You Now Have To Spend $150+ On Amazon Fresh To Score Free Delivery

Grocery delivery services experienced massive growth during the early phases of the pandemic. Between March and June 2020, grocery delivery sales increased by 80%, per Statistica, raising the industry's value to $7.2 billion. Just for comparison, the industry was worth only about $1.2 billion in August 2019, so that's an astronomical leap.

Among these grocery delivery services, we have companies we were already familiar with, like Instacart and Shipt, but also grocery stores -– most notably Walmart –- jumping on board with their own delivery options. Of course, we also have Amazon Fresh, which is in a category of its own. This beast of a delivery service utilizes the speed and vast product range of Amazon to get you your groceries the very same day.

However, Amazon Fresh recently increased its minimum for free delivery, and not just by a little. If you're buying groceries for yourself or for a small household, you might be forced to start paying delivery fees.

While we have no doubts that, overall, buying groceries online could be more budget-friendly than shopping in-store, there are a few things to take into consideration. First, you need to keep in mind that your delivery driver deserves a tip, so that's one additional expense. Second, every delivery service has its own set of delivery fee brackets.

Amazon Fresh, for one, just changed its delivery fee brackets by a lot. Per Grocery Dive, Amazon Fresh previously provided free shipping for orders over $35. However, orders now must reach a $150 threshold for free shipping. Orders between $100 and 150 rack up a delivery fee of $3.95; between $50 and $100, a fee of $6.95; and below $50, a fee of $9.95.

This decision was met with frustration, obviously, but also a bit of shade-throwing on Walmart's part. According to Business Insider, Walmart took the opportunity to remind shoppers of its free delivery on orders of $35 or more. In one Tweet, Walmart wrote, "That Fresh $150 free delivery minimum is looking pretty stale right about now." Ouch.