Amazon to raise cost of monthly Prime membership by $2 in February

If you're paying monthly instead of annually for your Amazon Prime membership, it's going to cost you a bit more each month. Amazon will be raising the price by $2 per month starting on February 18, and the change applies to both new and existing customers. This will bring the monthly fee from $10.99 up to $12.99, meaning that you'll be paying just under $156 for a year of Prime membership. Those who pay the annual $99 fee will not see a price increase from these changes, nor will any of the awesome benefits of Prime be changing.

From GeekWire's report:

Amazon said the price increase does not affect the annual membership option, which will remain at $99. With the price increase, the monthly option will now equal slightly less than $156 for a year. Amazon has been investing heavily in Prime, bringing it to new markets and creating additional benefits and original content. Those moves, plus regular increases in fees from shipping partners, are among the factors contributing to the price increase.

Amazon says it has no preference on the annual versus monthly option. However, offering a monthly service with no contract or guarantee carries with it a cost to manage and volatility that isn't present with the more dependable annual option.

The cost for students will be increasing to $6.49 a month and the standalone Prime Video subscription will be $8.99. The best deal continues to be the $99 annual subscription, and this price increase just makes it even more valuable.

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