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Amazon Free Shipping minimum is now $49

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Re: Amazon Free Shipping minimum is now $49

#181

Post by norea-armozel »

rpgmaker wrote: post #170
norea-armozel wrote: post #161

All I can say about Amazon is the quality of the item selection has gone down so much that most times I take my time digging through reviews to ensure the padded 4 star rating isn't done by bots because I've bought some items that were 4 star rated only to find they were utter crap later. And this is only in the last two years for Amazon. I'm not sure what's happening but I can say that I'm looking closer to home for…

Their site is unbearably bloated with scripts and whatnot, I don't know why more people don't complain about that. The site is also filled with dishonest merchants peddling their misrepresented wares on it. I've had more issues with merchants on Amazon than on ebay.

I noticed that as well when trying to run their full site even on the Kindle Fire HDX. Luckily, it seems less of a problem since it seems to fall back to some less intensive setup, but if I go on Firefox or Chrome then it behaves oddly at times. I think Bezos needs to issue another edict against the "new hotness" when it comes to JS and UI libs for websites. IMO, less is more when it comes to making a website. But maybe I just have some weird extensions that don't play nice with some of those libs, who knows.

Re: Amazon Free Shipping minimum is now $49

#182

Post by CydeWeys »

frik wrote: post #33
kdamken wrote: post #7

They are really trying to force you into signing up for prime, aren't they? I cancelled my prime subscription at the start of the year. Some thoughts: - I buy less stuff on impulse. Since the price limit is (or was) $35 for free shipping, I usually have to wait until there are enough things I really want/need before ordering. - The pricing is often better other places. Normally Amazon's non prime price will be compar…

The Prime-nag-screen on every checkout is so annoying as well. The "no thanks" cancel link is very small and changed its location the last few months. Increasing the delivery time just to introduce Prime (I lived in an early test region of Prime back then). Loyal customers that buy from the online shop since 1999, don't count anymore. If I as customer decide that I don't want your subscription service, better respect…

Amazon uses a surprising number of dark UI patterns considering how solid their market dominance is. And they really push their branded credit cards, too. I'm not interested and I never have been, but I've still been forced to turn these offers down for more than ten years now.

Re: Amazon Free Shipping minimum is now $49

#183

Post by aembleton »

lucaspiller wrote: post #108
Gustomaximus wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The average cost to handle a parcel was about $8 last year. Thats still Amazing low cost considering what has to be done to deliver a parcel. Though I'm more surprised Amazon hasn't set up an Argos style business in high density cities. For those that dont know Argos it's in the UK and its basically a collection shopfront with catalogues infromt of the counter. You browse the catalogue, write down the numbers and s…

I can't help but think the days are numbered for Argos. Since internet retailers have come along (which are usually a lot cheaper) the only real reason to buy from them is if you need something now rather than next day or in a few days. At the same time supermarkets have expanded into selling the same sort of products that Argos sells (small appliances, electronics, toys, etc). I can't find any numbers on Argos itsel…

I don't think their days are numbered. I find them to be pretty competitive price wise against the likes of Amazon, with the advantage that I can get the item right now. Like you said, that applies to supermarkets, but if for example I wanted to purchase a kettle in my local Sainsburys I don't think they have a website that lets me check out reviews and order for my local store. I'm sure they could delver something but so could Amazon.

Also, if you order before 6PM you can get same day delivery: http://www.argos.co.uk/static/ArgosPromo3/includeName/fast-t... and they cover much more of the country than Amazon PrimeNow service. It's service like this that makes me think Argos are seriously fighting back against Amazon now.

Re: Amazon Free Shipping minimum is now $49

#185

Post by freehunter »

x0x0 wrote: post #64
kdamken wrote: post #7

They are really trying to force you into signing up for prime, aren't they? I cancelled my prime subscription at the start of the year. Some thoughts: - I buy less stuff on impulse. Since the price limit is (or was) $35 for free shipping, I usually have to wait until there are enough things I really want/need before ordering. - The pricing is often better other places. Normally Amazon's non prime price will be compar…

I have a different reaction. I view prime plus the occasional markup as a convenience fee. I'm paying to not spend an hour to 90 minutes of my life driving to the (poorly stocked) Target near me, hunting for the item I want that they may or may not have in stock, checking out, and driving back home. And I'm ok with that.

And to add to that, I'm not hunting around the Internet for the best deal, because I don't want to hand my card number out to everyone online. I'm willing to pay a little more to know who has my credit card number and who doesn't. The time it takes me to cancel a card, get a new one, and change all my auto-payments to reflect the new card is worth a few dollars more.

I didn't get a Raspberry Pi at launch because I had never heard of RS Components or Element 14, and I sure as hell wasn't given my card number to someone I didn't know. If it's not on Amazon, Newegg, Sparkfun, or Adafruit, I don't need it.

Re: Amazon Free Shipping minimum is now $49

#186

Post by parka »

I live in Singapore and the free shipping to my country is USD $125.

Sometimes I really wonder how they make money when the items they ship are so heavy.

In my country, the shipping cost would easily be 2 to 3 times what Amazon would charge for their paid standard shipping. E.g. The box that I received recently would have cost USD $30-50 to ship from my country to USA. They either have a fantastic shipping deal or they really have deep wallets, the latter is probably true.

Re: Amazon Free Shipping minimum is now $49

#187

Post by emodendroket »

PixelB wrote: post #157
Klathmon wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it's the amount of spam i'm getting asking for reviews. One of the big reasons i shop with amazon is so i know that i don't need to deal with making another account, giving someone else my CC info, getting relentless spam email every week telling me to buy more. But now sellers are using the "contact customer" system to beg for reviews, and it's starting to get annoying enough that i want to avoid amazon. Just…

I tend to give negative product reviews when harassed by the sellers like this. In my opinion, the review should also be reflective of the company making/selling the product.

The same product is often sold by multiple sellers, though.

Re: Amazon Free Shipping minimum is now $49

#188

Post by aembleton »

AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #163
DiabloD3 wrote: post #129

Since everyone is sharing their Amazon stories, I shall add mine: Story 1: Buying the brand of catfood I do is cheaper through Amazon. I'd buy seven 24 can cases (one of each flavor) every 6 months or so, qualifying for the 15% subscribe and save bonus, plus charge it to my Amazon store card, getting another 5% on top of that. Local stores charge $25 a case, Amazon averages out to a little more than $22 or so a case…

I feel as if these horror stories are why Amazon wants to get heavily into the shipping/delivery/freight industries these days. They can't rely on the shipping services currently available to handle their wares reliably and professionally.

Amazon are involved in the delivery here in the UK under the name Amazon Logistics. They are terrible and are clearly putting minimum cost above all other factors.

Re: Amazon Free Shipping minimum is now $49

#189

Post by aniket_ray »

danielconde wrote: post #17

It seems that Jet.com (Ana Amazon-like competitor, I haven't used them yet, so don't know the experience) has a $35 threshold for 2 to 5 day free-shipping.

I've been comparing and buying on either Jet or Amazon recentlly. As a result, I've been buying on Jet more frequently. Jet has a smaller selection but they usually have a good enough range on the price-value curve that it's not a big problem. Like for like, they are indeed cheaper than Amazon and free 2 day delivery is always a plus. Of course their model is lower prices with a bit more delayed deliveries.

Re: Amazon Free Shipping minimum is now $49

#190

Post by emodendroket »

x0x0 wrote: post #64
kdamken wrote: post #7

They are really trying to force you into signing up for prime, aren't they? I cancelled my prime subscription at the start of the year. Some thoughts: - I buy less stuff on impulse. Since the price limit is (or was) $35 for free shipping, I usually have to wait until there are enough things I really want/need before ordering. - The pricing is often better other places. Normally Amazon's non prime price will be compar…

I have a different reaction. I view prime plus the occasional markup as a convenience fee. I'm paying to not spend an hour to 90 minutes of my life driving to the (poorly stocked) Target near me, hunting for the item I want that they may or may not have in stock, checking out, and driving back home. And I'm ok with that.

Yeah, spending hours to save ten bucks here and there doesn't appeal to me.
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