Jeff Bezos should absorb Amazon’s Prime’s price hike during a cost of living crisis

Let me remind you, Amazon is the world’s 17th most profitable company and is owned by one of the world’s richest people, writes Emma Henderson

The cost is being passed on to the consumer, when really the company could take a moral stance (Getty Images)

Amazon Prime subscribers around the world woke to an email this week about a price hike in their subscription fees.

It might sound like only a small amount: £1 extra a month (12.5 per cent more) if you pay monthly, with fees increasing from £7.99 to £8.99. But it’s an added 20 per cent for annual membership, which will rise from £79 to £95. Amazon says this new price will apply on or after 15 September 2022 on the date of a Prime member’s next renewal.

This is the first time since 2014 that Prime fees have increased. That is eight years, and rarely anywhere in life will you see a cost stagnation across nearly a decade. But then, not many other services are owned by the richest man in the world.