Amazon Prime will become more expensive for new customers from February 18

In case you missed the news from early February, Amazon Prime will see a price increase for new customers for the first time in four years starting tomorrow, February 18. The annual cost will increase from $119 to $139, or $12.99 to $14.99 if you pay monthly. If you pay monthly, you'll have no choice but to take a hit after tomorrow. Per Variety, the cost of the Prime Students membership plan will increase from $6.49 to $7.49 per month. All this information is listed on Amazon's support page.

However, if you have the means to pay the fee for an annual Prime membership, doing so today will save you $20 if you did the same thing yesterday. This locks you in for a year's service at $119.

Existing Prime customers can stop worrying about this until March 24, which is a day before the same price hike goes into effect. But when the deadline is a little ahead of the calendar, it can't hurt to find out if you want to continue using Prime. If re-upping for another year of Prime is in the cards for you, you can gift yourself a $119 Prime membership by March 25, then activate it after the subscription ends.

If you're a vintage online buyer (or just someone who's constantly ordering supplies for a home), Prime is a good value. In addition to getting fast, free shipping on most items, it also offers access to Prime Video for TV shows and movies, ad-free music streaming, and more. It also gives you a ticket to access Prime Day, Amazon's annual members-only sale extravaganza that is similar to shopping holidays like Black Friday.

Despite the price hike, Amazon hasn't announced that there are any new features coming to Prime. Analysts suggest that the price hike could offset the rising costs that Amazon is facing the company.