So is the take from Nicole Nguyen, personal tech columnist at The Wall Street Journal.
Amazon Prime launched in 2005 as an Amazon membership service offering free two-day shipping. Ms. Nguyen analyzed how the annual fee for Amazon Prime went from $79 a decade ago to $139 today. “If you adjust for inflation, Amazon Prime’s 2005 fee of $79 is about $127 in today’s dollars, less than the current $139,” she writes.
Amazon launched in November an option for Prime users to add on One Medical memberships for $9 per month or $99 annually. The discounted rate gives users unlimited 24/7 virtual visits and online scheduling for same- or next-day appointments at One Medical’s more than 200 brick-and-mortar clinics. Amazon acquired One Medical in early 2023 for $3.9 billion.
The value of bundles like Amazon Prime can be difficult for consumers to measure, particularly when perks are added and limited simultaneously. For instance, Amazon expanded its ad-free Prime Music catalog from 2 million to 100 million songs in 2022 while also restricting the function that allows customers to play songs on demand.
The subscriptions added or restricted within Prime have made for a “hotly debated topic” within Amazon, according to reporting last fall before the bolt-on of One Medical services to the model. Launching too many standalone services could dilute the Prime brand or ratchet its price tag up to a level no longer seen by consumers as a good deal.
A fully loaded Prime subscription with add-ons above could cost users upwards of $320 a year, Ms. Nguyen tallied. She did more math on the subscription’s value in her column, found in full here.
