Tutorial - Why don't I get free shipping?

This is one of the most common questions asked. There are many reasons why your cart doesn't qualify. First, let's get the most obvious reasons out of the way. According to Amazon, in order to qualify, you need to satisfy at least the following criteria -

• Have > $125 (USD) worth of qualifying products in your shopping cart
• AmazonGlobal Eligible
• Ships to a single address in Singapore or India
• Items must not weigh > 20 lbs or be over-sized

Let's take a look at them one at a time.

The first one is easy to spot. Does your cart adds up to > $125? Sometimes amidst all the excitement, you can forget about this one.

The second one can be tedious. You'll need to go into every single one of the items and look at the product description. First, make sure the item is sold by Amazon, and not other third party merchants. There should be a line (just underneath the price) that says 'Ships from and sold by Amazon.com'. If it says anything else, then it's not sold by Amazon.com and will not qualify.

Next, you can also look under the Product Details. There will be a line which says 'Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.'

99% of the time, this will mean the item can be shipped to Singapore.

Third, make sure you don't split up the shipment, or otherwise choose 'I want my items faster. Ship items as they become available'. These will surely incur additional charges.

Lastly, there is a weight limit. Shipping heavy or bulky items cost serious money and Amazon is not stupid to do it for free. Items that weigh over 20lb will not qualify. Otherwise, folks will be shipping dumbbells over. Over-sized items, like baby prams or Samsonite Luggage don't qualify! How do you know if the item is over-sized? Again, look under the Product Details. If you see this :

"Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply."

Then the item is over-sized and you will not get free shipping to Singapore (or India). The 'Additional shipping charges will not apply' is only applicable for shipping within the US so you can ignore that.

If, after going through this check-list, you are still hit with a charge, there's 2 things you can do. First, you can start a friendly chat with the Customer Service Officers (CSO) and ask them if they know why it doesn't qualify and try your luck to see if they can waive it. Or, you can just send the item to a freight forwarder, like vPost, Borderlinx or ComGateway.

Sometimes, there'll be glitches in the system that prevents you from getting the free shipping option, maybe because the items are not setup correctly for it. Only Amazon will know and there's really nothing you can do about it.