If you shop at Amazon.ca a lot (like I do), then you were used to spending around $25 in order to receive free shipping. Amazon Prime members didn't have to worry about that in most cases though. Now - the free shipping minimum spend requirement has raised from $25 to $35, meaning you need to spend a whole $10 more in order to get free shipping.
We previously posted about Amazon Prime and what makes it worth it, so if you have yet to subscribe or read that post then I definitely suggest that you do so. Other perks of being an Amazon Prime member are faster shipping, unlimited online photo storage, early access to deals, exclusive deals, and more. Plus Amazon Prime is only $79 for the entire year - meaning even if you only purchase ten things a year, it is totally worth it.
Amazon Prime members get free shipping with no minimum purchase - which means they wouldn't have to worry about this requirement increase. This only applies to Amazon Prime eligible products, but there are many of those in all sorts of different categories. You can even refine your searches to show only Prime Eligible Products if you like.
With this minimum spend increase so close to Halloween and Christmas shopping - will you get Amazon Prime or shop elsewhere? Or will you just try to spend $35 instead of $25 now? We'd love to know in the comments below.
Probably half the reason they increased it was to encourage more people to subscribe to Prime. If I'm going to being spending $79, I'd rather just add a book to my order to get to the $35 if I was under. $79 is about the same price as 4 books, so I just as soon pay for a tangible item than a service.
I agree, sdab :) I would much rather spend that membership money on actual items and hit that $35 threshold for FREE shipping, rather than simply a service and possibly a few extra deal perks during the year.
If I subscribed to PRIME, similar to a Costco membership, (FRUGAL buyers tip: just have someone you know with a membership buy you some gift cards and you can reimburse them, so you can still shop there without being a member and save the minimum $50 membership fee!), I'd feel as if I'm actually paying for a service and the shipping, but if I make a larger order or purchase more expensive items that reach the $35 mark, that's not an issue.
Ugh, I saw that today!
Darn it
prime all the way. I shop at Amazon for everything and have made that $79 incestment work for me.
Saw that today :'(
Buggers. You also really have to watch them. When you order enough to get free shipping, your shipping will not automatically go to "free".
Rather, it defaults to standard shipping, for which there is a charge. You have to go in and select free shipping manually. I got caught on that one once…
I personally love Amazon Prime, I am happy I made the decision to sign up! I've saved so much money in shipping but I do buy a lot of things on Amazon anything from food, clothes, household products, baby toys, if I can't find it locally, chances are Amazon has it!
I usually don't shop for bits online unless spending a fair bit, so this is fine! Better than lots of stores minimum shipping amount!
Meh, I have prime so I don't care. I also rarely want to spend less than $35 anyways.
lol, Are you guys compensated when people sign up for prime via a link from this site or something? You sure do push the prime membership in a lot of posts!
Prime is a rip off! Especially compared to the US counterpart. Also, they say free 2-day shipping but it is not always two days: I had a 30 day trial and placed an order on a Thursday and "2 day shipping" had my order coming on the following Tuesday (it was not a holiday weekend). It was shipped on the Monday and arrived on Tuesday. With regular free shipping my order is typically shipped the same or next day, even on weekends, and arrives the day after shipping. Chances are the orders I placed with Prime would have come quicker with regular free shipping. It's not hard to get over $25...and probably not $35. I am disappointed that they raised the minimum though, but it doesn't make the $79 Prime fee any more appealing. If anything, I will just be placing fewer orders.