Amazon Increases Minimum Order Total for Free Shipping to $49
The online retailer has increased the minimum order amount to qualify for free shipping.
Amazon has raised its free shipping minimum for non-prime members. Initially, Amazon offered free shipping on qualifying orders of $25 or more. This amount was increased by $10 to $35 back in 2013, and now the company has raised the total again -- this time by $14, bringing the new qualifying amount to $49. With that said, the increase does not impact qualifying book orders, which still remain at the original $25 minimum for free shipping.
The retailer's site now states:
Orders including $25 or more of eligible books qualify for FREE Shipping. All orders of $49 or more of eligible items across any product category also qualify for FREE Shipping. With free shipping, your order will be delivered 5-8 business days after all of your items are available to ship, including pre-order items.
The increase is likely the result of increased costs for the company. As reported by TechCrunch, Amazon's fulfillment costs went up 32.8 percent year-over-year in its last earnings release. In addition, the increase is a way for the company to further promote its Amazon Prime subscription service. Amazon Prime currently offers:
- FREE Two-Day Shipping with no minimum order size on over 20 million items
- Unlimited, ad-free access to over a million songs and hundreds of playlists
- Instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV episodes with Prime Instant Video
- Unlimited photo storage with anywhere access
- Over 500,000 books to borrow for free, as frequently as once a month, with no due dates through the Kindle Owners' Lending Library
- 30-minute early access to Lightning Deals on Amazon and limited time events on MyHabit.com
Amazon's new $49 minimum order total for free shipping is now in effect. A Prime membership currently costs $99 per year.
Sources: Amazon, Engadget, TechCrunch
