Martin Lewis Shares £79 Trick To Avoid Amazon Price Hike

Martin Lewis has revealed a hack which could help you save some cash ahead of the incoming price hike at Amazon Prime.

The cost of living crisis is going strong, with millions of households in the UK having been affected by the rising price of essential items such as fuel, food and energy.

To make matters worse, the ability to take yourself out of a rather sombre reality for a few hours - whether via Netflix or Amazon Prime - has also increased in price.

However, after it was revealed yesterday, 26 July, that Amazon Prime subscriptions will be getting significantly hiked in September, Martin Lewis has spoken out about a nifty hack.

Taking to Twitter, Lewis explained how the monthly membership price for Amazon Prime is set to increase from £7.99 to £8.99 on 15 September, 2022.

Annually, this raises the membership by a whopping 20 percent, from £79 to £95.

The Money Saving Expert said: "If you currently pay monthly, and want to keep it, if you can afford switch to annual now, to get next year at £79.

"If your annual renewal is just after, then try cancelling and restarting just before 15 September."

With Lewis' hack, Amazon Prime users could subsequently pay for another whole year of Amazon Prime at its original price if they sneakily cancel and re-subscribe before the 15 September, saving £16.

When asked how a "£1 increase on monthly subscriptions equates to £16 increase on annual subscription," Lewis explained Amazon has 'shifted the balance between monthly and annual'.

"So relatively annual is more expensive though absolutely is cheaper. There are no rules that dictate the ratio," the Money Saving Expert said.

Many Amazon Prime users have been outraged by the increase in price of the subscription, taking to Twitter to debate whether or not they will even continue using the service.

One questioned: "The increase is just too much for me, they don’t have enough original content to justify it and the app interface is poor. Is there an Amazon prime for deliveries only?"

"I’m debating whether to rejoin anyway as several parcels have been ‘delivered’ when they haven’t and then I have to prove I haven’t got them and it takes ages to get money refunded with prime delivery," another said.

A third noted: "My renewal is in January 2023 so in the meantime I need to decide whether to cancel or find the extra. I guess a lot will depend on what is happening with fuel costs etc nearer the time I’m a pensioner so things are tough already."

Amazon explained that one of the reasons for putting up the price is due to an expansion of its services, including fast fresh grocery deliveries and a more extensive selection of entertainment.

A spokesperson for the company said: "Prime offers the best of shopping and entertainment, and continues to improve each year.

"We have increased the number of products available with fast, unlimited Prime delivery, recently added ultra-fast fresh grocery delivery, and have significantly expanded our high-quality digital entertainment, including TV, movies, music, games, and books.

"With increased inflation and operating costs in the UK continuing to rise, we will change the price of Prime."

If you've been affected by any of the issues in this story, you can find more information about where to get help from Turn2Us via their website. 

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: Martin Lewis, UK News, Amazon Prime, Amazon, Money

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible and is such a crisp fanatic the office has been forced to release them in batches.