Amazon free delivery minimum spend could be doubled

Cheapest delivery service has been getting steadily more expensive, apparently in part to push people towards Amazon Prime

A worker gathers items for delivery from the warehouse floor at Amazon's distribution center in Phoenix, Arizona. (REUTERS/Ralph D. Freso )

Amazon users could soon have to spend twice as much to get free delivery on the service.

Reports from some who claimed to have seen emails sent to Amazon’s associates said that the site was set to double its price last night. But the change does not appear to have gone through, with minimum delivery still set at £10.

If users want to get free delivery, they will have to spend £20 or sign up to the £79-per-year Amazon Prime subscription service, Engadget reported that the emails said. Amazon didn’t give a reason for the increase, though pushing people towards Prime and the increased costs of its delivery service are likely to have played a part.

The site once posted everything that orders bought for free, whatever the price. But in 2013 it introduced the £10 minimum spend and the doubled price is now in effect.

If orders are below £20, Amazon users must pay for first-class postage. That costs between roughly £2 and £5 depending on the size and kind of item.

Amazon Prime customers get free delivery — which is next day, as opposed to the three to five day delivery time on Super Saver — and also get access to its Instant Video TV and film streaming service and the Kindle Lending Library for free books, as well as other features. It costs £79 a year but can be tried with a free subscription, which has been criticised for being difficult to cancel.