Amazon customers in the UK are facing a price hike to the company's Super Saver Delivery today, when the minimum spend is set to increase from £10 to £20 in order to get your goods without paying extra for the postman to drop them at your door.
Amazon hasn't given an official reason for this latest price increase, but it's possible the move is aiming to cover some of the costs associated with its other delivery options, including delivery to a local post office or to Amazon Lockers stationed in supermarkets, office buildings and London underground stations. It will almost certainly encourage some customers to pay £79 for Amazon Prime, which includes next day delivery on thousands of items available on the Amazon, along with Prime Instant Video streaming services (which will soon start streaming in 4K), cloud storage, the Kindle lending library and other Amazon-related incentives.
This isn't the first time Amazon has increased its delivery prices; originally Super Saver Delivery was completely free, taking 3-5 working days for your purchases to make their way through the Royal Mail postal system. However, a £10 minimum spend was introduced in July 2013, meaning many DVD, CD, Blu-ray and game purchases no longer qualified for free delivery.
You might not think this change will affect you, and depending on your Amazon spending habits it may not, but if you're an impulse buyer looking to add to the movie or music collection, you could end up spending a considerable amount. In fact, if you made 19 separate orders under £20 on Amazon last year you would actually be saving money by upgrading to Amazon Prime.
If you don't like the sound of doubling down on purchases just to get them delivered for free, you have until 6PM UK time to get your orders in and qualify for the reduced rate. Reading this after 6? Sorry, that'll be £20 please.