Amazon Free ship minimum now $35

[Dave Lehnert]

Anyone notice Amazon has lowered the free shipping minimum down to $35 from $49?
Google search says they did it in response to Walmart.
Walmart has been my choice for ordering on line for about the last year. No minimum for ship to store and my package does not sit on my front step all day.
Amazon kinda lost me when they went to prime membership. I needed a hand tool for work. Amazon had it but was unable to order it because it was a Prime Member exclusive price. Had the same thing happen on a kids wagon I wanted to order for a gift. Only available to Prime Members. Walmart matched the price next day. No membership fee.
Just ordered a pair of shoes from Amazon. During the order process they asked a few times to join Prime for free two day shipping. After refusing they offered 4 day shipping for a few extra bucks I refused again. Received my package with free shipping in 3 days. :confused:
I do like and buy most if not all my digital music, magazines from Amazon.

[Bruce Page]

Amazon Prime subscribers hit 80M, up from 63M last June. They must be doing something right.

[Larry Frank]

I love Amazon Prime and get my money worth with two day free shipping and deliver on Sunday.

My mailman is a lot busier.

[John McClanahan]

Amazon lowered their shipping when Walmart announced free shipping.


John

[Dave Lehnert]

Yes, Amazon Prime is a fantastic deal if you order a lot and like watching movies.
For me I don't watch many movies so that part is no deal for me.
I prefer not to have the item I ordered sit on my door step all day. Walmart is across the street from work so I can run in and out for order pickup in no time.
I know this has more to do with my location to the warehouse. But why pay $100 a year for 2 day shipping when I get a lot of my orders in 3 days.
Amazon does have excellent customer service if a problem is had

[John Lanciani]

It might just be me, but $100 a year to not have to set foot in walmart is a bargain ;)

[John K Jordan]

Yes, Amazon Prime is a fantastic deal if you order a lot and like watching movies.
For me I don't watch many movies so that part is no deal for me.
I prefer not to have the item I ordered sit on my door step all day. Walmart is across the street from work so I can run in and out for order pickup in no time.
I know this has more to do with my location to the warehouse. But why pay $100 a year for 2 day shipping when I get a lot of my orders in 3 days.
Amazon does have excellent customer service if a problem is had

Amazon Prime is perfect for me since with the farm I don't get out much and a jaunt to Walmart takes a least an hour. I order most of my books from Amazon (I buy a lot of books), clothing, shoes, many tools and supplies for shop, house, church, and farm - even some larger equipment like a big Jet horizontal metal-cutting bandsaw. When I built my shop I ordered a lot of materials and things like electrical, compressed air fittings, etc. I'll bet not everyone knows the price of freeze-dried meal worms drops dramatically when bought in large quantities! Looking at my order history I typically make 100-200 orders per year so the cost of the Prime is not that significant with that many orders.

Just be careful to check prices with Prime - some items have the 2-day shipping cost built into the Prime price.

I have a gated farm so for the package drops I put a secure steel box outside the gate by the mailbox. I welded pieces to the bottom of a steel job site lock box I got at Lowes or somewhere and concreted the box into the ground on 3x3 steel legs to raise it up a bit. The box is next to my drive but behind some vegetation so it's not immediately obvious from the country road. I fastened a hasp to the top and hang a combination lock on a lip inside the box. The lock has a fluorescent orange streamer tied to it so I can see if it is locked from across the field. The delivery guys all love it. FedEx said he wished everyone had one.

JKJ

[Mike Henderson]

It might just be me, but $100 a year to not have to set foot in walmart is a bargain ;)

++1 LOL

Mike

[Matt Day]

It might just be me, but $100 a year to not have to set foot in walmart is a bargain ;)

Well said!

We have a couple packages a week delivered from Amazon Prime. Couldn't imagine being without it.

[Bert Kemp]

A couple years ago I ordered Vac bags on Amazon and had no problem just ordered and they shipped them. Today I tried to order more bags and now they are an add on item and I have to buy $25 worth of more stuff to get the bags shipped. Went on ebay got them for a dollar more then Amazon and FREE 3 day shipping. I find this happens a lot.

[John K Jordan]

...I tried to order more bags and now they are an add on item and I have to buy $25 worth of more stuff to get the bags shipped.

Yes, more small/inexpensive things are add-on items now. The cost of the add-on item itself contributes toward the $25 minimum. On occasion I had more than $25 of just add-on items and that was sufficient. (I think the $25 has to be from items that ship from Amazon, not from a 3rd party.)

BTW, one reason I like to use Amazon even if it is not cheaper is I can search the order history and find the item, cost, supplier, and receipt for something I bought years ago. This is useful on occasion and easier then digging through old emails and a box of receipts. For example, I see I paid $17 in 1999 for the DVD "2001: A Space Oddesy."

JKJ

[Bert Kemp]

Pretty sure you can search all your ebay orders also

Yes, more small/inexpensive things are add-on items now. The cost of the add-on item itself contributes toward the $25 minimum. On occasion I had more than $25 of just add-on items and that was sufficient. (I think the $25 has to be from items that ship from Amazon, not from a 3rd party.)

BTW, one reason I like to use Amazon even if it is not cheaper is I can search the order history and find the item, cost, supplier, and receipt for something I bought years ago. This is useful on occasion and easier then digging through old emails and a box of receipts. For example, I see I paid $17 in 1999 for the DVD "2001: A Space Oddesy."

JKJ

[Matt Meiser]

Count me in the "Paying $100 to not have to go to Walmart" group. I'm not even that opposed to Walmart in general, more the opposed to the people of our Walmart.

We order a metric ton of stuff from Amazon. More now that we live in a small city than when we lived in the country minutes from a big city. And often price doesn't come into play, it whether I would have to go to Walmart or Meijer and hope I can actually find what I want. We watch movies with Prime and I've taken advantage of a free e-Book offer every month too. We decided we like Apple Music better as a family so we aren't using Amazon Music.

[Andy Giddings]

It might just be me, but $100 a year to not have to set foot in walmart is a bargain ;)
LMAO - and it's not just you

[Prashun Patel]

+1. Amazon shipping is so quick and predictable I frankly feel guilty about the cheap cost of prime. Shipping $5.00 worth of shower rings for free to me makes me feel lazy. I will still do it, but man, what is the world coming to that we need stuff so fast and can't be bothered to get up from our desks to get it?

I hate shopping though. Being around that many people and parking and dodging traffic is such a waste of time. So conflicted.

I know the answer... unfortunately. I need to buy less of everything.

If anyone sees Bessey clamps on sale on Amazon please tell me. That's the one thing I cannot have enough of.

[Art Mann]

Amazon is now doing to Walmart what Walmart did to the locally owned stores over the last 20 years. I think that is poetic justice.

[Steve Peterson]

Anyone notice Amazon has lowered the free shipping minimum down to $35 from $49?
Google search says they did it in response to Walmart.
Walmart has been my choice for ordering on line for about the last year. No minimum for ship to store and my package does not sit on my front step all day.
Amazon kinda lost me when they went to prime membership. I needed a hand tool for work. Amazon had it but was unable to order it because it was a Prime Member exclusive price. Had the same thing happen on a kids wagon I wanted to order for a gift. Only available to Prime Members. Walmart matched the price next day. No membership fee.
Just ordered a pair of shoes from Amazon. During the order process they asked a few times to join Prime for free two day shipping. After refusing they offered 4 day shipping for a few extra bucks I refused again. Received my package with free shipping in 3 days. :confused:
I do like and buy most if not all my digital music, magazines from Amazon.

I used to really like Amazon, but the last few orders have left me wondering. The last order took 8 days before they shipped it. I added an extra item to get up to the $35 limit, so maybe they were shipping items between warehouses. I felt like they held my package hostage because I am not a Prime member. I shop elsewhere most of the time now.

Steve

[Steve Mathews]

We seem to be buying more and more stuff from Amazon lately as Prime members. I feel guilty every time the UPS guy makes it up our long, steep driveway. If I could get them to deliver groceries that would be even better. I agree with others that you have to check and make sure the prices offered at Amazon are competitive though. Sometimes they're not. Also check the "also offered by" tab in small print below. I recently purchased a Geiger's wheel dresser that was offered on Amazon for just under $90. Geiger's current model is about $120. The small tab directed me to a seller offering the same thing for less than $30. I couldn't believe it!

[Chris Padilla]

When I can order through Prime and get the item on a Sunday, I was sold...and shocked. :)

[Art Mann]

Just be aware that using the "also offered by" option, you are not buying from Amazon and their return and shipping policies do not apply. If you have a bad experience, it is not Amazon's responsibility. I mostly try to avoid buying from non Amazon stores on Amazon because I have had bad experiences doing that more than once.


We seem to be buying more and more stuff from Amazon lately as Prime members. I feel guilty every time the UPS guy makes it up our long, steep driveway. If I could get them to deliver groceries that would be even better. I agree with others that you have to check and make sure the prices offered at Amazon are competitive though. Sometimes they're not. Also check the "also offered by" tab in small print below. I recently purchased a Geiger's wheel dresser that was offered on Amazon for just under $90. Geiger's current model is about $120. The small tab directed me to a seller offering the same thing for less than $30. I couldn't believe it!

[Matt Meiser]

It boggles my mind how few people pay attention to the seller.

And Amazon will deliver groceries. I haven't comparison shopped anything though. Kroger lets you order online and pick up in the parking lot here now. We haven't tried it.

[Dave Lehnert]

It boggles my mind how few people pay attention to the seller.

And Amazon will deliver groceries. I haven't comparison shopped anything though. Kroger lets you order online and pick up in the parking lot here now. We haven't tried it.


Meijer here in Cincinnati just started delivering groceries last week. Available 24 hrs a day.

[Paul Saffold]

I have Prime and enjoy it and think it is worth it, but it is worth it to check out some other competitors. Jet.com has free shipping and at times has prices much better than Amazon.

edit: jet.com is not the tool company. They sell a broad range of products.

[Curt Harms]

I have Prime and enjoy it and think it is worth it, but it is worth it to check out some other competitors. Jet.com has free shipping and at times has prices much better than Amazon.

edit: jet.com is not the tool company. They sell a broad range of products.

Jet.com is owned by Walmart. At least you don't have to tolerate Walmart stores and people.

[Dave Zellers]

They are now down to $25.

Nothing quite like good old fashioned competition.

[Mike Henderson]

Jet.com is owned by Walmart. At least you don't have to tolerate Walmart stores and people.
There was a good article in Business Week this week about Wal-Mart and it's purchase of Jet.com. They claim they're going to take on, and beat, Amazon.

Having been involved with acquisitions when I was working, I'm skeptical. The guy who was heading jet.com is now in charge of Walmart's web effort and has "merged" the development staff of Walmart's old web efforts with the development staff from jet.com. Those staff merges never go well. The jet.com people will resent losing their stock options and having to work for "big company" with lots of rules and processes, and the Walmart staff will feel marginalized.

My guess is that the jet.com guy will collect a lot of money (and then leave the company) and Walmart will not achieve their goal of overcoming Amazon.

Mike

[Brian Henderson]

There was a good article in Business Week this week about Wal-Mart and it's purchase of Jet.com. They claim they're going to take on, and beat, Amazon.

Having been involved with acquisitions when I was working, I'm skeptical. The guy who was heading jet.com is now in charge of Walmart's web effort and has "merged" the development staff of Walmart's old web efforts with the development staff from jet.com. Those staff merges never go well. The jet.com people will resent losing their stock options and having to work for "big company" with lots of rules and processes, and the Walmart staff will feel marginalized.

My guess is that the jet.com guy will collect a lot of money (and then leave the company) and Walmart will not achieve their goal of overcoming Amazon.

Mike

Walmart's web site sucks anyhow, it is a completely separate company from Walmart itself, if you order something on the website to be picked up in store, there's a whole ton of crap that has to go on in order for you to get the website price. I suspect jet.com won't be any more efficient.

[Dave Lehnert]

Walmart's web site sucks anyhow, it is a completely separate company from Walmart itself, if you order something on the website to be picked up in store, there's a whole ton of crap that has to go on in order for you to get the website price. I suspect jet.com won't be any more efficient.



I order laser-jet cartage through Walmart.com as it is way cheaper than the shelf price in store. Order online at the stated price and pick up in store (Prepaid through the web site) Why are you having to jump through hoops to get the on-line price?

[Brian Henderson]

I order laser-jet cartage through Walmart.com as it is way cheaper than the shelf price in store. Order online at the stated price and pick up in store (Prepaid through the web site) Why are you having to jump through hoops to get the on-line price?

It only works if you do it that way. If you walk into a store, they will not pricematch from their own website.

[Dave Lehnert]

Today Amazon lowered free shipping to $25. The good old days are back.

[Bert Kemp]

I order stuff off walmart website all the time and theres no hoops to jump thru to get the price I just order and check pick up at sore ez pz
Walmart's web site sucks anyhow, it is a completely separate company from Walmart itself, if you order something on the website to be picked up in store, there's a whole ton of crap that has to go on in order for you to get the website price. I suspect jet.com won't be any more efficient.

[Joe Tilson]

Rockler has lowered their minimum to $35 as well, for those who like plastic jigs,etc.

[Brian Elfert]

Walmart's web site sucks anyhow, it is a completely separate company from Walmart itself, if you order something on the website to be picked up in store, there's a whole ton of crap that has to go on in order for you to get the website price. I suspect jet.com won't be any more efficient.

Huh? If I order something on Walmart.com for store pickup the price on the website is the final price. The price doesn't magically change when I pick it up from the store. The order pickup process takes a minute or two at the store once I talk to the clerk. I just did this a few weeks ago for something that was about 10% cheaper online than in store.

Way better than my Lowe's pickup experience last night. My order was waiting on a cart (supposedly) ready to go, but half the order was picked wrong. The two customer service clerks had to dump my entire order out on the counter and go through the picking list item by item to find all the errors. This took 25 minutes and then another 15 minutes to have someone gather the correct items from the store. Really, the only reason I order online is due to promo codes good only online. It would be faster much of the time to go to the store and just grab the items than trying to find everything on the Lowes website. It is worth it to me to save 25% to 30% on a $50 to $60 order.

[Walter Plummer]

A couple of years ago I was shopping a book I wanted. Checked Borders, Amazon and a guy on Ebay. Guy on Ebay was the cheapest so I purchased from him. Delivered to my door in a Amazon box by Amazon. ??? I had to go back and check who I actually ordered it from. He sells so much they let him under cut them? Crazy world.

[Bert Kemp]

I tried cliclist for the first time. I went online ordered all my grocery's drove to the store at a appointed time I picked. Parked in a designated area called a number and they roll out with all your food load it in your car, you swipe your card to pay and your off. Best food shopping experience I ever had. Plus theres no impulse buying.

[Matt Meiser]

A lot of our friends that are juggling multiple kids in multiple activities are raving about it on social media. With just one who's starting to do her own thing more and more often and my wife having a 10 minute commute and me having none, I guess we have a lot more free time.

[Brian Elfert]

A couple of years ago I was shopping a book I wanted. Checked Borders, Amazon and a guy on Ebay. Guy on Ebay was the cheapest so I purchased from him. Delivered to my door in a Amazon box by Amazon. ??? I had to go back and check who I actually ordered it from. He sells so much they let him under cut them? Crazy world.

What I have seen some Ebay sellers do is they send their stuff to Amazon and sell it through the Fulfilled by Amazon program. The Ebay seller has a Prime account with Amazon and orders his/her own stuff from Amazon as a gift to be shipped to the Ebay buyer. Did your item come as a "gift" from Amazon?

I ordered a napkin dispenser from Ebay on a Sunday evening last year. On Tuesday I get a package from Amazon and it was the napkin dispenser shipped as a "gift".

[Frederick Skelly]

What I have seen some Ebay sellers do is they send their stuff to Amazon and sell it through the Fulfilled by Amazon program. The Ebay seller has a Prime account with Amazon and orders his/her own stuff from Amazon as a gift to be shipped to the Ebay buyer. Did your item come as a "gift" from Amazon?

I ordered a napkin dispenser from Ebay on a Sunday evening last year. On Tuesday I get a package from Amazon and it was the napkin dispenser shipped as a "gift".

I'm surprised Amazon allows that. I wonder how often that happens? Depending on the terms of "fullfilled by Amazon", that might even be dishonest. I dunno.

[Brian Elfert]

I'm surprised Amazon allows that. I wonder how often that happens? Depending on the terms of "fullfilled by Amazon", that might even be dishonest. I dunno.

I am not sure why Amazon cares since they are still making their money? I don't know how the seller makes any money since they pay Ebay their portion plus pay Amazon their portion.

[Walter Plummer]

I don't recall seeing anything about gift on it. I really don't know what to make of it.

[Dave Zellers]

Ole Jeff Bezos seems to be getting by OK.

Given that this seems like a pretty good thread for idle Amazon thoughts, and this is certainly not 'New Thread Worthy', after being an early adopter of Amazon Prime, I let it go when they went from $79 to $99 a few years ago. I just now re-signed for Prime at $99. I always was plumping my orders first to $49, then to $35 and now to $25 to get free shipping just to be frustrated as I would then watch them slow walk it through the process. But the larger issue for me was the handling. With two day shipping, I believe it is handled fewer times. I was sometimes having a problem with broken boxes that I didn't used to have. That plus the incredible simplicity regarding returns as a prime member has brought me back into the fold.

Yeah, ole Jeff seems to have this all figured out.

[Frederick Skelly]

I am not sure why Amazon cares since they are still making their money? I don't know how the seller makes any money since they pay Ebay their portion plus pay Amazon their portion.

Because a business can blow through $100 worth of shipping (cost of Prime) pretty fast. But if they're making good money on the "fulfillment", then it works and Amazon still makes money - in which case they probably don't care about the ebay seller working it this way. But I don't know the terms - if someone does it would be interesting to hear about. :)

Anyway, that's what I was thinking, Brian.
Fred

[Frederick Skelly]

Ole Jeff Bezos seems to be getting by OK.

Given that this seems like a pretty good thread for idle Amazon thoughts, and this is certainly not 'New Thread Worthy', after being an early adopter of Amazon Prime, I let it go when they went from $79 to $99 a few years ago. I just now re-signed for Prime at $99. I always was plumping my orders first to $49, then to $35 and now to $25 to get free shipping just to be frustrated as I would then watch them slow walk it through the process. But the larger issue for me was the handling. With two day shipping, I believe it is handled fewer times. I was sometimes having a problem with broken boxes that I didn't used to have. That plus the incredible simplicity regarding returns as a prime member has brought me back into the fold.

Yeah, ole Jeff seems to have this all figured out.

I thought I was the only one who got "slow walked" with free shipping Dave. :)
Yah, Bezos sure has it figured out.
Fred

[Brian Henderson]

Because a business can blow through $100 worth of shipping (cost of Prime) pretty fast. But if they're making good money on the "fulfillment", then it works and Amazon still makes money - in which case they probably don't care about the ebay seller working it this way. But I don't know the terms - if someone does it would be interesting to hear about. :)

Anyway, that's what I was thinking, Brian.
Fred

But they know that once you have Prime, you tend to place more and more orders. I know that I order a lot more from Amazon now than I ever did before I had Prime. I'll go into a store and if I don't see what I'm looking for, I will just order it off of Amazon. I get packages every single week. If I lived in an area where they did same-day deliveries, I probably wouldn't go anywhere else. Amazon gets ridiculous deals on shipping because they have the volume, they're making money hand over fist.

[Brian Elfert]

But they know that once you have Prime, you tend to place more and more orders. I know that I order a lot more from Amazon now than I ever did before I had Prime. I'll go into a store and if I don't see what I'm looking for, I will just order it off of Amazon. I get packages every single week. If I lived in an area where they did same-day deliveries, I probably wouldn't go anywhere else. Amazon gets ridiculous deals on shipping because they have the volume, they're making money hand over fist.

Amazon makes very little net profit. Their net profit margin for 2016 was under 2%. They are not yet making money hand over fist.

They are investing a lot of money in growth which is why profit is so low. Once they quit building out and upgrading fulfillment centers they might start making some real money.

[Brian Henderson]

Amazon makes very little net profit. Their net profit margin for 2016 was under 2%. They are not yet making money hand over fist.

They are investing a lot of money in growth which is why profit is so low. Once they quit building out and upgrading fulfillment centers they might start making some real money.

They are making money, they are just reinvesting that money in infrastructure. They are certainly not losing money, nor are they even close to doing so.