Amazon just matched Walmart's $35 free shipping minimum

[Julio Franco]

A year ago, Amazon hiked its free shipping minimum for non-Prime customers from $35 to $49. Naturally, many customers weren't happy with that move. Meanwhile, Walmart recently adopted free 2-day shipping with a $35 minimum purchase requirement.

Now, it seems Amazon has changed up its shipping again in a bid to hang on to customers.

Amazon was known for its low-minimum free standard shipping, which undercut many retailers that required purchases $50 or more. It was one of the best deals online — until Amazon bumped the requirement up to $49 last year. Customers were understandably unhappy with the increase, but Amazon likely needed it to combat the cost of logistics.

And Walmart's free 2-day shipping policy is pretty tempting: it doesn't require a membership fee and applies to most items on the site, as long the order total is over $35.

Amazon has walked back its shipping increase now, likely due to the appeal of Walmart's new policy. Non-Prime customers can once again earn free standard shipping on orders over $35. As Engadget notes, "That won't deliver your goods any sooner ... but it could tip the balance if you're more interested in avoiding fees than getting your order in a hurry."

Julie Ramhold is a staff writer at dealnews. Republished with permission.

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[Uncle Al]

LOL ..... this is almost as much fun as a "gas war" .... of course, I'm not sure there are many out there old enough to know what that is .....

 

[Bluescreendeath]

Gotta love market competition. Amazon, like Intel, has been a monopoly for too long. Bring on the competition from AMD and Walmart!

 

[EClyde]

LOL ..... this is almost as much fun as a "gas war" .... of course, I'm not sure there are many out there old enough to know what that is .....

Gas was as low as 15 cents a gallon on Woodward back in the 60's. 2 bucks meant something in those days

 

[EClyde]

I can get almost all I need from Wal-Mart and don't have to see "The people of" as often. Wal-Mart uses better boxes then Amazon and as of late has been putting the kitty litter in it's own box. They also tape over anything that might leak and put it in a well sealed plastic bag. This is capitalism at it's finest(not really).

 

[Evernessince]

Gotta love market competition. Amazon, like Intel, has been a monopoly for too long. Bring on the competition from AMD and Walmart!

There are literally hundreds of other online stores that directly compete with them. There are only two Desktop CPU manufacturers. See the difference?

 

[p51d007]

LOL ..... this is almost as much fun as a "gas war" .... of course, I'm not sure there are many out there old enough to know what that is .....

I do! In the small town I lived in, there was a Shell, Skelly, Mobil and Standard gas station on the
4 way intersection of two highways. Cheapest I remember seeing it down to around 14-15 cents a gallon. It sounds funny but I remember when "a couple bucks" would fill the tank!

 

[yRaz]

LOL ..... this is almost as much fun as a "gas war" .... of course, I'm not sure there are many out there old enough to know what that is .....

Gas was as low as 15 cents a gallon on Woodward back in the 60's. 2 bucks meant something in those days

My dad told me about a time in Pennsylvania during the gas wars that he saw it go as low as 12 cents. He worked at his dads gas station who was also a mechanic and ran a repair shop out of it. The store a few lots down from his was just a station so to get more people in they dropped their price to 12 cents while my grandfather was able to keep his at 14 cents because he had other services that brought customers in.

 

[texasrattler]

Yall r talking about the 60's. you do know gas was only .25 cents in the early '90s near the gulf. it was still cheap but only in those areas near the gulf. today its all about the dollar. its amazing that the US have millions upon million of gallons of oil but wont ever use it. Instead they simply increase price n claim bs oil shortages. The US has ots own oil, mainly from Alaska alone that it doesnt need to buy oil from anyone. But to keep the rich, richer and to keep drals with Saudia Arabia, the US continues the bs deal, lining their pockets n screwing the American citizens ad it always has ton. **** presidents like Bush caused **** like this. Its also what led to 9/11.