Amazon Prime costs will go up for the first time since its introduction nine years ago. Prime memberships will jump from $79 to $99 per year, and Student Prime memberships will go from $39 to $49.
But this came as no surprise to UF economics professor Jonathan Hamilton.
“When you offer a product at a very low price, you’re not claiming that you’re going to offer it forever,” he said.
Amazon Prime’s services include free two-day shipping, video streaming and Kindle book rentals.
Despite Amazon’s low profit margins, the company has grown, and its stock has been healthy, Hamilton said.
But competition with companies like Netflix drives up prices of services such as video streaming, which may have forced Amazon to raise its Prime prices, he said.
UF nursing freshman Allison Cosgrove, 18, said she uses her mom’s Amazon Prime membership for free shipping and streaming.
But with the membership cost increase, she said her family probably won’t buy Prime again.
Reid Gill, a 19-year-old UF computer science sophomore, said he had Amazon Student Prime until his six-month free trial ran out.
“I used my six free months quite a bit,” he said.
He said Amazon Prime is worth the money if users buy a lot online.
Hamilton said he doesn’t predict the company suffering any major losses.
“It might slow the growth a little,” he said. “But I suspect they will continue to sign up customers.”
[A version of this story ran on page 5 on 3/21/2014 under the headline "Amazon Prime prices rise, college students collectively groan"]
