Online shoppers will now have to spend more to receive free shipping on Amazon.com. The e-commerce retailer announced last week that they are upping the monetary threshold for free shipping to $49 per order. Before that, in October 2013, they raised the minimum spend from $25 to $35 to receive free shipping.
Many are predicting that Amazon will convert more customers to Prime members. Amazon Prime customers pay $99/year to receive unlimited two-day shipping on most items, along with other perks such as streaming music and video services, restaurant delivery in select cities and more. In a world where consumers are shopping more online each year, there is an expectation for e-commerce retailers to ship items quickly, for a low price, and offer easy returns.
After this announcement earlier last week, Amazon sellers were buzzing on the Amazon Seller Forums with their own thoughts and opinions on the change. Many third-party sellers are happy because this means they can offer free shipping and no minimum spend, and hopefully beat out Amazon. Other sellers are considering changing the price of their items so it will be more compatible with the $49 threshold.
What do you think about the Amazon shipping increase? Will you continue to shop on Amazon, or are you considering switching to a different marketplace for all of your online shopping needs?
