Amazon raises free shipping minimum to $35

[MikeCL]

Originally Posted by MoulinBlu

Actually, from what I've seen it's the BDs, particularly catalog titles, that would likely be harder to find in stores. Most everything else is not only available in stores, it's usually cheaper than amazon's price these days, as it seems amazon is trying to make up for their supposed prime losses with higher prices. Case in point, a coffee mug I recently purchased routinely sells at Walmart for $2, and at Target for $3. Amazon sells the exact same mug, but was charging $5 for it and they would still only ship it as part of their add-on program with a minumum $25 order. Now they'll ship it regular or with prime, but they upped the price to $6. And I assure you that's not an isolated case - it's becoming routine.

Larger items, they seem to be setting their prices by pricematching their bigger competitors these days. But they can't seem to be able to affordably ship smaller items anymore without charging two to three times what the items are worth.

Amazon now has a large, established customer base - many of whom seem to exhibit a blind loyalty to the etailer, based on the responses to any amazon criticism that appears in their own forum - so amazon isn't trying to grow or even aggressively keep their customers any longer. Now they're all about figuring out how much they can get away with charging or overcharging for items before too many of their customers are no longer willing to pay as much as retail, if not more, for the convenience of buying online.

Amazon is very much the newest walmart, but without the bad rap that wally world has taken for poor work conditions, unfair employee treatment, etc that has led to many people no longer respecting the chain. But based on all the criticism I've seen on amazon's forum lately and all the support threads that have sprung up in response, by more loyal buyers, or new buyers who don't even remember when amazon was aggressively driving etail sells, seeming to need to justify their continued loyalty in the face of more and more criticism and resentment of changes, like the shipping hike and goldbox remodel, it seems more people are starting to notice what the rest of us have seen happening for at least a couple years now.

The add-on program is the biggest waste of shipping and cardboard.. I only used it twice and now I try to avoid it.. a slap in the face for prime users.. this is my 2nd year with prime and in those two years I've seen a lot of changes.. most of them came in the forum of WTH and WTF at the checkout.

Anyways the add-on pieces.. they were both small.. a exhaust gasket for a car way under 1 LB.. more like 0.22 LB and a wire harness for a temp sensor which was like $6 and also way under a pound.. they shipped the tiny exhaust gasket in a large UPS express box and the wire harness in a 3x too big box.. I was way more disgusted of the waste of the boxes more then the price.

Now i just avoid the add-on or I just buy it from a non Amazon shipper.