Black Friday 2018's free shipping wars: Amazon vs. Walmart vs. Target vs. Best Buy

By James Ellis/ValuePenguin

Santa Claus may not be real, but millions of shoppers every Christmas try to live up to the jolly fella's kind-hearted spirit by making sure nobody is left disappointed by what they find under the tree or in the stocking. While everyone else enjoys their eggnog and the billionth viewing of "A Christmas Story" in the run-up to the big day, last-minute shoppers spam the "refresh" button on their browser to see if the packages filled with Yuletide joy will arrive by the 25th.

Now retailers -- most recently e-commerce giant Amazon -- have started offering free shipping policies to help procrastinators get their gifts on-time without emptying their bank accounts or overcharging their credit cards.

Amazon's holiday shipping deal

Outside of the holiday season, Amazon offers free shipping on orders of $25 or more, or to anyone with an Amazon Prime account (which costs $119 a year, or $12.99 a month). The retailer has given a gift of its own to all Amazon customers by waiving that $25 minimum for free shipping on hundreds of millions of products across all of its store's categories.

However, those who really drag their heels when it comes to holiday shopping should know that this free shipping only applies to the standard delivery speed of five to eight days.

Prime members, who already enjoy free two-day shipping, have free same-day delivery to look forward to during this holiday promotion, which runs from Nov. 5 until when Amazon can no longer guarantee packages sent via standard shipping will arrive in time for Christmas (likely five to eight days before the 25th).

Who else is giving the gift of free shipping?

Amazon's decision to expand its free shipping policy comes at a time of year when other major e-commerce retailers are deploying similar tactics in a bid to attract holiday shoppers. Here's the current lay of the land for those planning on having Christmas delivered to their doorsteps:

This article originally appeared on ValuePenguin

In:
• Best Buy
• Amazon
• E-Commerce
• Walmart
• Amazon Prime