Amazon Tweaks its Free Shipping Terms Again (Spoiler: It’s Better!)
Amazon’s throwing it back to the good old days with its latest change in shipping terms.
The online shopping monolith has played with its minimum order requirement for free shipping over the past few years, presumably hoping to push casual users into becoming $99-per-year Prime members.
But Amazon’s going back to basics with its new free shipping minimum of just $25.
How to Get Free Shipping on Amazon if You Don’t Have Prime
“This is the first time since 2013 that non-Prime members have been able to qualify for free shipping on orders of $25 or more at Amazon,” Phil Dengler, who first reported the change at Best Black Friday, wrote. “Since Amazon has now adjusted their minimum twice in less than three months, it is unknown how long the $25 figure will last.”
Minimum order requirements jumped from $35 to $49 in May 2016, but the hike only lasted eight months before Amazon quietly dropped the requirement back to $35.
Best Black Friday noted the change happened sometime in the last week. Since reports claim nearly half of American households are Amazon Prime members, there’s a swath of Amazon shoppers who haven’t kept up with free shipping thresholds because they haven’t needed to care.
Meanwhile, Dengler points out that Amazon’s free shipping for non-Prime members is, uh, not great, with deliveries taking five to eight days.
Walmart launched free shipping in two business days for orders of $35 or more earlier this year, while Target is testing a program to offer next-day delivery for online orders of household items.
Lisa Rowan is a writer and producer at The Penny Hoarder.