Amazon Prime increasing annual fee to $119

[aja8888]

Tip: if you see something on Amazon, and want to go back and buy it later, copy the URL (address) only up to the "/ref..." part. Ignore the "/ref" and everything that follows. That's just tracking information. Log on, then paste just the first part of the URL (that you copied) back into the browser address bar. Now you're able to add it to your cart, but Amazon has no history of anything you clicked on to get there.

Instead of doing the above, just add it to your Wish List on Amazon and go back to it when you log in again. Simple.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I suspect that part of the issue is the size of the town you live in. For example the town I live in does not have a decent book store nor store with a decent selection of CDs, and I would have to drive 130 mi round trip to get to one. That is likley about $12 in gas and wear and tear at a minimum.(Being a town of 20k in a county of 40k). My parents who built this house would make a weekly trip of 130 mi to pick up stuff. So the point of view on prime may depend on where you live. Let alone talk about folks in the next county seat west of 3000 where it would be 200 mi round trip.

Book? CD's? What are these things you speak of? I had $5K in Amazon orders, but no books or CD's.

 

[meierlde]

Book? CD's? What are these things you speak of? I had $5K in Amazon orders, but no books or CD's.

I might add I have taken to ordering laundry power at amazon since it has the arm&hammer brand in power not the pods. (But I have a top loader as with at most 2 loads a week the difference in efficiency of a front loader results in negligible increased cost, in particular as I wash in cold water i. about 65 here)

 

[Walt34]

I suspect that part of the issue is the size of the town you live in. For example the town I live in does not have a decent book store nor store with a decent selection of CDs, and I would have to drive 130 mi round trip to get to one. That is likely about $12 in gas and wear and tear at a minimum.

There is that to consider as well. One of my hobbies is radio control model airplanes and the nearest well-stocked hobby shop is an hour drive each way. I haven't been there for several years for that reason. So I buy virtually all of my hobby stuff online, not so much from Amazon, but do sometimes. The suppliers I buy from are at least the equal of Amazon in terms of price and product support and are often better.

 

[4legsgood]

Worth it for the streaming alone for me. Also, I have the amazon prime store cc and get 5% back off most items. In the future, possible whole foods use.

 

[explanade]

They charge taxes for the subscription.

I also subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud. If you pay monthly, they tack on sales taxes for CA residents.

But if I buy a one-year subscription from B&H which is out of state, I pay $120.

So I wonder if the one-year prepaid memberships work like that as well, though since Amazon collects sales taxes, I suspect not.

 

[mpeirce]

Tip: if you see something on Amazon, and want to go back and buy it later, copy the URL (address) only up to the "/ref..." part. Ignore the "/ref" and everything that follows. That's just tracking information. Log on, then paste just the first part of the URL (that you copied) back into the browser address bar. Now you're able to add it to your cart, but Amazon has no history of anything you clicked on to get there.

You can also just paste the item number (it's usually right before the /ref= part of the URL like CaptTom mentions) into the Amazon search field. E.g. B01LZP2B23 pasted in takes you to the backup disk I bought this week.

I often paste this number into the Amazon search field at one of my favorite blog sites so they get the referral income. It's a good way to support certain web sites (I kind of wish this one did this since I block the ads - I'd like to support the site in some way).

 

[karen1972]

Like all things, I don't get "locked in" to auto renewals. So we have prime, have watched lots of movies, read lots of Kindle free books, and got lots of free shipping. However, I don't plan on needing much in the next 6 months so we are going to let it expire in May when the year is up. If I have need of it again, I'll sign up again when/if it is needed. Just like CBS All access I'll let expire once we get the summer season, and then maybe pick up netflix for a month or two.


When I look at how little we have ordered on Amazon, its just not worth it. I find plenty of better deals elsewhere.

 

[easysurfer]

Got my Prime membership fee is going up email today. Ready or not .

 

[Tadpole]

Just got my email (below). I start the new price in May, 2019 so, for now, I can defer action.

Dear Prime Member,

Thank you for being a valued member of Amazon Prime. We are writing to you about an upcoming change to your membership.

The price of the annual Prime membership increased from $99 to $119 on May 11, 2018. Your renewal on May 16, 2018 will be at $99. The new price will apply to your renewals starting May 16, 2019.

Prime provides an unparalleled combination of shopping and entertainment benefits, and we continue to invest in making Prime even more valuable for our members. We have expanded Prime Free Same-Day and Prime Free One-Day delivery to more than 8,000 cities and towns and we will keep expanding. The number of items eligible for free two-day shipping increased in recent years from 20 million to more than 100 million items. Members also enjoy unlimited streaming access to millions of songs and thousands of movies and TV shows, including popular and award-winning Prime Originals.

No further action is required. You may manage your Prime membership anytime by visiting Your Account.
Sincerely,
Your Amazon Prime Team

 

[Jerry1]

Got the same email:

The price of the annual Prime membership increased from $99 to $119 on May 11, 2018. Your renewal on June 1, 2018 will be at $99. The new price will apply to your renewals starting June 1, 2019.

 

[easysurfer]

My renewal isn't until July, so will have the new price increase.

The "it's not you, it's me" email from Amazon .

 

[Rustic23]

Got the email but surprise! It says mine renews in June at $99 and will go up in June of 2019! I think that is better than Sat. TV and Phone Co. witch just raise the bill and then tell you.

 

[Chuckanut]

i'm not sure what I am going to do about this. I may drop Prime just to fire a shot across the bow of Amazon. For those times when I need 'free' quick delivery I can use the $120 to buy some cheap thing that might be fun to have if I am under the minimum amount.

What has kept me in Prime e are the shows. There are three I watch and several others in the family watch. They may be worth the paying the extra cost. OTOH, a 20% increase is quite a big one. So, maybe it's time to skip the shows and just settle for Netflix.

 

[REWahoo]

Got the email but surprise! It says mine renews in June at $99 and will go up in June of 2019! I think that is better than Sat. TV and Phone Co. witch just raise the bill and then tell you.

^ This. At least Amazon gave me the opportunity of renewing for another $99 in June before jacking up the price immediately.

 

[W2R]

I got the e-mail too, and mine says

The price of the annual Prime membership increased from $99 to $119 on May 11, 2018. The new price will apply to your renewals starting October 29, 2018.

Oh well!! I kind of expected that.

Honestly, I can afford it and this is one of those simple pleasures that I don't mind spending money on at all.

I get a big charge out of the nearly instant gratification, and the feeling that shipping is free (even though it really isn't if one thinks about the yearly fee, but I don't). Anyway, logical or not, Amazon Prime makes me extremely HAPPY and so it is more than worth it to me. I just love it.



For you travelers, imagine something that makes you happier than waking up to find that you are in a luxury hotel in Paris.

For you car nuts, imagine something that makes you happier than your own vintage '57 Chevy in pristine shape, sitting in your driveway when you go out there today.

That's Amazon Prime, for me. I just love it. Yes, this is crazy-as-a-loon W2R posting about crazy things again.

 

[explanade]

My renewal is October at the new price.

 

[omni550]

I have an August renewal date but have not yet received an email from Amazon as to what my renewal rate will be. (I'm guessing it'll be the $119 rate).

Have any other August enrollees here received their Amazon renewal emails?

omni

 

[Dawg52]

I got the email. And it confirmed mine would renew at $99. My renewal is the day before the increase. Got lucky for once.

 

[Dawg52]

Duplicate.

 

[aja8888]

My renewal is next February!

 

[tulak]

I’m good until April 2019. Pure luck.

 

[mcbraemer]

I got the email too. Although I do NOT think that Amazon needs more money, I do feel that Prime is worth the cost. Just yesterday, I had a 125 lb. gas powered piece of yard equipment purchased on Amazon delivered (by UPS) for $0, less than 1-week after ordering (actually on the 3rd w*rking day).
I also utilize the Amazon music feature a lot through a phone and via Alexa, and have upgraded the music service recently in order to have access to "every record ever recorded" or some such incredible variety of music. Use it a bit.
I now question my need for Sirius XM in the cars - once I can get Amazon music to play directly in both vehicles.

 

[zinger1457]

I now question my need for Sirius XM in the cars - once I can get Amazon music to play directly in both vehicles.

I use the Amazon music player on my phone to play music thru my car stereo using bluetooth. Besides the cost savings from not paying for SirusXM the quality of the music is also better IMO. I also like the fact that Amazon lets you download the music so you can listen to it offline, no need to use any data plan.

 

[CoolRich59]

Got my Prime membership fee is going up email today. Ready or not .

Got my email this week too. I used it as the prompt to really think about whether Amzn Prime is worth it. Even with the increase, I decided it is for me.

Just today, I submitted two orders on Amzn.

The first was for me. I have been needing to replace my undershirts for a while and have been putting off going to the mall. Today, I ordered some via Amazon's program that lets you try before you buy. If you don't like it, just send them back. They don't charge your card until you buy.

Second order. My daughter (27) lives in rural Nebraska. She is and will always be my princess, and I reserve the right to spoil her as I see fit. Today, I sent her a care package of animal crackers, gummi bears, and chocolate. I shopped Costco and Walmart; Amazon beat both of them on pricing. With free 2-day shipping, Daddy's princess will be enjoying her treats this weekend.