Bobaray

Yes, but before the U.K. didn't have free prime streaming; now they will. Of course the US price didn't increase when they added streaming.

hanshotfirst1138

I suppose that with streaming increasing, this was an inevitability.

Nickee

I guess it's official - $99/year. I haven't received an email notifying me but I found this on the website:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custom...deId=200966690

Rob V

It is official... I got an email. Kinda bullshit but it won't deter me from keeping Prime.

EdTheRipper

I received an e-mail a few minutes ago. I'm still undecided as to whether or not I'm actually going to keep it.

stingermck

Student will be $49 FYI

stingermck

Important: If your membership renews before April 17, 2014, you'll be charged at a membership rate of $79. If your membership renews on or after April 17, 2014, you'll be charged at a membership rate of $99.

Oliver Clothesoff

yup. my Prime is scheduled to renew on 3/31, so I'll get the $79 rate for another year. I'm OK with the increase - it pays for itself in the first 3 months anyway.

EdTheRipper

Mine was supposed to renew on April 2nd, but I got a free month tacked on due to a major shipping issue. Guess I'm paying for it ultimately.

stingermck

I wish there was a shipping only option. I have maybe watched 1 or 2 things on streaming since it has been available.

Shannon Nutt

Yep, $99 a year now...I still think they could have just made less things PRIME eligible and saved the costs that way. I think I'm done with PRIME. It's no longer saving me enough to renew (and I don't use the video streaming very much). I wish they'd have offered a cheaper price for those of us who don't want their streaming service.

Groucho

I got the email too. I think it's a smokescreen to talk about the "cost of shipping" when we all know it's because they need to pay for all the perks and services they keep adding. They should really have a shipping-only tier (as others have said).

Shannon Nutt

Looks like they're getting sued as well:

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/amazo...ry?id=22882043

professor chaos

Amazon does guarantee 2-day PRIME shipping! On most orders if it takes longer than the delivery date given when you order you can call customer service and get a free month extension to your prime membership (now an $8.25 value!).

see "Note" at bottom of the page

Adboy151

Done. I just don't buy enough anymore to justify the uptick. Looking so far this year I've had nine orders, four would have cleared the free shipping threshold. And all of it was nothing I really needed in two days.

Plus, I simply don't use their streaming all that much.

If they we're really concerned with the "cost of shipping" they'd look at some of the inconsistencies of their shipping, combining orders (or lack thereof) and new things like their Sunday and holiday deliveries for mundane items.

Pizza

But how would they charge a prime member a higher price? I'm not understanding how that would work. I assume when anyone goes to the site they see the same price.

professor chaos

Four Amazon Pilots Go to Series

I've always thought that I loved having the Prime Instant Watch Service included, but then I realized I only watch it about once every 6 months (I much prefer Netflix's catalog/interface, although Amazon is getting better with exclusives (The Shield, Pushing Daisies, SG-1, Orphan Black)).

Shannon Nutt

It's not an issue with the actual 2-day delivery most of the time (meaning UPS, or whomever), it's an issue with when they actually ship the item. I order on a Monday, but they don't ship it until Wednesday, despite the item being in stock. Or I'll have prebooked a Blu-ray expecting it to arrive on release date, and over the weekend they'll have changed the "estimated delievery" date from Tuesday to Thursday. They seem to have done the previous two things more and more over the last year, which has made PRIME less of a value to me.

Gizmo

I don't use the streaming or rent-a-book option, so I really don't care about that.

While I do still order a lot from Amazon, most of it would be fine getting shipped 'free' with orders of $25/$35 or more. So while Prime is nice, it's not really needed for me. I'll probably just go on my "Uncles" account.

Solid Snake

Got the email this morning at 7:38. Somehow I haven't heard about all this. I pretty much rape Amazon. The price increase puts us at about even. I use AIV a lot now. And the shipping has always worked for me. Aside from one time with Amazon UK which has no bearing on Amazon US.

But I keep getting the chance to do the student so this doesn't affect me too much. Not yet at least. Good thing I've a college email still.

Timber

I don't know if I can justify the increase. Expecially when I consider that the majority of my Prime shipements are going out via USPS. When they were going Lasership and UPS I always got orders in 2 days. Now I get it when I get it.

Nickee

If I understand the lawsuit correctly, it's stupid. The person suing is only talking about 3rd party sellers and how when they use the fulfilled by Amazon feature (which means it qualifies for Prime), they raise the price of the item to include the shipping fee. Which maybe they do but what difference does it make? She says something like non-Prime members would end up paying a lower price with a separate shipping fee.

But the buyer can always choose another 3rd party seller that charges a separate shipping fee to get a lower price if they want it.

I buy a lot of things using 3rd party sellers and sometimes I pay more if it qualifies for Prime because I know I will get it faster than with a non-Prime seller. But that is my choice. If the price difference is too great, I'll go with the cheaper seller and know that I may have to wait longer to receive it.

Trevor

Got the email, mine renews in September so I'll be at $99. I'll probably let it renew.

Pointyskull

Just got an email today that my upcoming Prime renewal will be $79, but that next year it will go up to the new $99 rate.

At this time I'm not paying sales tax (IL) so Prime at $79 is still a no-brainer. I will re-evaluate next year.

I know I am much more of a spontaneous (re: non essential item) shopper with Prime, and if it meant going to a brick-and-mortar to get the same item I probably wouldn't.

slop101

They're gouging. Prime is already plenty profitable as it is. This increase will really put them over the top. When you have Prime, you end up buying WAY more shit off amazon than you would otherwise.

I got rid of Prime last year when I realized I don't need to have something shipped to me in 2 days, and that I'm fine waiting 2-4 weeks. I still get free shipping as I wait until I can make big orders. And I certainly don't use their shitty steaming streaming service.