Amazon Just Raised Its Prime Membership Rates for the First Time in 4 Years

Bad news for members of Amazon Prime — As of today, monthly rates have increased by a whopping 18 percent.

While the price won’t affect those that pay the $99 yearly service fee up front, those that pay for Prime on a monthly basis will see their bills increase from $10.99 every 30 days to $12.99, raising the annual sum from $131.88 to $155.88. Renewal subscriptions will begin seeing the change as of February 18, 2018.

Those with monthly student rates will also be affected, though not as strongly, with the price being raised from $5.49 per month to $6.49, with the $49 yearly fee remaining flat.

According to Kiro 7, the $2 per month add-on marks the first major billing switch the company has seen since 2014, when it raised its annual fee from $79 to the current flat-rate of $99.

Though Amazon didn’t offer a reason for its decision, it did issue an email statement notifying customers of the price increase and its plans to invest in Prime customers going forward. “… The number of items eligible for free two-day shipping increased in recent years from 20 million to more than 100 million items,” it read. “We have expanded Prime free same-day and Prime free one-day delivery to more than 8,000 cities and towns. We also continue to introduce the new, popular, and award-winning Prime originals… (*cough cough, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel). We will keep introducing new ways to make members’ lives even better.”

Some weren’t convinced, taking to social media to say the bump in charges was enough to have their cancelling their memberships completely.

Others didn’t seem too concerned, however. As one user wrote, it was one of those things where “you never look at the bill.”

Hey, to each their own!

What do you think of Amazon’s price hike? Share over @BritandCo.

(Photo via David McNew + David Ryder/Getty)