Amazon has announced plans to raise the cost of its Prime membership in the U.S. to $139 a year and $14.99 a month.
The company said the increase was triggered by “continued expansion of Prime member benefits as well as the rise in wages and transportation costs.”
The price change will come into force on February 18th for new members and after March 25 for existing members.
The price was last raised in 2018 when the annual fee rose from $99 to $119 a year, and company executives said the increase was due to rising shipping costs and other expenses associated with the program.
Amazon Prime has over 200 million users. The majority of Prime users remain in the United States. As Amazon continues to evolve, Prime has grown from fast shopping speeds to Prime Video, music streaming, Twitch perks and more.
Higher costs, one of the reasons for the increase, sent Amazon’s operating profit plummeting to $3.5 billion in the final quarter of 2021, the second consecutive quarter in which the company’s profit has slumped.
For more information, read the original story in The Verge.