Amazon Set to Increase Prime Membership Fee By 17% for US Customers

Amazon is increasing its Prime membership subscription prices in the U.S., the company has revealed in its Q4 2021 earnings results.

amazon prime
According to the company, the fee for a Prime subscription is set to increase for the first time in four years, rising to $15 per month (up from $13), or $139 per year (up from $119).

The price hike, representing an almost 17% increase, will go into effect for new customers starting February 18, 2022, while current members will see their plans go up after March 25, 2022.

Amazon says the increase will pay for the "continued expansion" of Prime perks, along with higher employee salaries and more expensive shipping costs. Amazon hasn't said whether the Prime price change will apply in other countries.

An Amazon Prime subscription includes "free" one-day shipping on purchases made on Amazon, access to Prime Video, Prime Music, and other Amazon digital platforms and services.

As noted by Engadget, Amazon's recent Prime Video spends are also likely to have been a factor, with the upcoming first season of the new "The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power" series reportedly expected to cost $465 million. Amazon last year also acquired Hollywood studio MGM for $8.5 billion.

Amazon's net profit jumped nearly 57% in 2021 to $33.4 billion, due in part to the lingering effects of the global health crisis, which has had a positive effect on Amazon's core shopping business. Amazon stock jumped 13% in pre-market trading on Friday following its strong fourth-quarter earnings.

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Top Rated Comments

Quu Avatar
43 months ago

Amazon says the increase will pay for the "continued expansion" of Prime perks
I literally only have Prime for fast and "free" delivery and I'm sure I'm not alone in that.
Score: 58 Votes (Like | Disagree)
steggerwoof Avatar
43 months ago
So their net profits jumped 57% to $33 billion but they have to charge customers more to increase salaries, if this comes to the UK I'll cancel my membership.
Score: 55 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
43 months ago

So their net profits jumped 57% to $33 billion but they have to charge customers more to increase salaries, if this comes to the UK I'll cancel my membership.
Bezos 500 Million Dollar Yacht does not pay itself!
Score: 45 Votes (Like | Disagree)
44267547 Avatar
43 months ago
As a Prime customer, I really only ever signed up with them for the ‘free two day delivery’, and in some cases one day delivery. But it’s reaching a point, where I don’t necessarily need things ‘next day’ anymore, and to keep justifying these price hikes, is not really attractive to me, when I really don’t use the likes of the movie service or the other services for that matter.

If you’re somebody that frequently orders from Amazon and you really need/want the two day delivery and that would exceed the value of your membership costs, then I could see this being non-issue for some customers.

As inflation continues to rise in other areas in our economy, I suspect that will force consumers to second-guess their renewal. But again, it really depends how much they actually utilize all the services combined.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
randian Avatar
43 months ago
They cite the cost of the NFL contract in part. They should have made that an add-on subscription, but instead everybody has to pay for it whether you watch pro football or not.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ItchyRat2160 Avatar
43 months ago
Raising customers prices to pay for staff pay increases, when they're earning the kind of profits that they're reporting, and paying Jeff Bezos (and the rest of the executive team) what he's being paid, is sickeningly greedy. I shouldn't be surprised.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)