Amazon Shipping Up, PayPal Shipping Down
It was announced yesterday and good old Amazon, king of us all, is now raising the free shipping eligibility from $25.00 or more to $35.00 or more. And this comes right before the holiday season.
While Amazon doesn’t detail why it chose to increase the order minimum, the decision could be a matter of increased shipping costs and an interest in positioning its Prime service as a more attractive option.
I once ordered book plates from Amazon that cost about $6.00. To have them shipped Amazon, king of us all, charged me $12.00.
PayPal, on the other hand, sent out e-mails today stating that they are doing a new Free 2-day shipping thing.
From my inbox:
| Congratulations! For a limited time, as a valued PayPal member, you qualify for free 2-day shipping at some of the nation’s most popular retailers. Simply pay with PayPal to automatically receive free 2-day shipping on your next purchase. |
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| Faster shipping just got easier. |
| – No minimum purchase, no fees, no coupon codes or hidden charges |
| – Check out with PayPal to automatically receive free 2-day shipping |
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| Act now because this offer is only available for a limited time at select merchants! |
I actually do use PayPal often because I get paid by several publishers outside the US through PayPal to save time and money on checking and snail mail.
It’s interesting to note that Amazon, king of us all, does NOT allow customers to use PayPal as a preferred means of payment.
I highly suggest, from many years of Internet shopping, you stay as far away from Amazon as possible and check out all the other web sites that are available and perfectly safe to use nowadays. I just ordered something from Sallybeauty.com and they now have an even more secure method of payment. And I purchased my iPad directly from WalMart.com and got the best deal around (even better than with a friend’s discount who works for Apple), the shipping was free, and the product arrived within two days at my front door.
I just hope I get to see the FTC checking Amazon out, sooner rather than later, and not only with regard to their fake book review policy.
Gay Couple Found Dead
They are calling this a freak accident, and it truly is one of the worst I’ve ever heard. A gay couple who were arguing slipped and fell to their deaths at a construction site as a result.
When they leaned against a wooden barrier, they fell into the basement area. This is where they died. Meads’ father Stephen said the police had told the family the deaths were a ‘freak accident’ and were not considering taking action against the development company. –