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Amazon Has Transformed the Hasidic Economy

nytimes.com

111–120 of 175 posts

Re: Amazon Has Transformed the Hasidic Economy

#111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon seller here. Amazon doesn't make funds available for disbursement until 7 days after delivery. At that point funds are available for disbursement, but they aren't necessarily disbursed. Seller accounts created before 2011 have what are called daily disbursements: the seller has a button they can click once every 24 hours that will disburse all available funds. Most sellers accounts opened since then have bi-we…

God I hate the word bi-weekly; if you hadn't specified 14 days I would've thought it was twice a week. "bi-weekly" is never the right word to use because you always have to add additional information that makes it redundant.

Biweekly is twice per week just like biannually is twice per anum.

Fortnightly and biennially are 'every other'.

Re: Amazon Has Transformed the Hasidic Economy

#112

Does the Hasidic community have any advantages in the reseller market? With some of their traditional businesses, such as the diamond trade they do: evaluating gems, connections for sourcing stones, etc.

It's not so much an advantage as a drawback; big families led by people with no formal (in the what society expects sense; Talmudic study is quite formal) education and strict gender roles. They also have to drop everything and pray three times per day so I don't know how well that jives with "normal" career. What I got out of it is they spend a lot of time doing intensive Talmud studies, and perhaps that teaches dis…

1) I doubt the NYC merchandise itself is the advantage, rather it is the concentration of Hasidic entrepreneurs which provides invaluable networks.

2) The need to support a growing family from a young age with no formal education, propels many to try their hand at business.

Re: Amazon Has Transformed the Hasidic Economy

#113
post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

God I hate the word bi-weekly; if you hadn't specified 14 days I would've thought it was twice a week. "bi-weekly" is never the right word to use because you always have to add additional information that makes it redundant.

Biweekly is twice per week just like biannually is twice per anum. Fortnightly and biennially are 'every other'.

The fact that the parent comment used Biweekly to mean 14 days seems to suggest that it's not unambiguous.

Re: Amazon Has Transformed the Hasidic Economy

#114
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I wonder if the vendor gets his money earlier from Amazon if he delivered it faster No - Amazon pays sellers every other week.

This is not necessarily true. Some sellers can request disbursement at any time. For a breakdown of when Amazon pays sellers, see [0]. In this case, the only delay is the 7 day holding period after the latest possible delivery date. For example, if you sell and deliver a product on Jan 1st, you may be able to disburse the funds as soon as the 8th. However! This example does not hold for the situation described by the…

Admittedly I did not think about the proof of delivery aspect. Definitely would cause issues. Although I imagine it could be mitigated by forcing the person to click "I accept delivery" on their Amazon account when you meet up, that way the retailer knows it is actually the person in question.

Re: Amazon Has Transformed the Hasidic Economy

#115
post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not necessarily true. Some sellers can request disbursement at any time. For a breakdown of when Amazon pays sellers, see [0]. In this case, the only delay is the 7 day holding period after the latest possible delivery date. For example, if you sell and deliver a product on Jan 1st, you may be able to disburse the funds as soon as the 8th. However! This example does not hold for the situation described by the…

Maybe? They can still use the same tracking mechanisms, I mean when I order from the pizza place, they don't contract it out, so why should I care of my amazon seller does?

For orders over 10 USD, Amazon requires a verifiable tracking number from one of the major carrier services. (It's possible to "ship" an order without a tracking number, but the seller takes a hit to their account metrics, and Amazon will eventually freeze their account for review).

This is so they can verify you actually shipped the package, and verify it was delivered within the fulfillment promise date range, ie. if you paid for 2 day shipping or whatever.

There are some sellers that have been approved for self-delivery of packages, which are not trackable. In these cases, they usually forfeit all rights to dispute non-delivery claims and more. So, it's pretty risky for the seller.

Re: Amazon Has Transformed the Hasidic Economy

#116
post #115
post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe? They can still use the same tracking mechanisms, I mean when I order from the pizza place, they don't contract it out, so why should I care of my amazon seller does?

For orders over 10 USD, Amazon requires a verifiable tracking number from one of the major carrier services. (It's possible to "ship" an order without a tracking number, but the seller takes a hit to their account metrics, and Amazon will eventually freeze their account for review). This is so they can verify you actually shipped the package, and verify it was delivered within the fulfillment promise date range, ie.…

Speaking of which: Amazon (and ebay, too) had recently started using a UK-based service called Yodel.

Last time Yodel had delivered a parcel of $50 to my door (marking it as delivered), which obviously got stolen. You can’t call Yodel - their line is always busy, and the line is not a free number.

Yodel had done that regularly to me, but I could never contact them or do anything about my delivery, since their customer service is horrendous.

Is there any way to set it up in Amazon (or ebay, too) so that their fulfillment never uses a certain delivery brand?

Re: Amazon Has Transformed the Hasidic Economy

#117
post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Biweekly is twice per week just like biannually is twice per anum. Fortnightly and biennially are 'every other'.

The fact that the parent comment used Biweekly to mean 14 days seems to suggest that it's not unambiguous.

It’s ambiguous if people misunderstand you even if they’re “wrong” for being confused. Avoid those terms. People will widely misinterpret them.

Re: Amazon Has Transformed the Hasidic Economy

#118
post #115
post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe? They can still use the same tracking mechanisms, I mean when I order from the pizza place, they don't contract it out, so why should I care of my amazon seller does?

For orders over 10 USD, Amazon requires a verifiable tracking number from one of the major carrier services. (It's possible to "ship" an order without a tracking number, but the seller takes a hit to their account metrics, and Amazon will eventually freeze their account for review). This is so they can verify you actually shipped the package, and verify it was delivered within the fulfillment promise date range, ie.…

The risk here is that the customer commits fraud by saying they did not receive the TV. Amazon may side with the customer and refund the money; but the merchant should still be able to file a small claims lawsuit or maybe even a police report.

Re: Amazon Has Transformed the Hasidic Economy

#119
post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For orders over 10 USD, Amazon requires a verifiable tracking number from one of the major carrier services. (It's possible to "ship" an order without a tracking number, but the seller takes a hit to their account metrics, and Amazon will eventually freeze their account for review). This is so they can verify you actually shipped the package, and verify it was delivered within the fulfillment promise date range, ie.…

Speaking of which: Amazon (and ebay, too) had recently started using a UK-based service called Yodel. Last time Yodel had delivered a parcel of $50 to my door (marking it as delivered), which obviously got stolen. You can’t call Yodel - their line is always busy, and the line is not a free number. Yodel had done that regularly to me, but I could never contact them or do anything about my delivery, since their custome…

> Is there any way to set it up in Amazon (or ebay, too) so that their fulfillment never uses a certain delivery brand?

No, unfortunately not. Well, unless you're open to moving outside of Yodel's delivery radius.

eBay has no fulfillment network, so you can reach out to the seller and ask for a different shipping method. You should expect to be asked to cover the cost difference though.

You can also do this on Amazon as well, just make sure that the product you're buying says "ships and sold by XYZ". Send them a message prior to ordering and they'll let you know if they can accommodate.

Re: Amazon Has Transformed the Hasidic Economy

#120
post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not necessarily true. Some sellers can request disbursement at any time. For a breakdown of when Amazon pays sellers, see [0]. In this case, the only delay is the 7 day holding period after the latest possible delivery date. For example, if you sell and deliver a product on Jan 1st, you may be able to disburse the funds as soon as the 8th. However! This example does not hold for the situation described by the…

> Some sellers can request disbursement at any time This applies to very few sellers.

> This applies to very few sellers.

Fair enough. I am one of those few sellers and I tend to assume it's more commonplace than it is.

In any case, I don't really understand the desire for instant disbursements. Certainly you eliminate the risk of Amazon carrying a larger balance than necessary, and in rare cash crunch situations it may rescue the day... But beyond that, why is it so desireable?

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