Amazon has announced that it will raise the price of its Prime membership to $99 starting on June 14.
In an email to Prime members, Amazon identified rising fuel and transportation costs along with a growing stable of products eligible for the program's unlimited two-day shipping as factors in the price increase. Amazon Prime currently costs $79 per year.
A price increase was first floated by the company during the most recent investor call following the company's fourth-quarter earnings report. The $20 price increase is on the lower end of what Amazon CFO Tom Szkutak discussed.
Amazon also noted that its growing media library, much of it included in Prime, now counted 40,000 movies and TV episodes as well as 500,000 e-books available for lending. It has also been reported that Amazon has been in talks to add streaming music to its media offerings.
Amazon did not immediately respond to request for comment.
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