Amazon.com jacks up 'free shipping' orders to $35

By Hum
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Grand Master

Hum

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Amazon has increased its minimum order for free shipping to $35 - up by $10.

It's the first price hike in 10 years, with the online retailer previously offering free five-day shipping to non-Prime members with a minimum order of $25.

While the company has not commented, commentators say today's news could be a bid to encourage consumers to buy an Amazon Prime subscription.

 Since it was founded in 1996 by CEO Jeff Bezos, Amazon has become a global retail power and dominates the e-book market.

However New York Times reported that the constantly diversifying company lost money last year, with analysts anticipating another loss when Amazon releases its third-quarter results on Thursday.

Yet the stock is at a record high.

Amazon is expected post $75 billion in revenue this year.

Analysts have speculated that the retailer is trying to boost its profits by raising prices on certain services.

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Grand Master

Mathachew Veteran

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My wife and I got tired of trying to find enough things to buy for $25 or more when we did purchase something on Amazon, so we purchased a Prime account and haven't regretted it one bit. Shipping costs alone cover the $79 fee, then there's the video service and one Kindle book a month, and it starts adding up in our favor.

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spudtrooper

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The biggest disappointment was the butchering of subscribe and save a while back.. but oh well, they have to do what they have to do.  Love my amazon prime

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Grand Master

Hum

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... the retailer is trying to boost its profits by raising prices on certain services.

 

Between the sales tax and now this, Amazon will be getting less business from me.

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Grand Master

KingCracker

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Meh. I had prime before. I didn't like their video service. I liked netflix a lot better and i'm not going to download e-books. so 79 dollars for 2 day shipping meh, I just took the free shipping option. It sucks they are jacking up the price now.

Between the sales tax and now this, Amazon will be getting less business from me.

They were suppose to start the sales tax in september I believe. They have charged me for sales tax yet.
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Grand Master

Astra.Xtreme

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Between the sales tax and now this, Amazon will be getting less business from me.

I'm in the same boat.  They're starting construction a warehouse here in WI, so the tax will apply here too.  Bummer. :(

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Grand Master

spenser.d

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Between the sales tax and now this, Amazon will be getting less business from me.

 

I never understood why people feel its fair to not pay sales tax just because you purchased something online and not in a physical store.

 

Amazon is still an excellent service - not really anything that compares to it.

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Grand Master

Atomic Wanderer Chicken

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 This will only discourage people from purchasing things. The internet tax and now this, I am starting to get fed up with amazon

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Grand Master

+jamesyfx Subscriber²

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Amazon is cheap enough for lots of items anyway. Shipping always costs money, any form of free shipping is an added bonus.. not to be expected.

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Grand Master

AJerman

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Just suck it up and buy a prime account!

Really, who doesn't have Prime yet? I've rarely purchased anything that I feel like I got more worth out of. It paid for itself when I purchased it and then immediately bought a TV that was delivered in 2 days for free. I've probably gotten at least 50 packages shipped 2 day for free in less than a year of Prime, not to mention the other extras.

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BetaAddict

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I've avoided prime so far because $25 was low enough that I could easily bundle two or three items once a month and get the free shipping. The $35 limit now makes that a little harder since I usually buy items (e.g. toothpaste, soap) as bundled packs that last me a couple months at a time. So I just need one particular item, then I probably have to either wait until I have enough stuff to buy or make a trip to the store.

 

Honestly, it was fun while it lasted. Also note that if you are a student or still have an active edu account sitting around, you can get a up to four years of the discounted pricing at $39/yr, which makes it even more worth to get your items in 2 days rather than waiting two weeks.

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Grand Master

Mr. Gibs

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I never understood why people feel its fair to not pay sales tax just because you purchased something online and not in a physical store.

Amazon is still an excellent service - not really anything that compares to it.

Eh mostly because I couldn't care less about physical stores and I wish that most of them would go away.

Take electronics for example. Best Buy or Amazon. The choice is pretty dam simple. A lot of online stores have great customer service, and better prices (even before sales tax).

So is it fair? No it isn't but I just can't bring myself to care haha. And well legally you have to declare online purchases on your tax return but nobody does that and its really hard to enforce.

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Grand Master

Growled Member

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Amazon Prime is great and totally worth it. Free 2-day shipping. Sometimes have received my orders within 1 day.

 

I agree but it is only worth it if you use Amazon a lot. I do so it's worth it to me. For someone that orders only occasionally, it's probably not worth it, especially if you use Netflix or some other video service.

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Grand Master

Dane

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Free shipping kind of sucks sometimes. I ordered something once, they had it in stock, they say on it for a week. Did a chat only to get told "free shipping has lowest priority". Didn't let me upgrade the shipping. I cancelled the order, bought elsewhere that had free shipping and had it the next day.

I've always paid the cheap shipping after that.

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blerk

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I don't buy books from amazon any more as their international shipping is an absolute rip-off. I get mine from Book Depository because they have free shipping worldwide and their prices generally tend to be the cheapest (at least for the books that I need). 

 

British online retailers generally tend to have excellent prices + international shipping, which is nice for someone who lives in a country where big markups are common. But at least I don't live in Australia, they're far worse  :/

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Grand Master

Anibal P

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Free shipping kind of sucks sometimes. I ordered something once, they had it in stock, they say on it for a week. Did a chat only to get told "free shipping has lowest priority". Didn't let me upgrade the shipping. I cancelled the order, bought elsewhere that had free shipping and had it the next day.

I've always paid the cheap shipping after that.

 

Whoever you talked to was wrong, a Prime membership is supposed to be like a tier 3 membership here, higher priority and added benefits 

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Grand Master

Dane

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Whoever you talked to was wrong, a Prime membership is supposed to be like a tier 3 membership here, higher priority and added benefits

I should have been clearer. Regular free shipping.

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