I am a heavy Prime user.
I understand and accept the price raise, but as the article quotes "The more expensive Prime is, the more they are going to have to live up to their promises."
One promise that I feel is broken every day is on display with the "Add-On Items"
These are just annoying.
They show up in "Prime Only" searches and are typically <$5.
Which I understand Amazon really can't ship for free.
But there is literally no way to check out with just that item until you add up to $25, and it's typically stuff I actually need quickly.
Take thumb tacks.
They show the first result as $2.48 "add-on" for 100 of them.
Or you can select another package of 100 for $6.05 that IS actual Prime and shipped in 2-days.
The "add-on item" is just a confusing concept, that makes me - as a consumer - feel like Amazon's "2-day free shipping" promise is broken on a daily basis when I see these results.
Hide the results from me, show me how to hide the results, or charge me $2.00 extra to ship "Add-On Items" and problem solved.
But otherwise it's a constant reminder that Amazon hasn't kept their promise that I originally signed up for, even though I believe their intent is to offer more selection to consumers.