Amazon Lowers Free Shipping Minimum to $35

[tubemonkey]

Amazon lowers its free shipping minimum from $49 to $35

A year ago, to the day, Amazon raised the minimum order total that qualifies for free shipping from $35 to $49. Now they’ve reverted the change, so non-Prime members once again only need an order total of $35 once again to qualify for free shipping. This is no doubt a response to Walmart, which introduced a new policy a few weeks ago that provides free shipping on orders of $35 or more. Prime members are not effected by this change and book orders of at least $25 also still receive free shipping at Amazon.

Order with Free Shipping by Amazon

All orders of $35 or more of eligible items across any product category qualify for FREE Shipping.

Orders including $25 or more of eligible books also qualify for FREE Shipping.

With free shipping, your order will be delivered 5–8 business days after all your items are available to ship, including pre-order items.

[Cinisajoy]

One word:
WALMART.

That is why competition is good for us consumers! Several years ago Amazon was one of the few places with free shipping. Now most of the big box retailers in my area have followed suit in order to avoid extinction. It is nice to see at least one of those cause Amazon to have to lower their qualifying amount.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by jswinden

That is why competition is good for us consumers! Several years ago Amazon was one of the few places with free shipping. Now most of the big box retailers in my area have followed suit in order to avoid extinction. It is nice to see at least one of those cause Amazon to have to lower their qualifying amount.

Amazon's dominance in online retailing forced Walmart to find ways to outdo Amazon, which in turn, forced Amazon to counter.

When giants play

[Apache]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

When giants play

The little folk get stomped on?
Apache

[Barty]

Originally Posted by Apache

The little folk get stomped on?
Apache

Better than getting stomped directly

[Catlady]

Sheesh, being a Prime member, I completely missed the increase from $35 to $49!

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Amazon's dominance in online retailing forced Walmart to find ways to outdo Amazon, which in turn, forced Amazon to counter.

When giants play

Yep, assuming we don't get stomped into a mud-hole in the process by giant feet, it can be a good thing!

And ditto what @Catlady said. I never noticed when the non-Primefolks got that increase.

[library addict]

I know I didn't shop at Amazon as often last year due to the $49 minimum.

It's easier to justify (to myself) a few non-essential items to get to $35 than to reach $49.

[ApK]

As a Prime member, I, too, didn't notice the raise to $49, but it doesn't seem all that long ago that it went from $25 to $35. Wayback Machine says that was late 2013, but it still seems like a a lot of changes in a few short years.

[basschick]

i've been a prime member since free shipping was $25, so i hadn't heard about the increase to $35 or to $49. imagine my surprise!

good to hear it's back down to $35.

[ZodWallop]

We have a Prime account , yet I still do most of my Amazon shopping on my old, non-Prime account. The increase from $25 to $35 felt justified. But once the free shipping minimum jumped to $50, it did impact my shopping with Amazon. Often I couldn't justify adding items to bring my total to $50 and then at that point, I didn't want to bother switching to the Prime account, telling myself "I just don't need the items that badly."

I'm positive smarter people than me weighed these options when they first changed the amount. But Amazon did lose a bunch of semi-impulse shopping from me.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

We have a Prime account , yet I still do most of my Amazon shopping on my old, non-Prime account. The increase from $25 to $35 felt justified. But once the free shipping minimum jumped to $50, it did impact my shopping with Amazon. Often I couldn't justify adding items to bring my total to $50 and then at that point, I didn't want to bother switching to the Prime account, telling myself "I just don't need the items that badly."

I'm positive smarter people than me weighed these options when they first changed the amount. But Amazon did lose a bunch of semi-impulse shopping from me.

Why do you have a prime account you don't use?

[ApK]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

Why do you have a prime account you don't use?

I can't wait to hear the answer, 'cuz on the face of it, it's one of the most absurd things I've seen posted here in a while!

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

Why do you have a prime account you don't use?

To be clear: I have access to a prime account that *I* don't use.

One is my account that I've had since Amazon was only a book store. One is my better half's that was changed to prime due to her habit of ordering Christmas presents at the last minute. I continue to use my account, because it's what I'm used to and don't really take advantage of many of the Prime perks.

For the most part, if I order something from Amazon, I don't care if it arrives in 2 days or 5. I don't have an interest in a subscription book service. I don't watch videos on a mobile device. The "use slower shipping and receive e-book credit" was a PITA when I tried it.

We do have our smart blu-ray player connected to her account and watch Amazon video on the TV, but that's about it. If I need a new cable or something like that, I'll log in to her account to order it. Prime just isn't a big draw for me personally.