Customers Calling to 'Cancel' Amazon Prime After New Price Hikes Announced The new price hikes will go into effect on February 18 for new Prime members and after March 25 for existing members.
By Emily Rella Edited by Amanda Breen
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Bad news for loyal Amazon shoppers.
The retail giant announced that it would be increasing prices on its beloved Prime services by a whopping 17%, citing inflation and the need to offset costs due to pandemic-related disturbances, namely labor and transportation costs.
Annual Prime memberships will increase from $119 to $139, while monthly subscriptions will increase from $12.99 to $14.99, the first time increases in the service have been implemented since 2018.
The new price hikes will go into effect on February 18 for new Prime members and after March 25 for existing members.
Related: Netflix Is Raising Prices in the U.S.
Suffice it to say, customers and Amazon fans were less than thrilled about the new increases, calling for people to "cancel" the service and accusing Amazon founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos of using the money for his own personal benefit.
So Amazon is raising the Prime membership costs again! Saying it's because of "expanded Prime membership benefits"! Ummm. Ok? Remind me how much money they made last year?
— Jarett & Lilly vs EVERYTHING (@JLVsTW1) February 3, 2022
just wanted to point out that amazon's quarterly revenue grew 9% to $137 billion and they still raised the price of a prime membership by 17% lol
— chris.eth (@MrTooDamnChris) February 4, 2022
Amazon is raising its Prime membership price because Jeff Bezos is tired of using his $500 million yacht on common public oceans, he wants to buy the Pacific.
— scott (@ScottGWrites) February 4, 2022
Cancelling Amazon Prime. Doesn't sit right with me that a fn billionaire whose company made record profits last year needs to increase the price. I hope everyone starts canceling. #AmazonPrime
— Joshua Ortiz (@itsjustjoshy) February 4, 2022
First, Netflix raising its price. Now, Amazon Prime.
— Sam Sirmons (@therealsix5) February 3, 2022
I need another stimmy at this rate Joe.
With Amazon Prime going up in price after making billions of dollars in profits, after price gouging, after abusing their employees and union busting ALL DURING A PANDEMIC maybe you all should think about just canceling that shit?
— Gem Adler (@Gemini_Stellium) February 4, 2022
Time for me to cancel Amazon Prime. They don't even have consistent 2-day shipping anymore, and now they're going up in price.
— Easton Evans (@primetimeindy) February 3, 2022
"With Amazon Prime going up in price after making billions of dollars in profits, after price gouging, after abusing their employees and union busting ALL DURING A PANDEMIC maybe you all should think about just canceling that sh*t?," one user said.
"Time for me to cancel Amazon Prime. They don't even have consistent 2-day shipping anymore, and now they're going up in price," another quipped.
Related: Parents of Amazon Worker Killed in Tornado are Suing the Company: 'Amazon Placed Profits First'
Amazon shares skyrocketed 17% after-hours on Thursday after an earnings report from the company's Q4 2021 showed impressive success, with overall sales increasing over 9% from the same time last year, bringing in a revenue of $137.4 billion.
The online retail giant isn't the only company to introduce impending price hikes for subscribers new and old.
Last month, Netflix announced that it would be increasing prices between $1 and $2 to help the streaming company pay for new programming to keep it competitive with other streaming platforms.
Amazon was down over 5.59% year over year as of early Friday afternoon.
