Amazon increasing price for annual Prime membership to $119

SEATTLE, Wash. – Starting May 11, an annual Amazon Prime membership will be increasing from $99 to $119, CNBC reports.

The company pointed to rising costs of the service, adding it’s the first price increase since 2014.

Amazon has recently reached the milestone of over 100 million Prime members worldwide. The service gives members access to “free” two-day shipping on select products along with access to streaming video.

The new price hike will apply to new users starting on May 11, 2018. Those who are already Prime members will have until June 16 to renew their yearly memberships at the $99 price point. After that, everyone will have to pay $119 for one year of Amazon Prime.

Amazon’s chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky said the following on a company earnings call:

“The value of Prime to customers has never been greater. And the cost is also high, as we pointed out especially with shipping options and digital benefits, we continue to see rises in costs. So effective May 11, we’re going to increase the price of our U.S. annual plan from $99 to $119 for new members. The new price will apply to renewals starting on June 16. Prime provides a unique combination of benefits, and we continue to invest in making this Prime program even more valuable for our members. As a reminder, we haven’t increased the U.S. annual price Prime since our single increase, which was in March of 2014.”