NEW YORK -- Amazon has been quietly raising the amount some customers must spend on its site to get free shipping.
To qualify for no-cost deliveries, some Amazon customers who don't have Prime memberships now need to spend US$35, up from US$25 previously.
Amazon spokesperson Kristina Pressentin confirmed the company is testing the new qualification, which was first reported by the blog eCommerce Bytes. The change doesn't impact Prime members who pay US$14.99 per month, or US$139 a year, for free shipping and other perks.
"We continually evaluate our offerings and make adjustments based on those assessments," Pressentin said.
For now, the new US$35 minimum seems to apply to customers based on where they live, the consumer education website Consumer World said Monday. Among other cities, it noted Seattle, where Amazon is headquartered, has a US$25 minimum, while non-Prime customers in nearby Bellevue have to pay US$35 for free shipping.
The move comes as the online retail giant works to cut costs across different areas of its business. The company has cut more than 27,000 corporate jobs in the past year and axed areas of its business that haven't been delivering. Earlier this year, it stopped free grocery delivery for Prime members on orders less than $150.
In the past, Amazon has raised the threshold order amount for free shipping as high as US$49. It lowered it to US$25 in 2017 as Walmart was ramping up its ecommerce operations.
