Amazon Prime Goes to $99

TOPICS:

Posted By: Dan Cohen

20140313-082535.jpg

We knew it was coming but it is now official — the annual fee for Amazon Prime is rising to $99. For me it is a no-brainer, the service is awesome. The benefits like Prime Video are nice, and the $99 still makes Amazon Prime a bargain. How about you? Does the increase make you think twice about Prime?

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. If you are shopping on Amazon anyway, buying from our links gives Gear Diary a small commission.

About the Author

Dan Cohen
Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him. Dan is married to Raina Goldberg who is also an avid user of Apple products. They live in New Jersey with their golden doodle Nava.

11 Comments on "Amazon Prime Goes to $99"

  1. Michael Anderson | March 13, 2014 at 11:09 am |

    Yeah, I got my email this morning. I am hoping that the rumored streaming music service comes along soon and is included in Prime.

    But regardless, I did about 5 seconds of ‘mental math’ before saying ‘TOTALLY worth it’. Heck, even if they went to the top end of the rumored price increase, it would have been worth it.

  2. pduffey | March 13, 2014 at 11:34 am |

    I think it’s still worth it for someone who orders a lot from amazon. What I don’t understand is why there isn’t an option for people who don’t use the streaming stuff. Cause I know i have access to it but I don’t use it. And to use it on my xbox I have to pay for another service (xbox gold) before i can use amazon prime. Just my thoughts, how many people really use the streaming capability?

    • Carly Z | March 13, 2014 at 11:59 am |

      I use it quite a bit, my wife uses Prime streaming all the time on our roku and I regularly use the Kindle lending library.
      I do wonder if they will decouple shipping and streaming in the future, but they may find there’s more overlap keeping them together.

    • Judie Stanford | March 13, 2014 at 12:06 pm |

      We use the streaming capabilities quite a bit, and now that Amazon is adding their own original shows and upping the game on their other streaming media, I think the content should only continue to improve.

    • Steven L. | March 13, 2014 at 1:36 pm |

      >What I don’t understand is why there isn’t an option for people who don’t use the streaming stuff.

      It’s pretty simple: the people who aren’t using it subsidize the ones who do. It’s the same principle as, say, cable TV. If they allow folks to just choose the most popular option, they’d be forced to offer the less-popular option at a price that might be palatable to fewer people.

  3. Doug Miller | March 13, 2014 at 3:27 pm |

    My renewal date is later this month, and my note said that I would renew this year for $79; the change doesn’t go into effect for me until 2015. So, I have another year to decide that, yes, of course I’m going to keep paying for Prime.

  4. cgavula | March 13, 2014 at 3:55 pm |

    I don’t use the shipping enough, I never use the lending library, and I almost never stream – I don’t find the video selection currently compelling and the search process is kind of painful compared to other services. I suspect I will drop it before the pricing increases. I’m tired of subsidizing everyone else. For now – you are all welcome!

Comments are closed.