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Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

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Re: Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

#61

Post by jrs99 »

rubberband wrote: post #39
asdfologist wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, a large portion of the reviews are fake.

You mean the 5-star reviews which state that Product X is amazing, and the reviewer would buy it again, recommend it to their friends and purchase all future products made by that company... Are fake? Kidding aside, it's horrible. I find myself going to other sites for reviews (NewEgg is a good one), then buying on Amazon. Crappy of me, I suppose. But they've hooked me with Prime.

There are a lot of reviews i read that don't make any sense at all, like they were generated by some algorithm and the review fails to say anything even remotely meaningful. I always wonder where those reviews come from and they always have like 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful instantly the minute the review is written.

I love and use Amazon all the time. but there are so many weird things about it.

Sometimes I buy something thinking it's from Amazon, but it's not, it's from another seller, and sometimes the product is not "mint." It seems like it was opened before and put back in and there are finger prints all over it or something that is "slightly" off like a tiny dent.

I feel like there's definitely room for something better.

Re: Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

#62

Post by lisper »

whalesalad wrote: post #43

I abuse Amazon Prime to no end. I live in the boonies and don't have a car so they're actually my lifeline. Bought a pack of 50 machine screws the other day and including the free 2-day shipping to my door it was only $1.35. Unbelievable. But I am glad Amazon is raising prices. I don't want them to falter and hope they continue what they're doing. I'd be screwed without em.

You mean you'd be unscrewed ;-)

Re: Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

#63

Post by Kototama »

VMG wrote: post #51
john61 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reasons not to buy from amazon: https://stallman.org/amazon.html

tl;dr because it's not a commune I specifically find the argument funny that amazon "steals" from me because it doesn't pay "enough" taxes, even though they pass their savings to me more directly than the state ever will

You are confusing state redistribution of income and wealth with competitive offers. If the state was only to satisfy particular interests then you would have clientelism.

Re: Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

#64

Post by [deleted] »

jon-wood wrote: post #32
codegeek wrote: post #17

I am amazed at how amazon remains doing business with so low margins or no profits. We love amazon at my house and being Prime members, we are almost ordering everything under the sun from Amazon that we possibly can. Here is why we love it: - The reviews are actually useful. I just bought a 70 inch TV through amazon and the critical and helpful reviews really helped me get going with settings on the TV that would ha…

There are things bought on Amazon which leave me wondering how they can possibly be making money on them. I recently bought 4kg of cat litter from Amazon, which was shipped to me next day for free - I may be utterly out of touch with how much they're paying for shipping, but I can't see the purchase price even covering that side, never mind the product itself.

[deleted]

Re: Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

#65

Post by Spooky23 »

codegeek wrote: post #17

I am amazed at how amazon remains doing business with so low margins or no profits. We love amazon at my house and being Prime members, we are almost ordering everything under the sun from Amazon that we possibly can. Here is why we love it: - The reviews are actually useful. I just bought a 70 inch TV through amazon and the critical and helpful reviews really helped me get going with settings on the TV that would ha…

> Also we compared the prices and it is almost impossible to beat amazon for these things as well.

Huh? Where did you look?

For formula, diapers, wipes, etc. Amazon didn't come close to Target, even without coupons. Amazon was like $23 for diapers that were $19.99 at Target. I've been a prime member forever, and wanted to use Amazon, but it easily cost 10-20% more, even with automatic ordering. Combine Target retail or sale prices with coupons and the 5% credit card discount and it was an unbeatable combo.

Re: Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

#66

Post by 001sky »

codegeek wrote: post #17

I am amazed at how amazon remains doing business with so low margins or no profits. We love amazon at my house and being Prime members, we are almost ordering everything under the sun from Amazon that we possibly can. Here is why we love it: - The reviews are actually useful. I just bought a 70 inch TV through amazon and the critical and helpful reviews really helped me get going with settings on the TV that would ha…

I am amazed at how amazon remains doing business with so low margins or no profits.

It's called the bait and switch? That's always how it works. They will extract value from you, likely in ways you don't understand. Or cant comprehend. At times you won't expect. Anything else is a mathematical impossibility, given the fiduciary repsonsibility of management. Its not if but when.

Re: Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

#67

Post by andrewaylett »

eterm wrote: post #26
sudomal wrote: post #11

There has been similar changes in their European operations some months back. Many items are no longer covered by complementary postage. Deliveries also seem to take longer to 'ship' (that might be my imagination though). I think it's all related to Prime, them trying to make a subscription service look more valuable by disabling the alternatives.

Yup, a few months back amazon uk went from "free shipping for everything" to "Ah, only if you spend £20" (I think? perhaps £25) which is how it used to be way back in the day with their "super saver" delivery. I'm amazed it actually took Amazon so long after the demise of Play.com to do this. (Play.com were a serious competitor for games/music but had a tax loophole closed on them.)

£10 now, which isn't so bad. I'll usually wind up manually combining orders to get above threshold, but sometimes it does mean that I won't order from Amazon at all.

Re: Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

#68

Post by lookingsideways »

therobot24 wrote: post #28
gcb1 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but their inventory sucks. way too limited. unless you count in the other sellers. i.e. stuff not marked as sold by amazon, then all that you said stop to be true. reviews means little because when bad reviews pile up, they create a new listing. shipping is weird. some stuff may be shipped from china. arduino clones. oh and that, you get arduinos clones being sold as originals. at least the returns are usually still…

- inventory is limited? which amazon website are you visiting? - anecdotal, but in the several years of using amazon, never had a problem with any of the 'non-amazon' sellers. There are ratings for a reason. That's like saying you didn't get what you wanted from one ebay listing so all of ebay is bad - reviews don't mean nothing..what's your problem with the current reviews. Like anything you read, take it with a gra…

  - inventory is limited? which amazon website are you visiting?
The amazon.es selection is much more limited than amazon.co.uk's selection. I typically end up buying from the UK and having it shipped across as it will usually be cheaper despite the extra shipping charges.

Re: Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

#69

Post by unsigner »

VMG wrote: post #51
john61 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reasons not to buy from amazon: https://stallman.org/amazon.html

tl;dr because it's not a commune I specifically find the argument funny that amazon "steals" from me because it doesn't pay "enough" taxes, even though they pass their savings to me more directly than the state ever will

In the sufficiently left mind, you are unworthy to spend your own money, the state will spend them better; thus, passing savings to you is bad for you.

Re: Amazon's minimum order size for free shipping is now $35

#70

Post by nanidin »

leef wrote: post #47
xn wrote: post #18

The "no minimum order size" statement about Prime is a bit disingenuous. Many low-cost items are now Add-On Items ( http://amzn.to/1a4NFBI ), meaning that Amazon will only ship them in an order of at least $25. Prime has become a bit less useful over the past year due to the introduction of Add-On Items.

Add-On items are items that are not economical enough to be in the Prime program by themselves but can be thrown in a box already on it's way to you. Without the Add-On program they would not be Prime shippable at all. Therefore Add-On items are just an improvement to Prime.

Before the concept of add-on items, anything shipped and sold by Amazon was eligible for prime. Add-on items are actually a limitation to prime, from a consumer/user standpoint.
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