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Amazon permanently shuts down Prime Pantry

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Re: Amazon permanently shuts down Prime Pantry

#91

Post by Spooky23 »

tssva wrote: post #82
Spooky23 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pantry was actually sold by Amazon and met expected retail parameters. The coffee beans I used to buy through pantry would have a typical expiry date - 18-24 months out. Once that product moved to normal Amazon, it transitioned to the standard jobbers and hucksters... you’d buy a can of coffee whose best by date was 30 days out. I think this segment is really being replaced by Whole Foods, it is somewhat constrained…

The Walmart vs Target experience can be store specific. In my area Target moved in before Walmart which means their stores and their parking lots were designed before pickup services were started. This means the pickup experience at the Targets in the area is less than ideal. Walmart on the other hand built their stores and designed the traffic flow around them specifically to support large scale pickup service. As a…

It’s a hard problem for sure and there will be regional variance.

The overall point is that both companies have to some extent enveloped every US population center and have figured out how to use their real estate in a competitive way.

I called out Target because they seem to have gone from 0-60 quickly in my region. Walmart seems to roll out features slower, but is more comprehensive in what they offer.

Re: Amazon permanently shuts down Prime Pantry

#92

Post by ajford »

michaelpb wrote: post #90
toast0 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A couple years back I scored absurd amount of Spaghetti Os this way, paying effectively negative money. The only downside is I ended up with a lot of Spaghetti Os :'( Experiences like this have taught me to be careful about over optimizing. If I want one of something, and can't use (or don't want to use) more than one, it doesn't matter if buying two (or more) costs less than buying one; I should just buy one.

Yup, and often those tempting bulk discounts, if calculated, only end up saving a few cents or a dollar or something, so the trade off becomes -- Do you want to be payed 50 cents to store extra supplies at your house? Sometimes that's a good trade-off, but often it isn't. Bulk-buying mentality is so prevalent in the US, it can sometimes be hard to avoid, and I think US urban planning has a lot to do with it as well -…

Some of it is holdover from various economic depressions that are holding on tight to our collective habits.

My wife and I both favor bulk shopping for a majority of our household goods, and when we pondered why, it came down to our families having done the same and followed that thread to our grand/great-grand parents that lived through the great depression.

Having bulk food/household goods means that at any point, if income halts for any reason, we still have X number of meals/tp rolls/litter changes before we enter the danger zone. That was reassuring when we were living paycheck to paycheck.

I do agree on urban planning being a part of it as well. It's a 15min drive to my closest grocery store, and 10 minutes of that is driving out of my neighborhood. Walking to the store is nearly impractical, and generally not safe due to the lack of sidewalks for a fair stretch of the main road.

Re: Amazon permanently shuts down Prime Pantry

#93

Post by WorldMaker »

michaelpb wrote: post #90
toast0 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A couple years back I scored absurd amount of Spaghetti Os this way, paying effectively negative money. The only downside is I ended up with a lot of Spaghetti Os :'( Experiences like this have taught me to be careful about over optimizing. If I want one of something, and can't use (or don't want to use) more than one, it doesn't matter if buying two (or more) costs less than buying one; I should just buy one.

Yup, and often those tempting bulk discounts, if calculated, only end up saving a few cents or a dollar or something, so the trade off becomes -- Do you want to be payed 50 cents to store extra supplies at your house? Sometimes that's a good trade-off, but often it isn't. Bulk-buying mentality is so prevalent in the US, it can sometimes be hard to avoid, and I think US urban planning has a lot to do with it as well -…

I also think US (ex)urban planning has a lot to do with it as well. It's influenced by/influences the extra hauling capacity of the over-large median US household vehicle(s), the extra square feet of available/dedicated storage space inside homes, etc.

I have friends that "need" big SUVs if only for their Costco/Sam's Club trips. Whose homes by square foot would be palatial mansions and palaces to royalty of many previous generations, but are cookie-cutter one of hundreds in over-vast neighborhoods full of them, with rooms dedicated to bulk goods storage. It's a fascinating world.

Re: Amazon permanently shuts down Prime Pantry

#94

Post by XargonEnder »

bdcravens wrote: post #88
cloudwalking wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW I used to order kitty litter on Prime. Free shipping and all that. Turns out they hugely marked up the retail price for the free shipping. I’ve since found it on Walmart’s website for about 40% cheaper. Free shipping if I order 5 at a time.

Had mediocre results with pet products on Amazon. Had an entire bag of dog food busted open because of how it was shipped. Often the litter products I get aren't available, and it's a mixed bag with other pet food. I pretty much stick with Chewy except for rare one-offs.

I've had this problem too but I complain and get a refund and get to keep the product

Re: Amazon permanently shuts down Prime Pantry

#95

Post by hansvm »

ehsankia wrote: post #75
ardy42 wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> FWIW I used to order kitty litter on Prime. Free shipping and all that. Turns out they hugely marked up the retail price for the free shipping. I’ve since found it on Walmart’s website for about 40% cheaper. Free shipping if I order 5 at a time. This is really common on Amazon, even for things that aren't heavy/large. Amazon used to be a place that gave you some of the best prices on things, but that hasn't been tr…

I especially noticed this when I accidentally browsed logged out once. The same thing that was $X + $Y shipping became $(X + Y) + 0 Prime shipping...

Awhile ago I used to sell a lot of consumer grade electronics on eBay, and one of the first things I noticed was that people were generally willing to pay more to have free shipping. $X+$Y shipping could easily turn into ($X+$Y+20%) + free shipping, and people would do it to themselves -- I'd start iPhones bidding at $0.99, and without fail I'd drum up a ton more business than I ever could with substantially lower fixed prices and accurate shipping costs.

Re: Amazon permanently shuts down Prime Pantry

#96

Post by gumby »

zinckiwi wrote: post #68
gumby wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A better headline would have been "Amazon merges Prime Pantry > into regular .com site". Not exactly. The products for sale are still for sale on the site, yes. But the "pantry" product including a volume-based flat rate shipping. You entered products until you were told that your box was filled and then they shipped it to you flat rate. I used to fill it with kitty litter, dog food, cans of stuff and other heavy pro…

> I used to fill it with kitty litter, dog food, cans of stuff and other heavy products. And if your experience was anything like mine the few times I used it before I felt too guilty, the delivery folks looooved you for it. (To be fair, I did have a third floor walkup.)

In my case they just wheel it over on a trolly.
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