping 20% increase on the price all across the board. The last price hike was implemented in 2014, when Amazon made yearly Prime memberships $99 instead of $79, which had been the cost of Prime since it was introduced in 2005.
"The value of Prime to customers has never been greater," said Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky during an earnings call on April 26. "And the cost is also high, as we pointed out — especially with shipping options and digital benefits, we continue to see rises in costs."
The change will go into effect May 11, and it will apply to Prime renewals beginning June 16.
These aren't the first changes to Amazon we've seen this year. The company already increased the cost of a monthly Prime membership earlier this year. The monthly price hiked from $10.99 to $12.99. The company recently introduced Amazon Key for your car following the Amazon Key version for your house.
The price increase for the Prime membership is gaining polarity on the internet. However, it seems most people at this moment are bothered by the hike in price.
Feel free to share your thoughts with me. Are you keeping your Prime Membership, despite the 20% price increase?