Amazon just announced on February 3rd that the company’s Prime membership price will increase from $119 to $139 per year in the United States, as it informed customers in its earnings report last week.
This means that the price of a monthly subscription will also increase from $12.99 to $14.99. The last time that Amazon increased costs for Prime was back in 2018 when the annual membership went up from $99 to $119. This most current price change represents a 17% increase.
The company said in its report that this price change is due to “expanded Prime membership benefits,” like more movie and show content for Prime Video and expanded free, same-day shipping to compensate for rising costs of labor and transportation in its distribution.
As CNN reports, this move comes as prices for everything, it seems (including food and energy) have increased in recent months.
Amazon's global workforce has doubled over the past two years, CNN continues, hiring more people, (now up to 1.6 million employees), and the company also noted last year that it had increased wages for thousands of workers.
If you're already a Prime member, mark your calendars for March 25th, when this increase will go into effect. If you're not a member yet but want to join, it might be best to do so now, since the change for new members will start next week on February 18th!
