In a move which is surely aimed to convince more people to subscribe to its Prime service, e-commerce giant, Amazon, has announced yet another increase in the minimum amount that customers will have to spend in a single transaction in order to get their items delivered free of charge.

CNET reports that only orders of $49 (£34) or more will be eligible for free shipping, a stark increase on the original lower limit of £10, which was enforced up until 2013.

Amazon Prime lets people order as many items as they like via safe shopping online and receive free delivery on everything over the course of the year, provided they are willing to pay the current £79 annual fee.

At the moment, Amazon spends billions in order to provide shipping for products, so as well as encouraging more people to commit to a Prime account, the company is looking to reduce its current bill for providing free deliveries to customers in many countries around the world.

Last year, Amazon was responsible for selling over half of all the products purchased online internationally, meaning that when it makes a change to its service it can have a significant impact. And with the minimum order amount for free delivery rising yet again, it looks like it is sending a clear message to customers.

Interestingly, the only products which will not be subject to this price increase are books, which will retain the current $25 (£18) minimum spend. So for people who are still using Amazon to order the items which first helped to popularise its e-commerce service in the 1990s, the expense of shopping with the company is not going to rise as significantly as for those who purchase more from other categories.