An Amazon fulfillment center.(Credit:Andrew Yates/AFP/Getty Images)It took Amazon nine years to raise the fee for its Prime premium membership. It won't take nearly as long for the next price hike to show up.
Amazon's $20 increase in its fee sets a precedent for the company to raise its fees in the future, with the company having laid out the argument that it is facing rising fuel and transportation costs. It won't come without benefits, as Amazon races to add services and other perks to justify the increases. And the company will likely tread cautiously, sensitive to upsetting its most loyal of customers. But ultimately, those rate hikes will come, and likely at a much faster rate than before.
Amazon could see price hikes every three to five years, although it's hard to pin down the exact window for increases, according to Neil Doshi, an analyst at CRT Capital Group. He doesn't believe they'll come every year.
"At the end of the day,
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