Amazon Prime Price Increases Soon In The US

Amazon is raising the price of its annual Amazon Prime membership in the United States by a significant margin. The retail giant said today that the price will go up to $120 per year, up from $100. The price change goes into effect for new subscribers on May 11, while existing Prime subscribers will have to pay the 20 percent extra starting June 16 onwards.

An Amazon spokesperson confirmed to GameSpot sister site CNET that you cannot re-up at the lower rate if your renewal comes up on or after June 16. This is just the second time Amazon has upped the Prime membership price; in 2014, it went from $80 to $100.

Amazon Prime has more than 100 million paid subscribers worldwide by Amazon's latest count. According to Amazon's finance boss Brian Olsavsky, Prime remains the "best deal in retail," even at its higher price point. Olsavsky added that Amazon is always working to make Prime a better, more attractive service.

Olsavsky went on to note that the price increase is related to increased shipping fees and offering other benefits. Even at $120 a year, that's still better than the price of subscribing month-by-month, which would come out to around $155 per year.

Some of the best benefits of Amazon Prime include faster shipping, access to Amazon Prime video and a huge music catalogue, streaming NFL games, Prime Day deals, and more. Amazon Prime subscribers also get free stuff in Fortnite, so that's another nice benefit.

One big new project coming up at Amazon is the company's new Lord of the Rings series. Amazon is reportedly spending $1 billion to produce the show, which is a lot, but Amazon is a giant. The company reported earnings today, revealing it pulled in $51 billion in revenue over the past three months and $1.6 billion in profit.