Shoppers have been disappointed about Amazon increasing its membership fees and making changes to Prime benefits in recent years. And now there’s some more potentially bad news, specifically if you’re not a Prime member.
Up until now, non-Prime members could get free shipping on any Amazon order totaling $25 or more. But as of late August 2023, these shoppers now have to meet a $35 minimum in order to qualify for the free shipping.
This price increase could be due to inflation and rising postage costs. Or it could be a way to encourage more people to sign up for Prime since members pay $139/year and get free two-day shipping with no order minimum. So I did a little math to see how those shipping costs add up over time. With a $6.99 shipping fee for non-Prime orders that don’t meet the free shipping minimum, you’d need to pay for shipping on at least 20 orders to justify paying for Prime solely for the free shipping.
Amazon didn’t provide any further explanation, but we did some digging and found more details on this change below.
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Amazon’s free shipping minimum increased by $10 regardless of your zip code.
Initially, according to Amazon, this change was tested out randomly by zip code. Everyone in the same zip code would see the same free shipping minimum. However, as of 2024, regardless of where you are, the minimum is up to $35.
As a non-Prime member, I’d have to pay $6.99 for standard shipping if I don’t hit the free shipping minimum. And if I wanted something shipped overnight, the shipping fee goes up to $9.99
Current Prime members won’t be affected.
Luckily, the increased minimum for free shipping doesn’t affect current Prime members in any way. Prime members pay $139 a year for their membership, which comes with free shipping. Since this affects non-members more, this might be an attempt to pull more shoppers into the Prime membership. (It also reflects ongoing inflation, since higher prices have made it much easier to hit the previous $25 minimum.)
RELATED: Is Amazon Prime Membership Worth the $139 Fee?
This isn’t the first time Amazon played with their free shipping minimum.
Some of you might be confused. Didn’t Amazon already charge a $35 minimum for non-Prime members? Yes, they did — from 2013 to 2015. Then in 2016, the Amazon free shipping minimum jumped up to a dramatic $49, which is the highest it’s ever been.
See the above graphic for the complete timeline of changes within the last 10 years. It is interesting that the new Amazon free shipping minimum now matches Walmart’s current delivery minimum of $35.
RELATED: 20 Amazon Prime Benefits You Need to Know About
Amazon also increased the free delivery minimum for Amazon Fresh by a lot.
For the longest time, only Prime members had access to Amazon Fresh, Amazon’s grocery delivery and pick-up service. That made it one of the better reasons to sign up for a Prime membership.
The thing is, all Prime members used to get free delivery on Amazon Fresh orders over $35. Then, in early 2023, the big box retailer changed that shipping minimum to $150 — which is a crazy jump. In October 2023, Amazon rolled back that minimum to $100.
Plus, in early August 2023, Amazon revised their policy to make Amazon Fresh available to all members. And the price difference between a Prime member’s order and a non-member’s was generally about a $4 difference overall. Which, to Prime members, can feel like a bummer.
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