Reuters recently reported that Amazon.com is now offering customers $10 to pick up a purchase vs having it shipped to a home address. But that offer isn't a new one, according to an Amazon spokeswoman. It's an ongoing marketing campaign that's been around for two years.
“We offer customers a variety of ways to get their packages, inclusive of delivery and pickup options,” said Maria Boschetti from Amazon. “The $10 Amazon Pickup promotion isn’t new, it’s a long running program as a benefit to customers who want to try a convenient and secure offering to pick up their packages.”
The $10 promotion is not a cost-cutting measure, as was reported, but rather a campaign targeting customers who have either never used Amazon Pickup or haven’t used a pickup in the last 12 months. Both offers have a minimum order requirement of $25.
Amazon has separately started charging some customers a $1 fee if they return packages via a UPS store when there is an Amazon pickup/return location closer to their delivery address, a change first reported by The Information.
Late last year, Amazon hiked the price of its annual Prime subscription (which includes free shipping benefits) by $20 to $139. It also has raised minimum order thresholds for free grocery delivery.
