The day we all feared has come. Amazon has announced that the price of Prime will soon cost $99 a year. Starting in seven days, the cost for existing members to renew will increase by $20 from $79.99. 
 
 Amazon Student members will pay $49. The Prime Fresh membership fee will remain unchanged at $299. 
 
 Exsiting members can expect to see the new price when their membership is set to renew. Amazon’s FAQ page about the price change states that it has sent an email to each subscriber indicating when this will happen. Hopefully you just renewed your Prime membership. 
 
 Amazon hinted at the possibility of a price increase in late January as it reported disappointing earnings for the previous holiday quarter. 
 
 Amazon is in a tough spot. After being the street’s darling for so many years, the company’s stock took a tumble thanks to a sub-par performance this holiday season. Analysts expected Amazon to report revenue of $26.06 billion, and earn $0.66 per share. Put another way, in a quarter of strong GDP growth, Amazon managed to miss expectations on both its top and bottom lines. 
 
 Amazon’s stock has yet to recover. 
 
 Since its launch nine years ago, Prime has become more than just a free shipping service. Amazon also bundles its video streaming and Kindle libraries with the subscription. As a long time subscriber, this price hike puts a frown on my face, but I still plan on resubscribing re-subscribe. I simply hate going to the store. 

 The cost of free shipping is going up. 
 
 Amazon.com Inc. said it will raise the annual price of its Prime shipping and streaming-video service by $20 to $99, the first increase in its nine-year history. 
 
 The Seattle retailer said the 25% increase was needed to offset rising delivery and content-acquisition costs. The $99 price takes...
– After a suspenseful couple of months, Amazon announced today that it will be upping its Amazon Prime fee—but, hey, it could be worse. The $79 rate will jump to $99 after the company initially announced a $40 increase was possible back in January, the Wall Street Journal reports. Existing members will pay the new fee when their annual renewal date comes around, but for those looking for a bargain, new customers can sign up for a one-year membership at the original $79 fee until next week. The Prime Fresh membership fee will stay put at $299, TechCrunch notes. Meanwhile, a separate WSJ piece adds Amazon is in negotiations to add music streaming to Prime's TV show, movie, and Kindle library.