Amazon lowers free shipping minimum back to $25

[drofgnal]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Hardly worth being a Prime member at $99/year plus tax if non-Prime people get the same privileges and treatment you get. Just saying.

I disagree. I'm not expecting 'prime' service for free shipping, or streaming, or free ebooks to read. It's fine if it takes 3-4 days to get here. They can send it third class that' fine. I just think having an order sit dormant for days before it ships out just because it's 'free shipping' and you aren't prime or paid for shipping is ridiculous. If it's in stock, box it and ship.

[spindlegirl]

Canada didn't lower the $35 minimum, but since my account covers the needs of our whole household, reaching that is often not difficult.

I've never seen the need to join prime, because our shipping is quite decent. I've selected the "free shipping" and have often been surprised to see packages arrive 2 days later.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by spindlegirl

I've never seen the need to join prime, because our shipping is quite decent. I've selected the "free shipping" and have often been surprised to see packages arrive 2 days later.

My thoughts exactly. I'm in the UK. Our 'free shipping' minimum is 20GBP.

[tdonline]

I agree that one can't expect the same from free shipping as from prime. But in my previous post, I was comparing free shipping from Chewy and Amazon. Granted Chewy's minimum is much higher at $49 but Amazon's free shipping was still pretty slow even when it's minimum was much higher. Somehow Chewy manages to get orders delivered within 48 hours while Amazon can't even ship within 10 days. Again, giving Amazon the benefit of the doubt as they sell a much wider variety of products than a site that sells only pet-related products--but the disparity between delivery within 48 hours to not even shipping within 10 days is too much. My last day of delivery is tomorrow and my order hasn't even shipped yet. And with the holiday weekend, that means another 2-3 days delay.

Prime isn't an attractive option for me, no matter how much Jeff Bezos wants me to buy into it. I only order about 8-10 times annually from Amazon. Spreading that $99 fee to the orders--that's about $10 per order. That's not a good deal.

I agree that Prime is best for those of us who order a lot over the course of the year. If you only place 10 orders a year, and you don't have any interest in the other perks of Prime membership, then it simply isn't a good investment. However, for me it is a good investment.

I hate retail B&M stores with a passion. They use young, stupid employees who are clueless, and good luck finding one if you have a question. They rarely have much in stock. And some of the Walmarts (and others too) have become somewhat dangerous to shop at. Best Buy has a reputation of selling stripped down merchandise. Yes, they get the manufacturers of computers to ship them stripped down models that have the same model numbers as other stores, but have key features removed. That way they can make more profit, but it is very deceptive. And who among us has never gotten home with a brand new item from Best Buy, Walmart, Frys, etc. and then discovered it was a returned item rather than brand new. I bought more than one phone back in the day that had someone's list of contacts already in it, and I've seen shrink wrapped items inside the box with the shrink wrap opened and/or items removed.

For me, it is much better to shop online and have the stuff shipped to me. So it is definitely worth the $99 plus tax per year. There are other perks beside the free shipping that I enjoy. As I stated in other posts, Prime Video, Music, eBooks, etc. tend to be lackluster over all, but there are times I watch Prime Video, like when the Grand Tour is on. They have a lot of old documentaries and movies too which I like. Limited selection, but some good stuff to help lessen the pain of the $99 + tax. The same with Prime Music. Not real great, but at least I can listen to specific songs if they have them on the list. Again, not much selection but it helps lessen the pain of the $99 + tax. Over all I save at least the $99 + tax each year if you factor in gasoline savings from not having to drive to a retail B&M store at least 3 or 4 times a month, and factor in the shipping savings. And it is convenient to save time as well. It takes time to drive over to a Walmart, browse around for what I need or want, sweating because they never turn up the AC to a comfortable level, stand in line for the one checkout register that is operating while 12 sit closed, wait while 3 customers pay by check and 2 use coupons and 1 argues with the price of every item and shows them in the flyer they got in the mail, drive home. No wonder a few people go ballistic in a Walmart and start shooting the place up!

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by tdonline

I agree that one can't expect the same from free shipping as from prime. But in my previous post, I was comparing free shipping from Chewy and Amazon. Granted Chewy's minimum is much higher at $49 but Amazon's free shipping was still pretty slow even when it's minimum was much higher. Somehow Chewy manages to get orders delivered within 48 hours while Amazon can't even ship within 10 days. Again, giving Amazon the benefit of the doubt as they sell a much wider variety of products than a site that sells only pet-related products--but the disparity between delivery within 48 hours to not even shipping within 10 days is too much. My last day of delivery is tomorrow and my order hasn't even shipped yet. And with the holiday weekend, that means another 2-3 days delay.

Prime isn't an attractive option for me, no matter how much Jeff Bezos wants me to buy into it. I only order about 8-10 times annually from Amazon. Spreading that $99 fee to the orders--that's about $10 per order. That's not a good deal.

Trivia question: was it an Amazon fulfilled order or a third party order?
If the first then Amazon shouldn't have let it sit so long.
If the second, give Amazon feedback.

I have never had slow shipping with Amazon fulfilled orders.
Now the last third party order did sit for several days before shipping.

The thing about Amazon is you have to look closely at who is packaging the order.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I agree that Prime is best for those of us who order a lot over the course of the year. If you only place 10 orders a year, and you don't have any interest in the other perks of Prime membership, then it simply isn't a good investment. However, for me it is a good investment.

I hate retail B&M stores with a passion. They use young, stupid employees who are clueless, and good luck finding one if you have a question. They rarely have much in stock. And some of the Walmarts (and others too) have become somewhat dangerous to shop at. Best Buy has a reputation of selling stripped down merchandise. Yes, they get the manufacturers of computers to ship them stripped down models that have the same model numbers as other stores, but have key features removed. That way they can make more profit, but it is very deceptive. And who among us has never gotten home with a brand new item from Best Buy, Walmart, Frys, etc. and then discovered it was a returned item rather than brand new. I bought more than one phone back in the day that had someone's list of contacts already in it, and I've seen shrink wrapped items inside the box with the shrink wrap opened and/or items removed.

For me, it is much better to shop online and have the stuff shipped to me. So it is definitely worth the $99 plus tax per year. There are other perks beside the free shipping that I enjoy. As I stated in other posts, Prime Video, Music, eBooks, etc. tend to be lackluster over all, but there are times I watch Prime Video, like when the Grand Tour is on. They have a lot of old documentaries and movies too which I like. Limited selection, but some good stuff to help lessen the pain of the $99 + tax. The same with Prime Music. Not real great, but at least I can listen to specific songs if they have them on the list. Again, not much selection but it helps lessen the pain of the $99 + tax. Over all I save at least the $99 + tax each year if you factor in gasoline savings from not having to drive to a retail B&M store at least 3 or 4 times a month, and factor in the shipping savings. And it is convenient to save time as well. It takes time to drive over to a Walmart, browse around for what I need or want, sweating because they never turn up the AC to a comfortable level, stand in line for the one checkout register that is operating while 12 sit closed, wait while 3 customers pay by check and 2 use coupons and 1 argues with the price of every item and shows them in the flyer they got in the mail, drive home. No wonder a few people go ballistic in a Walmart and start shooting the place up!

Hey Jack, I might want to disagree slightly with the first part of the post. There are certain items that it costs more to ship than Prime costs.
Amazingly running boards for trucks are a Prime item. When we looked other places, it was going to be a week and over $100 shipping. I think there was one extra day instead of two day. So yes, even with fewer orders it can be worth it.

[issybird]

My experience has been if am order hasn't shipped to have a timely delivery, it means the order will be cancelled.

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Trivia question: was it an Amazon fulfilled order or a third party order?
If the first then Amazon shouldn't have let it sit so long.
If the second, give Amazon feedback.

I have never had slow shipping with Amazon fulfilled orders.
Now the last third party order did sit for several days before shipping.

The thing about Amazon is you have to look closely at who is packaging the order.

Good points!

I always look to see if it states "Ships from and sold by Amazon" or "Fullfilled by Amazon", because that means Amazon has it in a warehouse and will ship it themselves. If an item description states something like "Ships from and sold by ACME Roadrunner Company", then Amazon has nothing to do with the actual shipment. When I see the latter statement, I look at the right sidebar in the web page under Other Sellers on Amazon to find better shipping/price options. I find that the fastest deliveries state "Ships from and sold by Amazon" or "Fullfilled by Amazon". If it doesn't state one of those, it is anyone's guess as to how long it will take to be shipped and arrive at your location. There is an art and science in using Amazon to the maximum, so the more tricks you learn the better.

ETA: Also look out for Prime and other shipping types that have tiny little caveats stated. For example, I occasionally see Prime, but below it will state that it ships Prime but it might be several days or even weeks before it actually ships. Rather deceptive, but when it is shipped by a 3rd party they sometimes do that. So read the fine print carefully. As I stated in an earlier post, I once ordered an item that said 2-day shipping, but what they meant was it would be shipped within two days but come from China. Really misleading, especially since they left out any mention of China. Amazon made it right though by dinging that retailer.

[tdonline]

Maybe all the posts are burning Amazon's ears--my order status has now changed to shipping today. Unless the warehouse is nearby...I'm not holding my breath for a Saturday delivery though. Amazon delivers on Sunday right? I think I've seen their vans in my neighborhood on Sundays.

I bought 5 items--3 of them are sold by 3rd party but all 5 are fulfilled by Amazon.

[tdonline]

Originally Posted by issybird

My experience has been if am order hasn't shipped to have a timely delivery, it means the order will be cancelled.

Yes, iirc that's happened to me once.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by tdonline

Maybe all the posts are burning Amazon's ears--my order status has now changed to shipping today. Unless the warehouse is nearby...I'm not holding my breath for a Saturday delivery though. Amazon delivers on Sunday right? I think I've seen their vans in my neighborhood on Sundays.

I bought 5 items--3 of them are sold by 3rd party but all 5 are fulfilled by Amazon.

What is your general location?

[tdonline]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

What is your general location?

Just outside of DC.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by tdonline

Just outside of DC.

Not sure about warehouses in your area.

If you live in a large metropolitan area like DC, then you probably have Sunday deliveries for orders that meet the requirements. I've even gotten USPS deliveries on Sunday for Amazon orders! However, the Sunday deliveries and free same day deliveries might be reserved for Prime Members. I'm not sure who qualifies for those. I assume same day deliveries require that a nearby Amazon warehouse has the item(s) in stock. If it has to be brought in by truck or airplane, then same day won't be offered.