Amazon Prime subscription increasing to $119 starting May

Amazon has announced that they are set to Increase the yearly membership price for all users of their flagship Amazon Prime service.

The Subscription service currently includes perks for its customers including improved shipping options, on-demand streaming access to TV shows, movies and music, and a free monthly subscription on Twitch to a customer’s favorite streamer.

But Amazon has made the decision - despite announcing that the company experienced a seven percent growth recently - that customers will soon need to pay more for these services. Amazon’s chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky made the announcement, outlining plans to increase the annual fee from $99 to $119.

Price increases to affect new and existing subscribers

The price hike might come as no surprise to customers who pay on a monthly basis rather than an annual fee; this saw an increase from $10.99 to $12.99 back in January 2018.

But now, new subscribers will pay the re-modeled prices from May 11. If you're already an Amazon Prime subscriber, however, the price rise will be introduced for subscription renewals starting on June 16. This is all according to an announcement from Amazon.

Meanwhile, college students and education workers also aren’t safe from the price increase, as Amazon Prime Student subscriptions will also see a similar increase in their pricing structure. The Amazon Prime Student service will increase its fee too, going up from $49 to $59 per year.

What it means for you, and for Amazon

The move is set to possibly generate a further $2 billion a year for Amazon if all existing customers accept the price increase and don’t change or cancel their membership. With free shipping on eligible items, and even same day shipping available on selected items for Amazon Prime customers, consumers might well be prepared to pay a little extra for the convenience they have gotten used to.

Amazon Prime launched as a service back in 2005 in the United States - at the cost of $79 per year - before rolling out across the world over the next decade. At first offering free two-day shipping for eligible items, the service expanded to include content streaming in 2012, and in September 2016 it included Twitch Prime offering a free monthly subscription to the video game streaming platform Twitch.

Other benefits include a discounted rate to Amazon’s Prime Music service, offering an expanded library of streamable music and new releases. Amazon reported in April 2018 that Prime had more than 100 million subscribers and that the current price increase is the first since 2014.