Finances & Money

Is Amazon Prime Worth the 20% Price Increase?

Amazon Prime will cost $119 a year, starting May 11 for new members and June 16 for renewals. That’s a 20% increase from the current $99 annual rate — is Amazon Prime worth that much more?

Of course, the answer depends on how much you order from Amazon every year — along with how much video programming you stream on demand.

Amazon spokespeople are saying the price increase is justifiable because the service is more valuable than it was the last time the price went up, four years ago.

Five Times as Many Products

Back then the site had 20 million products that participated in Amazon Prime.

That number has jumped to 100 million items — all of them available for free two-day delivery, the service that was the original focus of Amazon Prime.

Amazon Prime’s first price increase, in 2014, took the annual rate to $99 from $79, the price that had been in place ever since the service launched in 2005.

Much more recently, the company had raised the monthly rate earlier this year to $12.99 from $10.99 earlier this year. The ability to pay on a monthly basis became available in 2016.

Demand Is There

Certainly the demand for the service would seem to justify the increase, as the number of Amazon Prime members recently surpassed 100 million.

The company has layered on many additional services to Prime to help drive adoption, including the availability of free Sunday deliveries through a partnership with United Parcel Service.

Other value-adds include meal kit deliveries and multimedia streaming, among many others. Again, the more of these you make use of, the greater the value Amazon Prime to you.

Readers, if you’re a member of Amazon Prime, to what extent do you feel like you’ve gotten a good value for it? Do you feel the higher price for Amazon Prime is justified — and if so, do you expect to renew your Amazon Prime membership?

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