New Amazon shipping costs – December 2016
In December 2016 Amazon increased its shipping fees in many categories, to 3.99 Euros from 3 Euros previously. In some cases, shipping fees on Amazon can be up to 40% higher.
Price increase of up to 40% for Amazon shipping costs
In November 2016 Amazon announced a price increase for its Prime service. The annual fee for an Amazon Prime subscription increased on February 1, 2016 from 49 to 69 Euros. Now the online mail-order company has also increased its shipping fees. Especially for non-Prime customers, the fees for shipping and delivery have significantly increased, by up to 40%.
Standard shipping for media products, food, drugstore items, Amazon devices, and fashion and sports apparel remains at 3 Euros, but for all other products standard shipping has increased to 3.99 Euros. This represents an increase of 33%. Even premium shipping has increased markedly, from 6 to 7.99 Euros.
The largest increase is for Morning Express, which has gone from 9.99 to 13.99 Euros, an incrase of 40%.
Amazon shipping costs for Prime customers
Amazon Prime customers are unaffected by this increase, since shipping costs are included in the annual fee. But here is a somewhat comical exception.
A Prime customer ordering through Morning Express pays 5 Euros per item; non-Prime customers pay 13.99 Euros – not per item, but per shipment.
Amazon shipping costs – delivery within Germany
| Shipping method | Shipping fees for Amazon Prime-members | Shipping fees without an Amazon Prime membership |
| Standard shipping for media products (books, DVD & Blu-ray, CDs & vinyl, software, games and consoles), drugstore items, food, Amazon devices, fashion and sports apparel (delivery 1-2 business days after shipping) | free | 3 EUR per shipment ** (only for orders under 29 EUR and not for items we generally ship for free) |
| Standard shipping for products in electronics & computer, household, garden, DIY, sports & leisure, auto & motorcycle; and shipments containing these products (delivery 1-2 business days after shipping) | free | 3.99 EUR per shipment ** (only for orders under 29 EUR and not for items we generally ship for free) |
| Premium shipping
(delivery on the business day after shipping) |
free | 7.99 EUR per shipment ** |
| Premium shipping long-distance
(delivery 2 business days after shipping) |
free | 7.99 EUR per shipment ** |
| Morning-Express
(delivery by noon on the next business day) |
5 EUR per item | 13.99 EUR per shipment ** |
| Same-day (Evening-Express)
(same-day delivery between 6-9:00 PM) |
Free for orders over 20 EUR, otherwise 5 EUR per item | 13.99 EUR per shipment ** |
| Special shipping for youth-restricted items, including:
Correspondingly labeled movies and PC & video games; e-cigarettes, e-shishas, and their accessories (e.g. liquids) (delivery 1-2 business days after shipping) |
5 EUR per shipment for PC & video games**
3 EUR per shipment for e-cigarettes, e-shishas, and their accessories |
5 EUR per shipment for PC & video games**
3 EUR per shipment for e-cigarettes, e-shishas, and their accessories |
| Special shipping for high-value products
(delivery 1 business day after shipping) |
free | free |
| Requested-date delivery for packages | 2.99 EUR per shipment | Not available |
| Standard delivery of large devices (delivery date to be arranged with shipper) | Free for Monday-Friday deliveries | Free for Monday-Friday deliveries |
| Requested-date delivery for large devices
(desired delivery date according to scheduler) |
Free for Monday-Friday deliveries from 7 AM – 6 PM;
33 EUR for deliveries from 6 PM – 9 PM 25 EUR for Saturday deliveries from 8 AM – 5 PM |
Free for Monday-Friday deliveries from 7 AM – 6 PM;
33 EUR for deliveries from 6 PM – 9 PM 25 EUR for Saturday deliveries from 8 AM – 5 PM |
| Amazon Pantry | 2.99 EUR per Amazon Pantry Box | Not available |
Amazon free shipping
As an Amazon Prime customer you can order just about anything on Amazon.de and get free shipping: apparel, electronics, books, decorations, home and consumer electronics, jewelry, shoes, and many, many more products in different categories.
In general, Amazon.de orders can be processed for free according to the following guidelines.
Amazon free shipping within Germany
Item |
|
| Standard shipping
No order minimum |
Books (including audio books and calendars), Kindle*** |
| Standard shipping
Over 29 EUR order total |
All items* |
| Premium shipping for members of | All items which can be shipped with Prime |
Amazon shipping costs by combining with books
The combination of any article from the Amazon range, with an article from the category books, for deliveries by standard shipping within Germany and for deliveries by standard shipping to Austria, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland also no shipping costs Amazon calculated.
Additional information about deliveries and Amazon shipping costs within Germany
The delivery time information only applies to articles with the availability information “in stock”.
* If the product is shipped from a shipping center outside of Germany, delivery of the item may take up to 2 additional days. This is stated at the delivery date in the order summary.
** In some cases, Amazon combines articles from multiple orders into one delivery.
*** Amazon Kindle devices can currently only be sent to delivery addresses in Germany, Austria and Luxembourg. For delivery to these countries, there are no shipping costs with standard and premium shipping.
Costs regardless of price or quantity of ordered items.
The applicable value added tax is included in the shipping costs. If you are a VAT registered customer with German shipping address, then the article is delivered without sales tax from Amazon and the rules of intra-community delivery apply.