Heads-up: Amazon Prime subscriptions getting price hike to $99 next week
It’s not often we get a lot of bad news from Amazon, so it tends to stand out when it happens. Unfortunately, today’s news affects Phandroid readers who use Amazon Kindle Fire devices (or use Amazon for shopping in general).
Amazon has formally announced plans to make Amazon Prime a bit tougher on your wallet, with the company increasing the full cost of a year’s membership by $20. Here’s Amazon’s quick justification of it all:
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.
The change will go into effect next week for new customers, while those already on Amazon Prime will be charged $99 whenever their renewal date comes up (whether that’s tomorrow or a full year from now). We’re also hearing Amazon Prime Student customers will get a slight price bump as well, with the service going from $39 to $49.
It’s an unfortunate change, but considering the perks you get with Amazon Prime some may still find it worth the cost and hassle. Here’s the quick list of everything Amazon Prime affords you:
- Free 2-day shipping for all Prime orders
- $3.99 overnight shipping (per item) for all Prime orders
- Unlimited instant video streaming
- Monthly Kindle book rentals
When you consider all those factors, Amazon Prime might still be one of the sweetest deals in town for some. Regardless, we’re sure there will be many people unhappy with the change, so it’s up to you to decide if all those benefits are worth an extra $20 per year (which really amounts to mere pennies a day).