Amazon Prime is not cheap, but you get a shocking amount of stuff for your yearly membership fee. That said, inflation comes for everything, and the same is true of Prime. Will the big price hike mean Prime is still worth it for people?
Gizmodo reports that Amazon’s chief financial officer, Brian Olsavsky, revealed on an earnings call that Prime is going up by 20%, to $120 a year, going into effect on May 11 and beginning to apply to Prime renewals starting June 16. CNN Money reports that increased costs for Amazon are essentially being passed onto the customer:
“We continue to increase the value of Prime,” Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky said on the call, adding that the company has added “digital benefits,” like Prime Video.
He noted that the company is seeing “rises in cost” for providing Prime services, which include shipping perks and video streaming.
To be fair, this is the first Prime increase since 2014, and we’re talking a shift of about a buck fifty a month, to $10 a month, which is still cheaper than Netflix. And you get quite a bit for your money beyond free shipping and some great TV. There’s loads of free books, streams of Audible, access to Amazon Music, photo storage, and a host of other perks, although Amazon doesn’t do a great job of explaining those perks. And you can split a Prime membership with somebody else, making it cheaper for roommates and significant others.
Still, especially as Amazon goes to war to be your grocery delivery company and as the company works to expand, it may experience some pushback. Any price hike makes people think about whether a service is worth it, and Prime is no exception.
(via Gizmodo)