Amazon Reduces Free Shipping Minimums

[ralphnjoann]

Amazon has gone back to $35 to qualify for free shipping:

Amazon Free Shipping

[TurnThePage]

fj12ryder wrote:
Uh, that "Free Shipping" costs you $99/year. One purchase a month works out to over $8 in shipping charges. Quite a few places ship cheaper than that.

"Safety net"? Having Amazon store your credit card for quick usage is a "safety net"?

That $99 covers so much more than just "free shipping". Having to enter my credit card once at one site, versus entering it at many sites? Damned skippy! If you haven't noticed, you can buy nearly anything from nearly any vendor (at that vendor's price), right through Amazon.

[mgirardo]

We shop a lot at Amazon, however, we usually shop before we need to buy. That way we find what we want and add it to our cart then save it for later. Amazon tracks and informs us when a price change occurs for items in the cart. We'll wait until an item drops to a price we are happy with and then buy it.

Amazon and its selling partners change prices often. There are many times when Amazon does not have the lowest price. Being able to track changing prices without doing anything more than just going to my cart on a routine basis is great.

-Michael

[bob213]

If I didn't use their free shipping once during the year the $99 Prime membership would pay for itself in the books I read or the video content. I look at the free shipping as an added bonus.
If you haven't watched any of their Amazon Original Series' you are missing out.

[Lantley]

fj12ryder wrote:
Uh, that "Free Shipping" costs you $99/year. One purchase a month works out to over $8 in shipping charges. Quite a few places ship cheaper than that.

"Safety net"? Having Amazon store your credit card for quick usage is a "safety net"?

In the end Amazon is a known quantity with known policies.
I can shipped it back just as easily as I ordered it.
In the end you get what you pay for. Amazon may not always be the cheapest but they are always competitive and the most hassle free way for me to internet shop

[monkey44]

Amazon is convenient, if not cheaper. Altho', I usually price shop before hitting the buy button. We live kinda rural, so driving into town is more expensive than a few extra bucks on price, as long as it remains a minimal difference ... plus, the time we spend driving too, gets to be a hassle and going to several different stores even more time.

Amazon Prime more than pays for itself too, if you are also a reader because the e-books give plenty of value and cost Zero if you are Prime Member.

[MrWizard]

well.. NO news of an Amazon security breach
like all those brick and mortar stores, restaurants , gas stations, etc..

[fj12ryder]

Uh, that "Free Shipping" costs you $99/year. One purchase a month works out to over $8 in shipping charges. Quite a few places ship cheaper than that.

"Safety net"? Having Amazon store your credit card for quick usage is a "safety net"?

[TurnThePage]

I'm also a Prime member. On top of that, I like the fact that after I entered my credit card info ONCE on Amazon, I can shop at a number of different vendors without ever having to reenter it. That convenience/safety net is enough for me to keep almost all online shopping right there. Of course I still window shop other sites. 🙂

[MrWizard]

My orders often total more than that
But I already have free shipping , because I'm a prime member

[fj12ryder]

Well, I don't know that Walmart is directly responsible. My thought would be that people realize without free shipping Amazon is not really cheaper than other online stores. Most of the stuff I buy online I can get cheaper from someplace other than Amazon, but the the shipping costs can be the difference.

If I have to pay shipping I never buy from Amazon, they just aren't that cheap. If I had to pay sales tax for Amazon purchases, the amount I would buy from them would drop even more. Heck, even Ebay is usually cheaper than Amazon. 🙂

[downtheroad]

Walmart threw down the gauntlet with their FREE 2 day shipping on almost everything.
Competition is a good thing.