Amazon Prime members to pay even more for some services despite recent subscription cost increase

Amazon continues to increase costs for Prime Members, leaving many customers wondering if the membership benefits are worth the price.

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Amazon first started offering its Prime Membership to customers back in 2005. At that time, the membership cost $79 a year and promised "free" two-day shipping on millions of products.

Over the years, Amazon raised the price of its Prime Membership gradually but also added additional perks like free grocery delivery from Whole Foods (if you live within a certain radius of a store location), access to a curated library of music, movies, and books as well as discounts on many of the other services that Amazon offers.

However, recently, Amazon has started widdling down the benefits it offers to Prime Members while simultaneously raising the membership cost.

For example, on October 25, 2021, Amazon stopped offering free grocery delivery from Whole Foods to its Prime Members. Now, members have to pay a $9.95 delivery surcharge just like non-members. Then, on February 18, 2022, Amazon announced that it would be raising the annual cost of its membership to $139 per year.

Many Amazon Prime customers were unhappy about the news, especially when they discovered that Amazon had doubled top executive pay but did not increase wages for drivers and warehouse employees. Yet, some customers felt that paying extra for fast delivery was worth the membership cost.

However, today Amazon announced that Prime members are losing yet another perk. Previously, Prime members were given a sizeable discount for Music Unlimited -- they paid $7.99 a month for unlimited music streaming, while non-members paid $9.99.

Now, that discount is being reduced. Starting on May 5, 2022, Prime members will have to pay $8.99 per month or $89 a year for Music Unlimited in addition to their Prime membership dues of $139 a year.

Wouldn't it make more sense for Amazon to raise costs for non-members rather than constantly imposing price increases on their most loyal customers?

Let us know what you think in the comments.