Amazon raises price of Amazon Prime monthly memberships

Amazon Prime memberships are about to get more expensive.

The online retail giant announced today that the Amazon Prime monthly fee is increasing from $10.99 to $12.99 in the U.S., an increase of 18 percent. That’s approximately $156 annually. However, the annual Prime membership will stay at $99.

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"Prime provides an unparalleled combination of shipping, shopping and entertainment benefits, and we continue to invest in making Prime even more valuable for our members," the company said in a statement. "The number of items eligible for unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping increased in recent years from 20 million to more than 100 million items. We have expanded Prime Free Same-Day and Prime Free One-Day delivery to more than 8,000 cities and towns. We also continue to introduce new, popular and award-winning Prime Originals…Members also enjoy a growing list of unique benefits like Prime Music, Prime Reading, exclusive products and much more."

In 2014, the Prime subscription increased from $79 to $99.

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