This year’s cost of living crisis hasn't been kind to any of us and now, Amazon Prime users are the next to get hit by the dreaded price hikes. In July, Amazon announced its plans to increase subscription prices (opens in new tab) on Amazon Prime and it’s finally taking place tomorrow on 15th September.
Starting tomorrow, new Amazon Prime (opens in new tab) sign-ups and current Prime members will see the prices go up significantly on the popular subscription service. For new members, the pay increases come into effect at the end of your free trial and monthly or annual subscribers will see the price rise in their next bill.
For monthly users, the price is increasing from £7.99 to £8.99 and Prime Student is going up from £3.99 to £4.49. If you’ve got an annual subscription, Prime increases from £79 to £95 a year, a huge £16 price rise. The Prime Student annual plan is also increasing from £39 to £47.49.
While these price increases aren’t exactly ideal, this is the first time Amazon has changed the price of Prime in the UK (opens in new tab) since 2014. In a statement from Amazon, the reasons for the price change are due to “increased inflation and operating costs for Prime in the UK”.
As Amazon announced these plans in July, they gave Prime members plenty of time to take action if they wanted to. This could mean cancelling your Prime subscription (opens in new tab) or switching from a monthly plan to an annual plan. However, the ship has unfortunately sailed with this one as the time to take advantage of this swap needed to be done before 14th August 2022.
But, it’s not all doom and gloom for Prime users. The price increase doesn’t come into effect until tomorrow, meaning you have one more day to get the old Prime prices.
According to MoneySavingExpert (opens in new tab), if you’ve already had a Prime subscription but have cancelled it in the past, you won’t get access to the free trial and will instead pay immediately. So, if you sign up today, you’ll pay £7.99 for your next month of Prime. When your next bill comes in after 15th September, the price will go up to £8.99, so while this isn’t a permanent solution, you’ll still have saved £1.
Non-Prime members can also avoid the price hike for a little longer too. If you’re new to Prime, sign up before 15th September and get in touch with Amazon customer services to ask to opt out of your 30-day free trial. Again, you’ll pay right away but you should be able to pay the cheaper price of £7.99 for a monthly plan or £79 for the annual plan.
An Amazon Prime membership comes with a wide range of benefits, including unlimited free delivery, early access to Lightning Deals and exclusive access to the Prime Day sale (opens in new tab), Prime Video, Amazon Music, Prime Reading and much more. As we said in our Amazon Prime review (opens in new tab), there’s a lot of value in being a Prime member so if you’ve been wanting to take the plunge for a while, today is your last chance to get the old Prime prices.
