Today’s Tech

If you’ve ever been someone who has frequently shopped online, then the concept of Amazon Prime should be familiar.

For those who don’t know, Amazon Prime subscribers currently pay $79 a year for free two-day shipping on any item sold by Amazon or one of numerous companies that uses Amazon as their distribution system. Amazon Prime also allows its users access to the Kindle Lending Library as well as Amazon Video. For those who want to have more shopping options than are available in Big Rapids, a service like this could have some great use.

However, Amazon recently announced it is increasing the price of the service. For regular subscribers, the price is increasing by twenty dollars to $99 a year.

The price of the college student plan is also increasing. Amazon Prime is still offered as a free six-month trial to college students, but the year that follows the trial is now $49, a $10 increase from the current price.

Amazon stated the reasoning behind the increase is due to increased transportation costs. Some opponents of such a price increase cite the true reason is the inability for Amazon Video to compete with its much more powerful competitor Netflix. They believe the real reason for the price increase is to use the increased funds to increase their video library, which is known to be a lesser used feature by Prime members.

While the true reasoning behind the price increase is being debated, the value behind the service will be debated by those who currently it. And if the 66 percent of users who previously stated that an increase in price will deter them away, Amazon faces a major subscriber retention problem.