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Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

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Re: Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

#41

Post by Goronmon »

xn wrote: post #18

The "no minimum order size" statement about Prime is a bit disingenuous. Many low-cost items are now Add-On Items ( http://amzn.to/1a4NFBI ), meaning that Amazon will only ship them in an order of at least $25. Prime has become a bit less useful over the past year due to the introduction of Add-On Items.

While the Add-On Item thing is annoying, I have to admit, there were a few times in the past where I've ordered small items that were shipped for free and I couldn't help but think it was pretty dumb that Amazon was doing that. Such a waste of resources.

Re: Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

#42

Post by BillyMaize »

swalsh wrote: post #22

As a prime member, I didn't even realize there was a minimum... Anyways, if I need to buy something I usually buy it on amazon both because its cheaper, but also i love seeing the box on my porch :D

There definitely is something to getting a package to open all the time instead of going through a checkout line at the store, sometimes it feels like Christmas every week!

Re: Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

#43

Post by whalesalad »

I abuse Amazon Prime to no end. I live in the boonies and don't have a car so they're actually my lifeline. Bought a pack of 50 machine screws the other day and including the free 2-day shipping to my door it was only $1.35. Unbelievable.

But I am glad Amazon is raising prices. I don't want them to falter and hope they continue what they're doing. I'd be screwed without em.

Re: Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

#44

Post by gleenn »

whalesalad wrote: post #43

I abuse Amazon Prime to no end. I live in the boonies and don't have a car so they're actually my lifeline. Bought a pack of 50 machine screws the other day and including the free 2-day shipping to my door it was only $1.35. Unbelievable. But I am glad Amazon is raising prices. I don't want them to falter and hope they continue what they're doing. I'd be screwed without em.

Nice pun.

Re: Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

#45

Post by guruz »

IBM wrote: post #4

What great timing considering the other post. AMZN "buys" growth with their shipping expenses, and if they want to become profitable something has to give, and this is it. Their attempts to become more profitable will come at the expense of revenue growth.

I wonder if their affiliate program ("Amazon Associates") is next?

Re: Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

#46

Post by john61 »

codegeek wrote: post #17

I am amazed at how amazon remains doing business with so low margins or no profits. We love amazon at my house and being Prime members, we are almost ordering everything under the sun from Amazon that we possibly can. Here is why we love it: - The reviews are actually useful. I just bought a 70 inch TV through amazon and the critical and helpful reviews really helped me get going with settings on the TV that would ha…

Reasons not to buy from amazon:

https://stallman.org/amazon.html

Re: Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

#47

Post by leef »

xn wrote: post #18

The "no minimum order size" statement about Prime is a bit disingenuous. Many low-cost items are now Add-On Items ( http://amzn.to/1a4NFBI ), meaning that Amazon will only ship them in an order of at least $25. Prime has become a bit less useful over the past year due to the introduction of Add-On Items.

Add-On items are items that are not economical enough to be in the Prime program by themselves but can be thrown in a box already on it's way to you. Without the Add-On program they would not be Prime shippable at all.

Therefore Add-On items are just an improvement to Prime.

Re: Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

#48

Post by graeme »

Pxtl wrote: post #36
therobot24 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- inventory is limited? which amazon website are you visiting? - anecdotal, but in the several years of using amazon, never had a problem with any of the 'non-amazon' sellers. There are ratings for a reason. That's like saying you didn't get what you wanted from one ebay listing so all of ebay is bad - reviews don't mean nothing..what's your problem with the current reviews. Like anything you read, take it with a gra…

> - inventory is limited? which amazon website are you visiting? Idunno, maybe he's Canadian? Amazon.ca is a joke compared to the American inventory.

Fellow Canadian here. Check out amazon.ca again if you haven't looked in the past few months.

It's still far from amazon.com, but they just added quite a few non-book items. I recently ordered three electronic items that normally I would have had to get shipped across the border.

Re: Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

#49

Post by adolgert »

Is there a significant ethical difference between purchasing from a store or from a large online retailer? In one case, shipping to the store is bulk, and employees may make low wages, but they interact with other people. For a retailer Amazon's size, warehouses run on people who read orders from handheld devices and are timed for retrieval speed per box filled. Then shipping is done per parcel. How have you decided what's the right behavior to encourage with your dollars?

Re: Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

#50

Post by pallandt »

jon-wood wrote: post #32
codegeek wrote: post #17

I am amazed at how amazon remains doing business with so low margins or no profits. We love amazon at my house and being Prime members, we are almost ordering everything under the sun from Amazon that we possibly can. Here is why we love it: - The reviews are actually useful. I just bought a 70 inch TV through amazon and the critical and helpful reviews really helped me get going with settings on the TV that would ha…

There are things bought on Amazon which leave me wondering how they can possibly be making money on them. I recently bought 4kg of cat litter from Amazon, which was shipped to me next day for free - I may be utterly out of touch with how much they're paying for shipping, but I can't see the purchase price even covering that side, never mind the product itself.

They most likely make up for it (the small loss or lack of profit) by selling other items, at least that's what happens at other companies applying the same strategy. It evens out and they can boast about the huge number of SKUs they're able to offer.
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