Free Shipping on Black Friday: Which Retailers Offer It?

Several major retailers will ship free on Black Friday, and the two cheapest routes are a store with no minimum at all — Zappos — or a store where membership removes the minimum, such as Amazon with Prime, Walmart with Walmart+, Best Buy with My Best Buy, and REI with a Co-op membership. For everyone shopping without a membership, the common threshold is $35: that is the free-shipping floor at Amazon, Target, and Best Buy, while Kohl's is running a lowered $25 threshold for its Black Friday event. "Free shipping threshold" means the merchandise subtotal you have to reach before the retailer drops the delivery fee, and it is usually measured before tax.

The numbers below come from each retailer's own shipping or event pages, but several of those pages are years old and at least one retailer is advertising two different thresholds at once — so treat these as what to expect at checkout, not as a locked price.

Verification note: Program terms and availability can change. This page was checked against linked sources on November 13, 2026.

The retailers with no minimum at all

Zappos is the simplest case. The company states it ships every order placed on its site free of charge, with no minimum order size and no special exceptions, covering the United States, U.S. territories, and military APO/FPO addresses, according to Zappos' shipping and delivery page.

Nothing about that depends on Black Friday, which also means there is no holiday deadline attached to it. Amazon drops the minimum for Prime members, who get free delivery on more than 300 million items across 35-plus categories. Non-members have to spend at least $35 per order on items fulfilled and shipped by Amazon, and that free option typically takes five to eight days — a real constraint if you are buying a gift, not a stocking filler.

Both figures come from Amazon's own free delivery explainer. Walmart+ members get free next-day and two-day shipping with no order minimum, but only on items sold or shipped by Walmart itself. Marketplace-seller, freight, oversized, and international orders are excluded, and a non-member pays a $6.99 fee on Walmart.com orders under $35.

Why Kohl's shows two different thresholds

Kohl's Black Friday event page advertises free shipping with a $25 purchase and sets the event window as online Thursday, Nov. 26 at 12:01 a.m. CT and in store Friday, Nov.

27 at 5 a.m. local time. That is a lowered bar specifically tied to the event.

At the same time, Kohl's category pages for the same event — Home, Fragrances, and LEGO among them — state "Free shipping with $49 purchase," and the retailer's help page lists $8.95 standard shipping on orders between $0 and $49, per Kohl's shipping charges page. Both are live at once. The practical reading: which threshold you get depends on which promotion is attached to your cart, not on which page you landed from.

If your subtotal sits between $25 and $49, add the items and check the shipping line before you pay — that is the only place the answer is settled.

The $35 tier, and what it excludes

Target ships free on orders of $35 or more in merchandise, measured before tax and promotions, and also on any order paid with a Target Circle Card or placed by a Target Circle 360 member. Below $35, standard shipping is $5.99. Note the "before promotions" wording: a coupon that drops your subtotal under $35 does not cost you the free shipping.

Best Buy works the opposite way on that detail. Its $35 free-shipping minimum is calculated *after* coupons and before taxes, so a discount can push you below the line. Members of My Best Buy, My Best Buy Plus, or My Best Buy Total skip the minimum entirely, and Best Buy Marketplace products never qualify — details stated on Best Buy's free shipping help page.

Marketplace exclusions are the trap worth naming twice. At Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy, the free-shipping promise covers the retailer's own inventory, not third-party sellers listing on the same site. A cart that looks like one order can be two shipments with two sets of rules.

When paying for membership is the cheaper move

REI gives Co-op members free U.S. standard shipping with no minimum order, while non-members need $100 or more. The Co-op membership is a one-time $30 lifetime fee, which makes it the cheapest route to no-minimum shipping among the retailers checked here — the terms are on REI's free shipping page.

Macy's ties free shipping to loyalty tier rather than to the holiday. Platinum and Gold Star Rewards members have no minimum, Bronze and Silver members need $39, and everyone else needs $49; below the applicable threshold the charge is $10.95. A quick way to decide before you shop:

• Buying one item under $35 — check Zappos or a store where you already hold the membership
• Buying from Amazon without Prime — reach $35, or use the second-order workaround in the next section
• Buying over $100 at REI as a non-member — the $30 lifetime Co-op membership pays for itself against the $100 minimum on the first order and keeps working after
• Buying at Best Buy with a coupon — apply the coupon first and re-check whether the subtotal still clears $35
• Buying anything from a marketplace seller — expect separate shipping terms

Amazon's second-order window

If you are shopping Amazon without Prime, "Extended Free Shipping" lets you place a second order within 24 hours of a qualifying order with no minimum of its own, provided it ships to the same address. Amazon's customer service page sets out the terms. For Black Friday that is a concrete tactic: clear $35 on the first cart, then come back for the small add-ons you spotted afterward rather than padding the order to reach the threshold again.

Check the figure at checkout, not the policy page

The ages of these pages vary widely. Best Buy's is roughly six years old, and the Zappos and Nordstrom FAQs are around four years old — old enough that a quiet change would not show up in the wording. Nordstrom is the clearest example of a page that shifted.

Its current shipping page promises free standard shipping but, unlike Zappos, no longer states a no-minimum guarantee, and it excludes international orders and Nordstrom Rack stores. And the Kohl's $25-versus-$49 split shows thresholds can move during the event itself. Re-check every figure here on the shipping line of your own cart on Nov.

27.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does free shipping mean free returns?

No. These policies cover outbound delivery only; return shipping is a separate policy at every retailer listed.

Is the free-shipping threshold calculated before or after a coupon?

It depends on the store. Target measures merchandise before tax and promotions, so a coupon will not drop you below $35, while Best Buy calculates its $35 minimum after coupons.

Will free shipping arrive before Christmas?

Free standard shipping is the slowest option — Amazon says its non-member free delivery typically takes five to eight days, and Black Friday volume is the heaviest of the year. Check each retailer's stated holiday delivery cutoff for the shipping speed you select.