If you’re an Amazon Prime subscriber in the UK it might be time to reconsider your subscription, as prices for the service are going up soon.
Amazon Prime monthly subscribers will see their bill go from £7.99 to £8.99, while annual subscribers will soon have to shell out £95 a year instead of £79. That’s a monthly increase of 12%, or 20% for annual subscribers.
Prime members were informed of the price increase today (July 26) via an email sent to the address used by their account.
You have a bit of time before the new price goes into effect though, potentially letting you bag another year on the current cheaper rate. The hike will only apply to renewals after September 15 2022, so if you nab a year-long subscription on September 14 (or earlier) you’ll have Prime well into 2023 for only £79.
This is the first price increase to Amazon’s Prime membership since 2014 – when the price of annual subscriptions jumped massively to £79 from £49, an increase of more than 60%. According to Reuters, Amazon is blaming the price increase on inflation and rising operating costs. The change also follows poor financial results for Amazon last quarter, with the company posting its first quarterly loss in seven years.
That said, Amazon also recently posted that its recent Prime Day sale was the biggest and most successful ever with over 300 million items sold worldwide – so it's likely struggling a lot less than it was earlier in the year.
Amazon isn't the only service putting prices up. Its rival for the best streaming service, Netflix, raised prices earlier this year in the UK due to poor financial results. However, rumors quickly started that Netflix had plans for a cheaper ad-supported tier – a tier it recently confirmed is coming soon – so we’ll have to see if Amazon follows suit.
Use it before you lose it
While the cost of Amazon Prime isn’t increasing by a heck of a lot, this could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for many people. So, if these are your last days with Amazon Prime how should you use it?
Of course, there’s free next-day delivery – which you should take advantage of while you can – the best place to start is by watching the best Prime Video shows. This includes fantastic series like The Boys which just had its third season drop, Picard for all your Star Trek fans, and Good Omens which is set to get a season two.
Next up you’ll want to check out Prime Gaming. Head there and you’ll be able to snag free goodies for some of your favorite games, and even some free games that are yours to keep forever – so even once your subscription ends you’ll still have something to play. You also get a free Twitch subscription per month so you can support your favorite streamer one last time on Amazon’s dime.
Lastly, make sure to try out a bit of everything else Amazon Prime has left to offer you. There’s Amazon Music Prime that gives you access to over two million tracks, Prime Reading that pairs perfectly with the Kindle (one of the best eredaers out there), and even Prime-only discounts (though the best Prime Day deals have already been and gone for now).
