Amazon greenlights 1-hour and 3-hour delivery in select US cities ahead of its spring sale

Have you ever wished that you could simply make a run to the Amazon store instead of waiting *shudders* a business day? Well, Amazon just announced the next best thing — or the first best thing, if you'd prefer to not leave your house: Depending on where you live, three-hour or one-hour Amazon delivery could be a thing now.

Three-hour Amazon delivery is available for folks in more than 2,000 cities and towns in the US, and one-hour Amazon delivery is available in hundreds. (Head to amazon.com/getitfast to see your delivery options.)

Eligible items are the types of things for which you'd typically make a Target run: pantry staples, cleaning supplies, health and beauty items, baby essentials, and over-the-counter medications. Other categories include electronics, toys, clothing and accessories, and home and garden.

The March 17 news comes the week before Amazon's Big Spring Sale kicks off on March 25 (and runs through March 31). A huge chunk of items in the categories we just listed will be on sale.

You don't need to be a Prime member to get access to most Big Spring Deals, nor do you have to be a Prime member to get one-hour or three-hour delivery as an option. However, speedy delivery is much cheaper for Prime members: One-hour costs $9.99 with Prime or $19.99 without Prime, and three-hour costs $4.99 with Prime or $14.99 without Prime.

It'd be nice if Amazon revived its free $5 delivery driver tip from the holidays in honor of this new delivery milestone. But either way, don't forget to tip your driver.