Amazon Prime fees hike

Mail order company Amazon is making its Prime package more expensive – and with it access to Prime Video. If you don’t want to, you can cancel in good time./ Amazon Prime fees hike

Amazon is making its Prime subscription more expensive. From September 15, the monthly price will increase from EUR 7.99 to EUR 8.99, and the annual subscription will cost EUR 89.90 instead of EUR 69.

The student subscription will also cost one euro more per month and will soon cost 4.99 per month. The annual price increases from 34 euros to 44.90 euros. Those who do not want to agree to the price increase can “cancel their membership free of charge within 30 days” after receiving the email about the price increase, according to Amazon. However, since according to Amazon there are no notice periods anyway, this offer is probably irrelevant in most cases.

It is the first price increase in Germany since 2017. Amazon explains that the increase was necessary because of inflation. In February, however, the prime fee had already been adjusted in the USA – even without inflationary pressure. The service is significantly more expensive there anyway and now costs 14.99 US dollars per month – based on the current exchange rate, this corresponds to a monthly rate of around 14.67 euros.

Service is almost twice as expensive in the US.

In the USA, the service was more expensive from the start: Prime started there in 2005 at an annual price of 79 US dollars, while two years later it cost 29 euros when it was launched in Germany, then 49 euros, before the price rose to 69 euros in 2017 was increased in the year. For the time being, it doesn’t look like Amazon will bring the German price closer to the American one.

Prime includes a wide range of services and perks, including free shipping, free games, Prime Video and Prime Music streaming services, 1-2 hour shipping in metro areas, and more. With its “Prime Day” shopping event, at which a number of special offers are only offered to Prime members, the mail order company is also trying to win customers for the subscription and thus retain them.

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