Did Amazon Price Hike for Prime Services Scare Benzinga Employees Away?

Amazon's

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for Amazon Prime from $79 to $99 annually does not seem to be causing Benzinga employees to cancel their membership. Perhaps the same is true for the majority of Prime members worldwide. 55 percent of Benzinga staff are Amazon Prime members, and

none have cancelled due to price hike. While Amazon does not disclose the number of Prime subscribers, analysts estimate 20 to 25 million people use the service. This means that if worldwide cancellation rates are low, or zero as in the case of Benzinga employees, Amazon could see a bump of $300 to $400 in annual revenues. Prime services offer free two-day shipping, video streaming, and access to the Kindle library. Benzinga employees buy a wide range of items from Amazon, with the most popular choices being books, household supplies, video games, and computer equipment. While books was the most popular response, Kindle books were not mentioned as much. Book buyers are looking more towards used books, which are not shipped for free since individual sellers are shipping the books themselves. Some of the more interesting purchases include jewelry, Halloween costumes, groceries, vacuum filters, makeup, alarm clocks, and protein powder. One staff member who is a Prime subscriber would like the option to exclude video streaming his membership. “Knocking off $20 a month for video streaming would make Amazon Prime even better,” the employee said.

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