Amazon now requires customers in some areas to spend at least $35 to qualify for free shipping — up from $25
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
- Amazon is testing a new minimum order requirement to get free shipping.
- The company now requires some non-Prime users to spend a minimum of $35, up from $25, to qualify.
- The change comes with holiday shopping and the year's second Amazon Prime Day just around the corner.
It's not a glitch: Amazon is requiring some non-Prime customers to spend more in order to qualify for free shipping.
The company is testing out a $35 minimum, up from $25, for free shipping in some regions, Amazon spokesperson Kristina Pressentin confirmed to Insider in a statement.
"We continually evaluate our offerings and make adjustments based on those assessments," she said. "We're currently testing a $35 minimum for non-Prime customers to qualify for free shipping. Prime members continue to enjoy free delivery on over 300 million items, with tens of millions of items available for free Same or One-Day Delivery."
The change marks an apparent push to get users to pay for Amazon Prime ahead of the holiday shopping season, as well as Amazon's second Prime Day of the year, which is slated for October. Amazon Prime subscribers, who pay $14.99 on a monthly basis or $139 for the year, don't have a minimum spend requirement to receive free two-day shipping.
The first day of Amazon's first Prime Day this year, in July, was its "single largest sales day ever on Amazon."
Amazon's minimum spend for free shipping has fluctuated significantly in the past. The company bumped the requirement from $25 to $35 in 2013 and ultimately went all the way up to $49 in 2016.
Later, it pulled back, lowering the minimum spend to $35 again before finally returning to $25 in 2017 to better compete with Walmart+.
The minimum spend has remained $25 from 2017 until now.