Amazon Prime will now cost more in France. The American firm has just announced a sharp increase in the subscription price in France and in several European countries. To justify itself, Amazon points to higher costs.
Amazon has just announced an increase in the price of the Prime subscription in France, Germany, Belgium, England, Spain and Italy. If you are one of the program subscribers, you should have received an email. Note that Amazon already increased Prime’s prices in the United States last February.
The increase will come into effect on September 15, 2022. In France, the subscription will now be offered at a price of 6.99 euros per month, against 5.99 euros previously. It’s 12 euros extra to pay every year. In one year, the subscription costs 83.88 euros.
The increase is even saltier on the side of the annual subscription. From now on, the offer will be invoiced at 69.90 euros per year, against 49 euros so far. Despite this increase of 20 euros, or more than 42%, the annual offer is still more advantageous than the monthly subscription.
Amazon is also revising upwards the price of the subscription reserved for students. The monthly plan is now billed at 3.49 euros per month, compared to 2.99 euros before the announcement. For its part, the annual subscription climbs to 34.96 euros, against 24 euros so far.
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Amazon justifies the price hike
In the email sent to its subscribers, the American group justifies the tariff change by “the increase in the operating costs of Prime”. Contacted by AFP, a spokesperson for Amazon France said the group is facing an “increase in shipping costs” due to rising fuel prices. He also mentions an increase in “packaging costs”.
Amazon also explains the increase by the continuous improvement of the Prime program. Jeff Bezos’ firm points out that it has “expanded the selection of products eligible for fast and unlimited delivery […] expanded fast grocery delivery […] increased the number of Amazon Original series and films” on Prime Video and added access to “the Roland-Garros tournament broadcast” since the arrival of Prime in France.
With a very complete program, the e-commerce giant is not afraid that its customers will cancel their Prime subscription.
“From what we have seen in the United States, there has been no opt-out phenomenon (Editor’s note: termination) because we are providing more and more services via Prime and this service nevertheless allows consumers to make extremely significant savings, ”explains the multinational.