Comment 15NPR Re: Point of reference

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Amazon increases free shipping minimum order to $49

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Point of reference (Score: 1)

by fnj@pipedot.org on 2016-02-25 08:55 (#1539A)

$50 happens to be the cutoff for Walmart online, too. And for quite a few other places.

The skyrocketing cost of shipping is a real problem for everybody. It really frosts me to order ten bucks worth of tea leaves or electronic parts and then have shipping to double the cost to me.

Re: Point of reference (Score: 2, Informative)

by evilviper@pipedot.org on 2016-02-29 09:17 (#15FSB)

$50 happens to be the cutoff for Walmart online, too.
Walmart also offers free $0 in-store pickup on ALMOST anything you can order online. No such option with Amazon.

Target is just $25 for free shipping. Sears/Kmart is at $35. Frys.com is still $34 to get free shipping.

Of course many 3rd party sellers listed on Amazon have free shipping included in the price, with no minimum order size, but Amazon commonly sells the item much cheaper, if they have it available at all.

Re: Point of reference (Score: 1)

by fnj@pipedot.org on 2016-03-01 00:19 (#15JMD)

Walmart also offers free $0 in-store pickup on ALMOST anything you can order online.
I find it nowhere near "almost everything"; also the nearest Walmart to me is over 50 miles away and I haven't driven that far in years. Finally, Walmart is closing stores and emphasizing online ordering these days.

Re: Point of reference (Score: 1)

by evilviper@pipedot.org on 2016-03-01 19:21 (#15NPR)

Walmart is closing stores and emphasizing online ordering these days.
Walmart is only closing 3 percent of its US locations... A tiny figure. And that's after a building boom, where they were putting new Walmarts EVERYWHERE. 66 percent of the store closures are their "smallest-format [convenience] stores called Walmart Express". Nearly all (95 percent) "of the stores set to be closed in the U.S. are within 10 miles of another Walmart." There are 4 Walmarts within just 12 miles of my location. And as I said, ordering online doesn't preclude picking up your online order in-store, for free. Not to mention the many other retailers with lower free-shipping thresholds.

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