The price for the Amazon Prime subscription has been stable for years. That is now changing.
Amazon has announced a price increase for Prime membership in the US. Monthly fees are set to increase to $14.99 from $12.99 previously. This was announced by the world’s largest online retailer on Thursday after the US stock market closed. The annual fee will be raised to $139 from $119.
First price increase for Prime subscriptions in four years
In the US, the price for Prime was last increased from $99 four years ago. “It’s about time,” said expert Michael Pachter from Wedbush Securities before the publication of the quarterly figures, referring to the higher transport costs. In the US, a majority of households use Prime, and there are more than 200 subscribers worldwide. Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky said in a conference call that he expects some Prime users to quit, but that in the past this has been limited. Revenue per Prime member has increased significantly during the pandemic.
When asked, a spokeswoman for Amazon told TECHBOOK that the price increase for the Prime subscription only affected the USA. Beyond that, we have nothing to announce at this time. In Germany, the costs for the Prime subscription have remained unchanged for years at EUR 69 per year or EUR 7.99 per month. In the US, Amazon has raised prices twice so far – in 2014 and 2018.
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Why is Amazon increasing prices?
According to the Reuters news agency, Amazon wants to compensate for higher freight and labor costs with the price increase. Problems in the supply chains and a shortage of workers bothered the e-commerce giant. Amazon expects net sales of between $112 and $117 billion in the first quarter, which corresponds to an increase of three to eight percent. However, the market had expected even more at $120 billion. After the announcement of the price increase for the Prime subscription, the Amazon share shot up ten percent in after-hours trading.