Amazon has announced that it is raising the premium for its Prime subscription service for the US market, hiking the price of its annual plan from $119 to $139, while the monthly plan goes up from $12.99 to $14.99. Announced as part of Amazon’s latest quarterly earnings report, it marks the third price hike in the subscription’s history since it was introduced in 2005.
The first surge was announced all the way back in 2014, when Amazon raised the premium to $99 per year, up from the original $79 asking price. Four years later, that premium climbed to $119, and has finally reached the $139 mark. The lucrative bundled subscription service comes with a ton of benefits, with Amazon diversifying the add-ons with each passing year.
But $139 is a steep price to pay, especially for folks who aren’t familiar with all the perks. To start with the more well-known benefits, an Amazon Prime subscription offers shopping-centric favors such as free one-day and same-day delivery, assured delivery of groceries within a couple of hours at no extra charge, and in-garage delivery for added security of packages. Plus, subscribers get early access to deals, especially when its annual Prime Day sales extravaganza kicks off. Moreover, Amazon also offers exclusive discounts to Prime members on a daily basis. For apparel shoppers, the complimentary Prime Wardrobe service allows buyers to order clothes and try them at home for free with a 7-day try-on spell and free returns.
A Whole Lot More Than Shopping Perks
On the entertainment side of things, Prime Video is priced at $8.99 per month (or $119.99 annually) as a standalone video streaming service. Netflix asks for a $10 premium per month, Disney Plus charges $8 on a monthly basis, while HBO Max sits at a $15 monthly pedestal. Prime Video has a solid content library with the likes of The Boys and The Wheel of Time winning critical acclaim. Plus, originals like The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, made with over $450 million in the budget, are highly anticipated. Prime Video has the biggest library, by far, among its streaming rivals, even though not all content is as high-quality as Netflix’s in-house movies and TV shows. On its own, Prime Video is not a bad deal for its price. But when bundled with the shopping benefits (and other extras discussed below), it becomes a very good offer with just a $20 hike over Prime Video’s standalone annual fee.
There are also a ton more goodies that a Prime subscription has to offer. The ad-free Amazon Prime Music streaming service is bundled at no extra charge, folks who want to treat their ears to some HD music and Spatial Audio wizardry can get Amazon Music Unlimited at a discounted price of $7.99 per month versus $9.99 for non-prime customers. The Amazon Music library has 2 million tracks, with benefits like curated playlists and stations, offline listening with unlimited skips, and hands-free listening on Alexa-powered devices. For bibliophiles who are a fan of the Kindle brand, the bundled Prime Reading offer includes access to a rotating catalog of free ebooks and audiobooks, alongside a free pre-release ebook each month, and a handful of comics as well as magazines.
Another extremely useful and criminally underrated benefit of a Prime subscription is Amazon Photos, which offers unlimited cloud storage for high-resolution photos and 5GB space for videos. There are some sweet benefits for gaming enthusiasts as well, thanks to Prime Gaming. Prime subscribers get access to free in-game content, a rotating catalog of free PC games offered each month, and a Twitch channel subscription every month at no extra cost. The Amazon Pharmacy benefits include savings of up to 80 percent on prescriptions if medicines are being purchased without insurance at over 60,000 partner retail pharmacies, alongside a promise of free two-day delivery.
Yeah, Still Worth It
Taking into account all the aforementioned benefits, a Prime subscription at an increased $139 asking price is still worth every penny in 2022. One might make a case that the lack of options is reason enough to get a Prime subscription, and that’s true to some extent. But even if one considers only the shopping and media consumption benefits, Prime presents itself as a bundle of great value.
Source: Amazon