Amazon Prime price rise: Australian customers cop $20 annual hike as monthly fees go up to $12.99
Subscribers to the ecommerce giant can expect to be slugged the extra amount from November 25 onwards.
Australian Amazon Prime customers are set to pay extra to stay subscribed to its services in hikes dated to kick in on or after the ecommerce giant’s Black Friday sales.
Amazon announced in an email on Wednesday that subscribers to the priority delivery and streaming service would be paying $99 a year from late November onwards - a $20 rise on the current annual price of $79.
However, customers who pay for a Prime subscription on a monthly basis could be slugged even more with their $9.99 a month payment rising rise to $12.99. That means over a year they would end up paying $155.88 - $36 more than the current monthly total of $119.88.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The email informed existing customers that they would start being billed the extra amount in their first renewal payment on or after November 25. Meanwhile any new subscribers to the service can now expect to pay the full $99 yearly fee or the $12.99 monthly fee.
The price hike was necessary to “continue supporting” subscriber services, according to the email.
“Only the price is changing. All other parts of your Prime members stay the same,” customers were told.
“The range of products and benefits available through Prime has continued to grow.”
Amazon also issued a statement to media clarifying that the price change was localised to Australian customers.
In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson told TechRadar the costs were largely attributed to a nationwide expansion in delivery areas, new content via its streaming service Prime Video and continued access to Alexa+.
“We are committed to growing the value of Prime for members, and in just the last six months we have brought Prime Free overnight delivery before 8am on hundreds of thousands of products to four cities, expanded Prime Free Same-Day Delivery available now in nine regions across Australia, added new TV series and movies to Prime Video plus live sport, given free access to Alexa+, provided exclusive deals through events like Prime Day, and more,” the spokesperson told Techradar.
“With the continued expansion of Prime member benefits, and so we can continue growing the offering, we will change the price of Prime to $12.99 per month or $99 per year. Prime has never offered as much value for members as it does today.”
The timing of the price hike corresponds with one of Amazon’s major sale events in Australia - Black Friday. The sales period usually starts several days before the actual date for Black Friday - November 27 - and will continue through to November 30’s Cyber Monday.
It is the second price hike dealt to Amazon’s subscribers Down Under since its 2018 launch, back when the initial monthly fees were set at $6.99 and annual fees limited to just $58.
Those prices were hiked to $9.99 per month and $79 per year in May 2023.
