Now is apparently the time to ask yourself just how much you love Amazon Prime and how much you’re willing to pay for it. @CNN reports, to kick off a new year, Amazon just informed its millions of customers that prices are going up…and a lot sooner than you think. The price of annual Amazon Prime subscriptions will increase from $119 to $139 per year in the United States, while the price of monthly subscriptions will offer less of a hike, going from $12.99 to $14.99. The price changes will officially go into effect on February 18^th for new Prime members and March 25^th for all existing members.

If you’re curious about why Amazon has decided to raise its prices seemingly out of the blue, well according to company representatives it’s because of the forthcoming “expanded Prime membership benefits.” These benefits include additional Prime Video content and expanded free same-day shipping, although the rising costs of labor and transportation in the company’s distribution network is also a reason for the increase to members.

The last time that Amazon Prime raised its prices was back in 2018, when the annual membership fee increased from $99 to the current (but not for much longer) price of $119. The latest price spike represents a 17% increase.

The decision follows in a long line of others these days, in which companies nationwide are forced to raise prices because the cost of practically everything has gone up since the COVID-19 pandemic.