Amazon minimum for free shipping jumps from $25 to $35!

Amazon has changed their minimum required for free shipping to $35.  This is going to hurt deeply for people who have a limited income and like to purchase from Amazon.

I cancelled my Amazon Prime membership about a month ago after paying for it for many years.  I just couldn’t justify the $135 yearly cost any longer.  With that said, it has been a real eye-opener (as they say) … seeing what it’s like to purchase without Prime.

They are very aggressive on trying to get you to sign up for Prime.  There is a huge push when you try to checkout.  And, then, when you do get to the checkout, the default (even if you met the minimum) is a “paid” shipping rate.  You have to manually change it to the free shipping when you qualify.

And, now, the minimum you can order to get free shipping is $35 instead of $25.  Plus, (and I guess this has been going on for quite a while), you CANNOT use a gift card balance on a new subscribe and save order!  I really wish I’d have known that, because I got a $20 gift card from the Fetch app (grocery rebate app) just to use towards my fertilizer.

Only time will tell if this increase will send people shopping somewhere else.  Sure, you can get a discount on Prime if you meet certain qualifications like receive SNAP benefits or if you are a student, but for the rest of us it’s $14.99 a month or $135 a year.  And, many that qualify for the discount may not be able to afford it either.

So, if you are a Prime member, they do seem to cater to you – even giving extra discounts and coupons that are targeted.  If you are not a Prime member though, they are aggressive at trying to get you to become one.

I have Walmart+ now and most items that I buy on Amazon are also available on Walmart.  (I really don’t buy much on Amazon anymore.)  There are a couple exceptions … the fertilizer that I use and the coffee that I buy.  I have purchased my coffee from the San Francisco Bay Coffee website in the past, and I guess I am going to have to resume doing that or buy a bigger quantity on Amazon that qualifies for free shipping.  And, I just bought a 2.5 gallon jug of fertilizer, so I shouldn’t need that again until next year.  I’ll figure that one out next growing season.

While Prime was nice while it lasted, again, I can no longer justify the cost.  Most items that I buy, I can get elsewhere with decent promotions and free shipping with a minimum purchase.  I recommend Vitacost, Swanson vitamins, and Dr Bronner’s own websites for natural and health products.  I have no affiliation with the three sites that I just mentioned.

It also seems that prices on “mainstream” items have gone up so much that organic and natural products are really not that different in price … and I do prefer organic and natural.

As I’ve mentioned before, All free & clear detergent (which I use) seems to be skyrocketing in price.  It seems that Dollar General has raised the price in the past and then Walmart has followed.  Dollar General DID raise the smaller bottle to $6.50 after raising it to $5 and then went back down to $5.  I don’t know who is the culprit, the stores or manufacturer.  It seems to me that maybe the manufacturer as the blue All has been on sale at Dollar General a few times recently and the white bottle All free & clear has been excluded from the sale.

Of course, being a bargain shopper, I do have a nice stock of detergent right now, but I’m starting to seriously consider changing over to Dr Bronner Sal Suds for laundry, which is what I use for dishes.

Anyway, sorry to go a little off topic.  I’m always open to opinions and comments.

I hope everyone has a great day and finds some good bargains out there!

Happy shopping!