Andre Yoskowitz
30 Jan 2014 22:32
Amazon has said today that it is actively considering raising the price of its popular Prime service by up to $40.
The service currently costs $79 per year for most people and gives Amazon users free 2-day shipping on millions of items and access to the Amazon Prime Instant Video streaming service and free books via Kindle.
CFO Tom Szkutak cited higher costs of shipping goods as the reason for the potential price raise.
Amazon has never released exact figures, but there are over 20 million global Prime users. 19 million items on Amazon are Prime-eligible, and the company also offers discounts for mothers and students.
The company recently raised the price for free shipping for non-Prime members from $25 to $35, the first time that price had been raised in a decade.