Classy post by Amazon. Not a lot of marketing fluff about the added value of this price increase (many companies try to spin it). And a link to cancel on the page. It felt like I was being treated like a respected adult customer.
I immediately think of Netflix when I read stuff like this --<p>They are struggling to find a way to raise their prices (or at least create a tiered pricing structure) that doesn't immediately give everyone flashbacks to the Qwikster debacle.<p>Netflix got, after a few months of hooplah, a pass on that one because there wasn't a lot of competition yet, but I think it's a different story now; or at least becoming one. I run a Netflix blog on the side, and a lot of people comment their intent to cancel their subscription when I write about how certain shows are being removed (King of the Hill caused quite the storm). But I'm fairly certain very few people actually go through with it. $7.99 a month is an afterthought for most, especially compared with alternatives ($50/mo cable subscriptions, competition not being up to par, etc).<p>All that said, I believe I would pay considerably more for Netflix, or a better streaming service,(I'm guessing upwards of 20-30 bucks a month) if their content library increased alongside the price change. I think many people would likely agree.
Amazon increased the price of Prime a long time ago.<p>* Once upon a time, 2-day shipping was free and next-day shipping was $3.99. Then they raised the price if the next day happened to be Saturday. Now, next-day shipping varies depending on the item and is often unavailable. It's never <i>less</i> than $3.99, though. 2-day shipping is rarely shipped via a 2-day shipping service; often they drop it in the mail and hope for the best. (Also, why even bother charging me $4? Just make next-day shipping free and charge $4 more for the thing.)<p>* Various unreliable courier services end up doing a good chunk of the deliveries. UPS, Fedex, and the USPS are great. I don't know how they do it, but they manage to break into my apartment building every day of the week and drop off packages without me ever knowing the details. Lasership and A1? Yeah right. I love it when they try to deliver packages to my office at 10PM. Are any office mail rooms open at 10PM ever? Ever? Nice try. (Does Amazon even use A1 anymore? I remember finding a bug in A1's website that disclosed the name and address of all their customers. Emailed security@amazon and security@a1. Heard back from Amazon that they fixed it. Never saw another package from A1. Maybe A1 just rebranded as Lasership. I really have no idea.)<p>* Add-on items. Need I say more?<p>* Every time you order something from Amazon, you get a stupid interstitial about how you can opt-in to receive email about streaming a bunch of B movies and flopped TV shows at 160i resolution via your Flash player. No thanks, Amazon. You're a physical media store, not Netflix! It's cute that you're trying, though.<p>Finally, while I'm ranting... it's weird that amazon.co.jp and amazon.com don't share my credit card information and address. Would also appreciate Prime for amazon.co.jp, but I know that's never going to happen.
Considering Netflix comes out to $96/yr, $99 for Prime, with a comparable (albeit not quite as good) video library, along with shipping and the free ebook, it's still a deal.<p>And even if Amazon loses money on a Prime membership, there's been statistics about Prime customers spending over 2x as much annually then non-Prime customers.
Doesnt matter for me the deal is still way worth it. I had 3 separate orders this week in my household and one package actually arrived within one day, not even 24 hours. At $99 it is still a deal for the customer if you order often enough.
Be aware of color rip-off pricing on some prime items e.g. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009MLPSNC" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009MLPSNC</a> (35% extra for some colors)<p>I got this shipped from Target (redcard member) for $10
I was aware that the streaming service came to Prime a few weeks ago, but I had no idea that the Kindle Lending Library even existed! I still believe Prime delivers very good value. I have something arriving from Amazon maybe 3 out of 5 weekdays, and now (probably for a long time, I just didn't know) I don't have to pay for books?
<i>For the first time since it was introduced nine years ago, the price of Prime is going up.</i><p>Nine years? Is anybody else completely surprised by this? I only heard of it the first time when it was introduced in the UK about two years ago.
Comprable price to netflix now. It would be nice if, as part of the increase they would make kindle lending library and streaming video sharable with a limited number of house hold members like netflix does or even offer this at a small price increase. We have both but the prime is currently in my name, my wife can share the shipping so it doesn't make sense to get a membership for her just to use the other features though she would like to.
I have to give Amazon credit. I signed up for a trial yesterday and when I saw this I figured I'd have to subscribe at the new price, but that's not the case. In a month, when my trial expires I'm eligible for the old price. My renewal the following year will be for the new price.<p>Looks like they're handling this really well and respecting their customers!
Meh. Taking opportunity costs into account, a SINGLE visit to a local retail store that I can bill to a client instead more than covers the yearly expense. Add to that my experience with their customer service and returns (simply stellar[1]) and I would have gladly paid $149/yr which was hinted at previously.<p>I've saved myself countless hours and shipping charges as a long-time prime member. Watched a whole season of The Americans and five streaming movies for free last week. I'd say I get more than my money's worth...<p>[1] one more reason to avoid other online retailers or brick and mortars<p>PS I never buy anything from third party sellers where Amazon doesn't handle the fulfillment. Too many scammers. Yes, I'm looking at you AntOnline on Amazon. Crooks.
Over time, due to both per-item shipping fees rising and higher volumes, Amazon's losses on shipping have been rising at an unsustainable rate. The gap last year between its shipping costs and shipping charges was about $3.5 billion, up from just $600 million 5 years ago. <a href="http://www.statista.com/statistics/236503/amazons-annual-shipping-revenue-and-outbound-shipping-costs/" rel="nofollow">http://www.statista.com/statistics/236503/amazons-annual-shi...</a>
Prime only recently (late February iirc) added the streaming stuff in Germany (after they bought the German streaming site "Lovefilm") and increased the prices (you're grandfathered in until early 2015 though iirc). I installed the app on my Xbox and counted...a whopping 81 films/videos were available in English. So basically I get close to 0 extra value from it.<p>Seems like a coordinated price increase. I use Amazon a lot and think the increase is still reasonable so I won't cancel.
Oh look, I still can't play videos on my non-HAL Linux desktop. No matter, I originally got Prime for the free 2-day shipping, and for me I think it still makes economic sense to keep it. (Besides, their videos are too often low-quality. They won't even let you rent HD versions sometimes, if you're going to watch it on a PC. I have a fiber (albeit non-gigabit :( ) connection, darnit!)
I love the service and it provides great value. I'm happy the price has stayed the same for so long but times change, costs go up and I will still pay for it.
So has this gone into effect immediately for new memberships and renewals? My prime expired last month when it was still $79, and I'm considering renewing.