Amazon shipping discrepencies

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Brandon Gatz

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Two cases of Mercon V, 12 quarts totaling 26lbs arrive in 18hrs to Charlotte, NC, from Ontario, CA. Paid $32 per case with free two day shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008MIS...#productDetails

$10 pack of 5 wire hose clamps weighing 5.6oz take 6 days to arrive with Amazon's free two day shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002MPQA50/ref=oh_details_o08_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Weird. Can't imagine how much of loss they are taking on the transmission fluid shipment. To Amazon's credit, each time I've contacted them about a shipment not arriving on time, they've credited $5 to my account.
 
The shipping rates they can negotiate with UPS/FedEx/USPS are incredibly low. They're way way less than what you would pay at a shipping store. Amazon also has a lot of distribution centers that are quite literally down the street from the UPS hub locations. 60 Minutes recently showed how it works.

Economies of scale at work.

I'm sure they do take a hit on a few things, but they are clearly still able to make money on it.
 
I order from Amazon weekly, Most things are fairly close (in my area) to retail store prices, im however not paying taxes.. and im not paying shipping, the past two years ive done almost all my christmas shopping on Amazon.. I love it.
 
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Amazon prime is usually really good with 2 day shipping: however the past 2 weeks have been horrible. I had UPS lose a package, and everything has been delivered late, because of the sheer volume apparently at hubs. Next day shipping on 1/2 things took 3 days lol. It's normally really good here but apparently they've been busy :P
 
Originally Posted By: OtisBlkR1
I order from Amazon weekly, Most things are fairly close (in my area) to retail store prices, im however not paying taxes.. and im not paying shipping, the past two years ive done almost all my christmas shopping on Amazon.. I love it.



In most states you actually have to claim your "out of state" purchases on your tax returns.
 
Ordered a pair of brake rotors with Prime. They both showed up on time and the same day, but one was thru UPS (first!) and the other came Fedex.

IDK where they shipped from, as the return address may not be the sending warehouse.
 
Prime rocks.

Pablo, are you going to sell/do you sell Amsoil on Amazon??
 
Originally Posted By: Nick R
Amazon prime is usually really good with 2 day shipping: however the past 2 weeks have been horrible. I had UPS lose a package, and everything has been delivered late, because of the sheer volume apparently at hubs. Next day shipping on 1/2 things took 3 days lol. It's normally really good here but apparently they've been busy :P


A lot of that is because of the ice/snowmageddon we had.
 
Originally Posted By: dparm

I'm sure they do take a hit on a few things, but they are clearly still able to make money on it.


Amazon has not turned a consistent profit since they have been in business. Most years it is a loss. "Building the consumer base" is what they claim. IMHO it's the last of the irrational exuberance left over from the dot com era.

Some things Amazon is cheaper, most they are about the same as their local competitors when you factor in shipping and/or Prime. The only thing they have going for them is selection. I'd rather pay $5 more for an item and have it TODAY vs waiting and support a local store/company. You know, the ones that employ your neighbors.

If one of the large B&M stores were to get serious about e-commerce, they could crush Amazon. Think about this - you order, say a TV from Best Buy and it shows up in 3 hours! Or you go pick it up. Or BB Ships from the closet location to your house. Totally do-able with their current setup and would kill Amazon.
 
Originally Posted By: dparm
Originally Posted By: OtisBlkR1
I order from Amazon weekly, Most things are fairly close (in my area) to retail store prices, im however not paying taxes.. and im not paying shipping, the past two years ive done almost all my christmas shopping on Amazon.. I love it.



In most states you actually have to claim your "out of state" purchases on your tax returns.


This is true, and I do this. However, I'm guessing most people don't. Correction: I KNOW most people don't.
 
Originally Posted By: Klutch9
Originally Posted By: dparm
Originally Posted By: OtisBlkR1
I order from Amazon weekly, Most things are fairly close (in my area) to retail store prices, im however not paying taxes.. and im not paying shipping, the past two years ive done almost all my christmas shopping on Amazon.. I love it.



In most states you actually have to claim your "out of state" purchases on your tax returns.


This is true, and I do this. However, I'm guessing most people don't. Correction: I KNOW most people don't.


The only way this even gets close to being enforced is with businesses. Ask me how I know. I even asked the auditor why it's not enforced with individuals. She said: "It would cause a revolution". I'm not making this shirt up.

So once again businesses get the shaft. The state calls it "use tax". You are using a purchased product in the state so you owe sales tax. So yes internet purchases are taxed.
 
Originally Posted By: itguy08
If one of the large B&M stores were to get serious about e-commerce, they could crush Amazon. Think about this - you order, say a TV from Best Buy and it shows up in 3 hours! Or you go pick it up. Or BB Ships from the closet location to your house. Totally do-able with their current setup and would kill Amazon.


I do wish the B&M stores would be serious. My experience is they aren't. I ordered a TV from Best Buy a week ago. Ship to store. Was supposed to be in the store today. I called Best Buy customer service yesterday to confirm it would be there today. It was supposedly already there, I should just wait for the email. I got an email at 1:00am this morning saying that it was delayed till Saturday. I called BB customer service again about this delay. They still claim that the TV is in my local store. I got to call the local store now and figure out where my TV is. What a pain.

Amazon would have had it delivered to my door with white glove service by now. I can't speak for their profitability, but I've never been dissapointed by their customer service.
 
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My wife and I use Amazon a lot. Never had a problem with transactions when dealing with them either.

Only times we have had what we thought were slow shipments, both items came from overseas.

I will not, however, buy another Kindle product through them. Not that the Kindle Fire I own is a bad product...Amazon has stopped with upgrading the OS and apps that come standard on the unit. Had one OS upgrade in the last two years of ownership. Who's to say that won't happen with the newer Kindles as new versions come out?

Other than that, Amazon rocks!
 
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I used to buy stuff locally whenever possible just because returns were easier. Recently I had to return a couple things to Amazon and I was amazed how well it went. I just said "I don't want it anymore", and the UPS man was banging on my door with a return label before I could even get the package ready! My replacement item was sent 2 day shipping with a prime labels even though I wasn't a prime member...but I am now!

As for pricing, all of their items change almost daily. Not a great deal today, smokin' deal tomorrow. They do have a 30 day price match policy that they do not publish. Check out thetracktor.com for historical price graphs on Amazon merchandise. Their stuff changes price like oil!
 
Once I ordered several items, including a book and pack of 4 rechargeable AA batteries. That got me over the $25 (at the time) free shipping threshold. When I got it, it was all sent in a cardboard sleeve that looked like it was designed to ship books. It had these long slits in them and I found no batteries although they were on the packing list. I was able to complain via the ordering system, and I was asked to provide specifics. I got a new package within days with the missing item.

Once I did manage to call the almost mythical Amazon 800 number to take care of an issue. My call was picked up on the first ring.
 
Originally Posted By: TWG1572

I do wish the B&M stores would be serious. My experience is they aren't. I ordered a TV from Best Buy a week ago. Ship to store. Was supposed to be in the store today. I called Best Buy customer service yesterday to confirm it would be there today. It was supposedly already there, I should just wait for the email. I got an email at 1:00am this morning saying that it was delayed till Saturday. I called BB customer service again about this delay. They still claim that the TV is in my local store. I got to call the local store now and figure out where my TV is. What a pain.


That is a pain. I've never done ship to store but I'd just call the store first off. That way someone could verify it was there.

What I'm thinking would be like the old Service Merchandise model. 1/2 each store is showroom and 1/2 is warehouse. Internet orders get fulfilled from the warehouse of the closest store. That way most packages are "overnight" but really shipped ground. Smaller items are available for check out - bigger items grab a ticket and it's brought from the back. Combine that with today's great logistics and it could work well. Heck, they have the most expensive part of the whole thing - the real estate!

Doing it that way makes everyone happy - those that hate shopping can buy from the Internet and have it next day without paying extra. Or pay a small fee and have it in a few hours. Shipping costs are controlled as most of it is in the same UPS Zone, etc. Those that want local can go in, play with the stuff and get it today.
 
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