Amazon Prime price hike is coming... as experts predict how much your bill will increase by and when
JP Morgan analyst Douglas Anmuth found that Amazon customers may need to pay $159 instead of the usual $139 annually for a Prime membership starting next year.
'A $20 U.S. Prime price increase is seen driving about $3 billion in incremental annualized net sales,' according to a note via TheStreet.
The numbers come from Anmuth's estimated value of a Prime subscription, which came out to $1,430 per year. He did not clarify whether price hikes from tariffs were taken into account.
According to the analyst, the new total was a 6 percent jump compared to last year's price tag and more than double the value compared to the 2016 membership cost.
The prediction is also based on Amazon's pattern of raising prices on significant features every four years.
Besides the price changes, J.P. Morgan expects around 350 million shoppers will have Prime memberships this year.
The prediction comes following Amazon's Prime Day event preparations, which will be a four-day sale instead of the usual two.
Amazon Prime has been going strong for 20 years despite price hikes, leaving shoppers threatening to delete their accounts.
Customers were furious in 2018 once the company raised its monthly plan to $12.99 from $10.99.
The company's membership fee grew again in 2022 to $14.99, amounting to a $139 annual cost.
Prices have stayed put ever since, but the company has opted to make other Prime changes that have also left shoppers threatening to cancel their memberships.
This year's backlash started up by streamers slamming an 'unbearable' Prime update, a greater number of ads the company warned its members about last year.
It worsened after the company axed its Try Before You Buy service a month after discontinuing same-day delivery from select stores, and hiked the price of its Amazon Music Unlimited ad-free subscription program.
Amazon's decision to cut jobs in favor of Artificial Intelligence hasn't won the hearts of customers either.
Although the company has had a habit of infuriating members, things could be looking up now that Amazon is expanding its same-day and next-day delivery services to over 4,000 small cities, towns, and rural communities in the US.
Amazon faced backlash from Prime members multiple times this year over unfavorable changes
The fury over the elimination of perks that lured in customers didn't stop the company from having a successful first quarter.
Its net sales increased 9 percent to $155.7 billion, while its operating income increased to $18.4 billion from last year's first quarter total of $15.3 billion.
Around 220 million shoppers worldwide have Amazon Prime memberships, with about 180 million being in the US.
The company expects to gain more members this year, and retail expert Neil Saunders revealed that with a potential higher membership price could come more benefits.
'Amazon's whole manta on Prime is to ensure it delivers fantastic value for money. This means the benefits have to outweigh the cost, which they currently do,' Saunders told DailyMail.com.
'A price rise would not be something Amazon does lightly as it would disrupt the value equation. That said, there is some scope for higher Prime fees as Amazon has added a lot more benefits to Prime over recent years.'
While Amazon has not confirmed if it will raise prices next year, it has launched early Prime Day offers, including a three-month trial of Audible for $0.99.
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