If you subscribe to Amazon Prime in the US, get ready to pay a little more.
As of Feb. 18, Amazon is increasing the price from $119 to $139 for annual subscribers. Monthly subscribers will see a $2 increase to $14.99. Existing Prime subscribers will see the price hikes apply after March 25 on the next date of their membership renewal.
Why the increase? The e-commerce company points to an expansion in Prime member benefits over the years and the need to pay rising wages and higher transportation costs. The last time the company raised Amazon Prime’s membership cost was in 2018 when the annual price went up from $99 to $119, while the monthly cost increased from $10.99 to $12.99.
Amazon announced the price increases in a Thursday earning’s release, which showed Amazon’s net sales during Q4 2021 increased 9% year over year to $137.4 billion. Net income also soared to $14.3 billion, up from $7.2 billion in the same period a year ago.
However, Amazon’s new CEO Andy Jassy noted the company still encountered some supply chain troubles during last year’s holiday season. “As expected over the holidays, we saw higher costs driven by labor supply shortages and inflationary pressures, and these issues persisted into the first quarter due to Omicron,” he wrote in the earnings release.
Despite the price hikes for Amazon Prime, there are some ways to avoid paying the full fee for the company’s perks programs (like signing up before Feb. 18, presumably).