FYI - Amazon Prime Renewal Increase

JeanLouiseFinch · ‎10-03-2011

I just got an email from Amazon with the following information regarding my Amazon Prime membership renewal increase. That's quite some advanced notice. I don't know if I'll stick with Prime, or not, yet. I still haven't used all the features like book downloads and movies. And while I've been able to purchase several items that ship free with a 2-day delivery, there are items I purchase that do not qualify for Amazon Prime so my membership hasn't completely eliminated shipping fees.

We are writing to provide you advance notice that the price of your Prime membership will be increasing. The annual rate will be $99 when your membership renews on January 1, 2015.

Even as fuel and transportation costs have increased, the price of Prime has remained the same for nine years. Since 2005, the number of items eligible for unlimited free Two-Day Shipping has grown from one million to over 20 million. We also added unlimited access to over 40,000 movies and TV episodes with Prime Instant Video and a selection of over 500,000 books to borrow from the Kindle Owners' Lending Library.

For more information about your Prime membership, visit our Prime membership page.

Sincerely,

The Amazon Prime Team

Akane · ‎03-09-2010

I will be renewing - it's still a good deal

Coco Butter Bean · ‎03-30-2010

I have only been a Prime member since December, but I already feel that I have received my money's worth. Although $99 seems steep, it will be worth it for me.

12andcounting · ‎03-10-2010

Well, of course I wish the price wasn't going up, but I will definitely be renewing. The 2-day and free shipping alone is worth it to me.

Wackers3 · ‎03-26-2010

I feel that's a pretty minimal increase considering it's the first and only increase they've ever had in 9 years. They really do try and keep their prices manageable, imo anyway. It's kind of a wonder how they do it with all the shipping increases that have occurred in the last 9 years.

Blondelle · ‎03-09-2010

There's a class action lawsuit against Amazon now that they are advertising free shipping with Prime, but they are encouraging their vendors to add what they would have charged for shipping on to the cost of the product. Always check other retail sources to see if Amazon is really charging more than they should for the item. Shipping isn't free if the price for the item is higher than elsewhere.

They have squeezed their customer wherever they could. Items that used to ship free with Prime are now not Prime eligible and are listed as add on items with minimum order size for the free shipping.

DoneTryin · ‎03-09-2010

I, too, just received that email message from Amazon. At least they're giving everyone plenty of advance notice. I use Prime so much that it's worth it to me to pay an additional $20/year. I don't use all the features, yet, but might have to start downloading movies; just haven't gotten around to it.

Snow Kitten · ‎02-10-2014

My email said increase will be on September 2015. I am not sure I will renew mine. So many things on amazon are free shipping anyway and I am never in a hurry to receive the items I buy anyway. And last month, I went on an Amazon instant video spree and watched tons of tv shows for free. My cable bill more than doubled for the data overage, from $60 to $140. So I told myself I would cut back on the streaming- like netflix, hulu and amazon.

JeanLouiseFinch · ‎10-03-2011

On 3/13/2014 Blondelle said:
There's a class action lawsuit against Amazon now that they are advertising free shipping with Prime, but they are encouraging their vendors to add what they would have charged for shipping on to the cost of the product. Always check other retail sources to see if Amazon is really charging more than they should for the item. Shipping isn't free if the price for the item is higher than elsewhere.

They have squeezed their customer wherever they could. Items that used to ship free with Prime are now not Prime eligible and are listed as add on items with minimum order size for the free shipping.

I've actually found this to be the case myself. I generally order more than one thing at a time, so I often wonder if Amazon Prime is really all it's cracked up to be, as opposed to ordering $25/$35 (can't remember the minimum right now) of non-prime items and getting truly free shipping. Usually the extra day or two in transit isn't a big deal for me.