But now they'd have to pay extra on top of their purchase. People who have SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) debit cards can order via Fresh even without a Prime subscription, making it a good (and in some cases, the only) option for people with disabilities. Amazon has started notifying customers via email about the new service fees, and some social media users are pointing out how outrageous the price jump is to get free delivery.Ĭustomers have come to rely on Amazon Fresh for grocery deliveries when the pandemic started, including folks on the government's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program. But as it is, customers will end up paying more anyway - a lot of people can't afford its $150 minimum requirement these days, and those who can may not be able to consume everything they bought before they go bad or are no longer, well, fresh. Since the Fresh service is only available to subscribers already paying for Amazon Prime, which raised its annual fee to $139 from $119 last year, it will become a much pricier option by the time March arrives.īased on that statement, Amazon could jack up grocery prices if it doesn't charge delivery fees. If a customer's items come up to less than $50, they'll have to pay a whopping $10. As The Verge has noticed, the e-commerce giant has updated its Fresh grocery page to note that only orders worth above $150 will be delivered for free within a two-hour window by the end of next month.Īmazon will deliver orders between $100 and $150 for $4, while orders between $50 and $100 will incur a $7 service charge. But starting on February 28th, people would have to add a lot more items to their cart if they don't want to pay extra to get their order delivered to their doorstep. It's a reasonable and pretty affordable minimum purchase requirement, even for those live alone.

At the moment, Amazon Prime customers can enjoy free grocery delivery via the company's Fresh service for checkouts worth $35 and above.

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