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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Kieren Williams

Martin Lewis shares £79 hack to swerve Amazon Prime hike - but you must be quick

Martin Lewis has shared a clever hack that lets Amazon subscribers swerve the Prime price hike, but customers need to be quick.

Earlier today, online leviathan Amazon emailed its Prime customers to alert them to an increase in the cost of its memberships for both monthly and annual users.

The announcement sparked a furious uproar amongst its customers and comes amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

It has seen the monthly price rise from £7.99 to £8.99 a month, and the annual membership from £79 to £95.

But the Money Saving Expert issued a warning to any customers about the price hike.

The new Amazon Prime prices are £8.99 a month or £95 annually (Getty Images)

He tweeted: "Amazon Prime to hike price. On 15 Sept, the monthly membership price increases from £7.99 to £8.99, and annual membership from £79 to £95."

"If you currently pay monthly, and want to keep it, if you can afford switch to annual now, to get next year at £79. Pls share."

His clever method means that users will avoid the increase for a year and make the most of current prices.

The revelation of the price hike led to a strong response online with some people saying they will cancel their Amazon Prime as a result of the increase.

Under the Money Saving Expert's new tip Prime subscribers would dodge the price hike for another year (PA)

One tweeted out that they intended to cancel their Prime and Netflix subscriptions, as they also pay a YouTube subscription, and it would save them £40 a month.

Another user wrote: "Just had the email. What a hike. Blooming cheek. Can't live without Amazon though. What to do?"

A third person claimed that if everyone cancelled their subscriptions then the ecommerce giant would be forced to drop the price back down.

One Tweeter pointed out it was 20 roughly a per cent hike on the annual fee which exceeded the massive inflation levels currently affecting the country.

However, not everyone was outraged by the price hike and nonplussed by the idea of an Amazon Prime-less life.

One person tweeted: "I don’t understand the outrage here. Personally if I got rid of Amazon tomorrow, my life won’t change one bit. Just don’t renew it. I won’t."

A spokeswoman for Amazon Prime 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."

This comes as the cost-of-living crisis continues to tighten its grip on the UK and consumers face increasingly difficult choices with how they spend their money.

His latest hack comes a few months after Martin Lewis admitted he is “virtually out of tools to help people now” in the face of the cost-of-living crisis.

Back in March he said: “Just on energy alone, on a conservative estimate within one year, we’re talking £1,300 a year going up in bills.

"We’re going to have about 10 million people in fuel poverty, we have a real, absolute, not relative poverty issue going to come in the UK, with food banks oversubscribed.

“Debt crisis agencies do not have any tools – and I need to say, with the chancellor coming on in a moment, as the money saving expert whose been known for this, I am virtually out of tools to help people now.

"It’s not something money management can fix. It’s not something for those on the lowest incomes, telling them to cut their belts will work. We need political intervention.”

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