Amazon Testing a $7.99 Per Month Prime Subscription

Reader Scott noticed that Amazon is now testing a $7.99 per month Prime subscription (instead of $79 per year), a price that is very familiar to Netflix and Hulu Plus subscribers. I was able to confirm the pricing on the Amazon website and capture a screen shot:

Here's a fullsized screenshot of the webpage (click on the image to view):

It looks like Amazon just got serious about competing in the U.S. with Netflix and Hulu. Amazon Prime at $7.99 per month ($95.88 per year), when combined with the recent movie & TV show deals (Epix, NBC Universal), free 2-day shipping, and a free monthly ebook, is looking like a really good deal. 

Comments

[scott]

this is tempting....

[John Dow]

Want to see a better deal on Amazon Prime. Look at this screenshot.

http://goo.gl/0L3Xx

I promise you it was not Photoshop, got it directly from amazon website. [cough... cough]
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(Disclaimer : I edit the code on web page, then took a screenshot)

[John Dow]

Here is a full size screenshot.

http://goo.gl/R98ld

(Disclaimer : I edit the code on web page, and did a little Photoshoping)

[Tvaddic]

I wasn't able to see the $7.99 monthly price.

[Nikolai]

Trying to understand how 95.88 a year, at 7.99 a month is a tempting and better deal than 79.00 a year. Math sure has changed since I attended school.

[Crow550]

Same reason why people choose contract plans (cost more) over prepaid cell phone service (cheaper). :\

If people are more willing to choose to pay $7.99 a Month they make more than the current yearly pricing. I'm sure Amazon doesn't mind at all. Ugh.

[Kyle Leon]

Amazon is so awesome it's not even funny.

I remember I didn't get a trimmer that cost me $54.xx in 2 weeks because the post office didn't bring it.. It eventually arrived sometime in the 3rd week.. They gave me a total refund as amazon balance and they let me keep the trimmer.

I've purchased about 250 items over the last 3 years on amazon and that was the only time something happened and it was because of the shitty ass USPS.

[Gobotron]

If that $7.99 a month includes the non-Prime rentals that are pay-per-view at typically $3.99, like new releases, then the cost could even out what a yearly Prime member might pay.

[Stroker Ace]

So a $16.88 price hike?

[John Dow]

No, its like most business. You pay more if you pay by the month, but if you pay in full you get a discount. Like with dropbox: $9.99 a month or $99 a year.

This way, you can cancel if you want after a month or two if you want to.

[John Dow]

I note that if I log in, it gave me the option for $7.99 after I click the "Get Started" button.

[Perkins Cobb]

Actually, the math looks pretty good to me. I could see buying a Prime subscription a couple of times a year, to catch up on TV episodes they have for "free," and using that window to pick off under-$25 items in my cart that I'd been saving to bundle for free shipping. Yeah, I'd do that.

Still annoyed that there are a number of recent, short-lived shows (THE GOOD GUYS, CHICAGO CODE, TERRIERS, PAN AM) that seem to be available legally only via pricy Amazon streaming. I might pay $31 for a Blu-ray of THE CHICAGO CODE that I could resell, but that's way too much just to stream 13 episodes.

[John Dow]

THE CHICAGO CODE is available on Netflix, just check

[Perkins Cobb]

Cool, thanks. Guess I've gotten lazy in keeping an eye on Instantwatcher. Looks like all three of those Fox shows are there (not PAN AM, though, or RUBICON, which is free with Prime). I've more or less boycotted NF streaming ever since the split to send a pro-DVD message, but at some point I guess I'll suck it up and buy a month to catch up on stuff I can't get on disc.

[rjejr]

I've been saying this for at least a year on here and always getting "poo-poo-d" so this was nice to see.

Though I'm still surprised they included the shipping, I always thought it would be video streaming only. As for why it's better at $7.99 than $79 - 2 words - "Christmas shopping". Sign up on Thanksgiving, cancel before Christmas. Never leave the house. Also good for intermittent viewing as Cobb said. I'm always off and on for both nf and Gamefly a few month at a time here and there.

I wonder if this includes "Auto-renewal" by default which require hoops to jump thru to turn off? I signed up for a free month last month when I ordered my Tab 2 and the first thing I did was turn off auto-renewal so I don't have to worry about it. Same with my PS+ yearly membership. Anybody ever try to cancel AOL over the phone? Trust me, if you tried, you'ld remember.

My 1 month free trial ends Thursday, wonder if they'll offer me this? I still have several movies on my "Watchlist", which isn't anywhere near as good as nf, but better than nothing on my PS3.

I wonder how much money Amazon makes offering this compared to how much money nf loses in "free" trials?

[Gran]

So, Amazon raised the price of its Prime Subscription service?

[Bazinga]

I don't see it where I am. Did Amazon only do this for a short time, or are they zoning it out by IP address?

[Bazinga]

On further review, when I click through to the next screen, I get an option for the annual plan or monthly plan. Awesome!!

[Kayla Sonergoran]

As long as they keep the $79 option. All they have to do is say that if you buy the yearly plan you'll get it for less than the monthly plan but with the monthly plan you can opt out at any time. Fair enough. I much prefer the $79 plan over the $7.99 plan and hope they don't force everyone into the $7.99 plan.

[bigyaz]

Those who don't get it:

1. Not everyone wants to commit for a full year.

2. You could start it now, get free shipping on all your and cancel after the holidays.

3. I would definitely cancel in the summer. I watch very little TV when I can be enjoying the outdoors.

[Moviegeek65]

I've been waiting for this, I get all the benefits of Prime without the long-term commitment. The watchlist is an improvement but you still can't pause and resume like Netflix.

[DS]

I had prime for a year as a new parent... I didn't watch one thing streaming because the interface is awful. I took a quick look, then went right back to Netflix.

[CordCutter]

I'm with DS, it's great if you have an infant. I've said on here before, drop one thing from prime... either the videos streaming, the 2 day shipping or the lenders library and it's not worth it.

Streaming is slowly getting better with the watchlist but it's on very few devices right now. The whole layout leaves a lot to be desired. Content wise it's not that great either. Everyone went nuts over the EPIX deal, but it's non-exclusive.. who cares. 90% + of everything on Amazon can be found via Hulu Plus, NF, Crackle, etc.

I could see people taking advantage of this especially around the holidays... but again, not for the streaming.

[sb37]

Good attempt by Amazon and might be tempting for use over the holidays but for them to capture the streaming market, they need to be on more TV connected devices.

[padu]

Did Amazon take this option off?

Only the yearly option is shown on their site now. Trying clicking right thru to the final sign up screen - still only the yearly signup option.

Any pointers / hidden urls?

[Facebook Development Company]

So 8 bucks a month = 92 dollars a year? no?

Isn't the annual fee 70? Or did it go up? I never pay attention, I use Amazon so much Prime more than pays for itself compared to pay-shipping-per-order

[Scott]

They will probably also pick up some users who need to order something cheap, see a $4 shipping fee on their order, and figure, what the heck, for another $4 I'll get a month of prime. It's also likely to be cheaper than upgrading pretty much any single order to 2-day shipping, so they can pick up users that way, too. Then, especially if they can improve the site interface for streaming, once people see it, they may decide to stick with it.

[rjejr]

My 1 month free trial of Prime ended yesterday and when I clicked on the Sign-up button I was only offered the $79 yearly option, so this is YMMV. Too bad, I would have done another month for the holidays and to finish watching the 5 movies left on my Watchlist. Oh well.

[chapelhillice]

Can't get Amazon Prime on my Samsung blu ray player or Wii. If I could, it would be much more of a possibility than Netflix.

[Jamie]

I just signed up today for the 30 day free trial and it asked me which option I wanted after 30 days, either per month or the per year charge.

So I am anxious to see what the selection is like. I have a PS3 and the app is already on there, and have an ipad as well. I just wished they had an Android app but hopefully soon.

[W. A. Robison]

I already have Amazon Prime yearly subscription but I rarely watch any films (except foreign ones) because of the continuing lack of captioning.

[social campaigns tool]

Yearly option is best for me.

[Yobagoya]

We should sue them for not captioning everything, and for Hurricane Sandy.

[Jamie]

The main difference I see in tv offerings is netflix has the AMC shows and Amazon does not? Otherwise there's a lot of overlap.

[Tino]

"So 8 bucks a month = 92 dollars a year? no?"

Math is hard.

[John K]

I like the idea. But what I really want is lower prices on Amazon's "not Prime eligible" instant video content. Most of the good stuff is pay per view and not included in Prime. Their library of content is very good but I don't want to pay $20 to "own" one HD movie.

[mr.know it all]

don't forget the 5.99 shipping fee

[Noose]

I'll subscribe, but they better hurry up with those closed captions. I do like premium movies in same place as regular older subscription movies like netflix has.

[Justin Blake]

i tried the free month membership but realized that amazon has the same stuff to watch that netflix has so i didnt feel it was worth wasting anymore time so far netflix is the best online instant watching website by a long shot.

[whocares]

I dont buy enough on Amazon to require 2 day shipping and Amazons streaming list is much smaller than NFs.

So no reason to switch.

But, its not a bad idea for them because a lot of people would happily pay $7.99 a month rather than $79 a year.

Just look at all the people who pay extra to get their insurance payment monthly versus every 6 months.

By the way. There is a big LG TV promo where if you buy a TV, you get a year of NF for free.

Lots of people are gaming the system & defrauding & reselling subscriptions via EBAY.

I wouldnt count on it working for a full year unless you bought a TV and can prove it.