Amazon raises Prime Subscription Prices by 43% per year and 17% per month

On the night of Monday, July 25, to Tuesday, July 26, Amazon notified Prime subscribers of a significant price increase: the e-commerce platform loyalty package went up from 49 to 69.90 euros per year and from 5.99 to 6.99 euros per month, i.e. by 43% and an increase of 17%.

«This change is due to an increase in Prime’s operating expenses in France», – Amazon France explains in an email sent to Prime subscribers, which includes a free fast delivery service, as well as TV series, movies and sports competitions from Prime Video, music from Amazon. Music and much more.

Answering the question about the details of the increase in costs, the company primarily refers to the inflation of the «cost of fuel» during delivery, as well as the «packaging prices» of parcels, even if Amazon claims that it is making efforts to reduce weight, and to minimize the volume of these. The online sales platform has already referred to gasoline prices at the end of April to justify a 4-5% price increase charged to sellers using its logistics services.

This Tuesday, Amazon France also indicates that it has «significantly improved the quality of Prime’s service», in particular by expanding the selection of products suitable for fast delivery. For grocery stores, express delivery was also extended to 10 cities (in partnership with Monoprix), and pickup – in 75 cities (in partnership with Casino).

The entertainment offerings of Prime Video and Amazon Music have also increased, but the company is keen to assure that this has «not affected» the price increase of Prime. Prime Video has really added a lot of content: the Rolland-Garros tennis tournament, Ligue 1 football (available with a subscription to an additional channel for 12.99 euros per month or 89 euros per year for the promotion)… But also future series based on The Lord of the Rings or French productions, for which the platform now has to allocate 20% of its turnover.

Amazon finally reminds that the price of Prime in France has not changed since its launch in 2008. It was also lower than in other European countries, where prices also rose on Tuesday: in the United Kingdom from 7.99 to 8.99 pounds (about 10.60 euros). ) per month and from 79 to 95 pounds (about 112 euros) per year, in Germany from 7.99 to 8.99 euros per month and from 69 to 89.90 euros per year.

However, the increase highlights the opacity of Amazon and Prime’s cost and pricing policies. The company does not disclose the number of subscribers by country, limiting itself to a statement about «more than 200 million» participants worldwide. The Prime rate is increasing in France by 43%, while inflation is «only» 7%, former European Commission economist Tommaso Valletti joked on Twitter, believing that the increase illustrates the «market strength» of the e-commerce leader.