Amazon gives non-Prime members free shipping at $35 or more of eligible items. Instead of simply letting users get the product with free shipping, they’ve added a discount that prices it exactly one cent below the $35 limit, while only subsidizing the price with $3.38, which is about half of what they’ll then charge you for shipping.
Oh, so that the reason for the random discounts I’ve been seeing lately? Well I never buy anything unless it’s above the minimum for free shipping and so far it hasn’t affected me (not that I buy often anyway )