Why Amazon Prime is now 80% more expensive

On August 31, the internet sales giant made the much-feared and expected decision to increase the cost of its Amazon Prime service in Spain. Thus, the 19.95 euros per year were increased to 36.00 euros per year, an increase of 80% which, despite negative criticism from an important sector of users, is not only significantly lower than its cost in the United States. United, if not that it could also be fully justified. Let's see why.

Index of contents

What does Amazon Prime offer us?

For more than a year, it has been rumored in multiple technological media that Amazon had planned to raise the price of its Amazon Prime service in Spain. This rumor was accentuated with the landing of Prime Video in our country, a streaming video service that, with the exception of a few original titles and the occasional non-brand production, leaves much to be desired, both in quantity and quality of content and in usability of its applications (with special mention to the terrible app present on Apple TV). But apart from all the criticisms that we can make, surely justified, the truth is that Amazon Prime continues to offer abundant and varied advantages at an affordable price.

This is the cost of Amazon Prime in the United States

If we take a look at the service beyond the Atlantic, we will see that in the United States Amazon Prime has an annual cost of $ 119.00 per year (about 103 euros to change), with the option of paying it month by month for $ 12.99 (about € 11.20). These figures are far from the € 36.00 per year and € 4.99 per month in Spain. As an advantage, in the US you can hire Amazon Prime Video separately for $ 8.99 a month (about € 7.75), something that in Spain is not possible, but that would not augur a great success if it were.. Otherwise, the services offered here and there are similar:

This is the cost of Amazon Prime in Spain

Services to consider

• Fast shipping. The company specifically states "1-day shipping on two million products, and 2 or 3-day shipping on millions of other products, with no minimum purchase." Well, this is relative and it is not always true, but tell our friends in the Canary Islands for whom this proposal has little, if any, meaning. Amazon Prime Video. It is Amazon's streaming video service where you can find hundreds of movies, series and documentaries. Nowhere near its range reaches Netflix, and while you can find some gems like This is us , The Man in te High Castle , Gods and many others, its usability still needs great improvements. Priority access to flash offers, specifically, 30 minutes before other non-prime users. Delivery of products the same day of their launch as long as you have previously reserved them: books, movies, video games… Unlimited photo storage in the cloud with Prime Photos. Prime Music , which should not be confused with Amazon Music Unlimited. It is an option included in the Prime service that offers "more than 2 million songs and 40 hours of music per month without advertising" and can be downloaded to all your devices to listen without the need for an internet connection. Prime Reading , which we should not confuse with the “Kindle Unlimitied” reading service either. It consists of a selection of books that is updated month by month and that you can enjoy both from a Kindle device and from the corresponding apps for iOS or Android. Twich Prime: additional content for games, "exclusive rewards", free indie video games… Amazon Family: a 15% discount on your diaper subscriptions, promotions and discounts on baby products…

Given what I have seen, I maintain that Amazon Prime continues to offer a very attractive price in relation to the services included, however, it all depends on each user. In my case, most of the services it offers don't interest me, either because I won't use them (I don't have children, I don't play video games), or because I prefer other options (Apple Music, iCloud Photos, Netflix…). But I am me, and you are you, so do the math and decide.

An alternative and cheaper use of Amazon Prime

If your situation is similar to mine, you may be interested in using Amazon Prime differently in certain circumstances. We can add to our basket all those products that interest us and for whose reception we are in no hurry and, when we wish, make a monthly subscription for € 4.99. In this way we will compensate the shipping costs (in fact, it will be much cheaper) and we can enjoy the additional services for a whole month. In any case, remember that shipments above € 29 are always free, although you will not have them at home the next day.

This option can also be applied in special promotions season such as Black Friday or Prime Day that is celebrated in July: if you know that the products you want are going to be on sale, subscribe for a month and thus you will have priority access and shipping free fast, in addition to enjoying additional services for a month.

Finally, don't forget that you can share your account with friends and family (at least for the moment), being able to include several payment cards from different people, and being able to send to different addresses. With this, the annual subscription to Amazon Prime will be significantly reduced for each of the people who make up that group. For example, if you are three friends, it would cost you € 12 a year each, and that is something else.