11–20 of 49 posts
Edit: Correction IRS => State agencies (thanks shrughes)
shipping is getting faster and better as well. i was going to order an OEM hard-drive and in the reviews someone complained about the poor packaging. someone else replied and said to take a picture and submit to amazon. one day later another reviewer said that their packaging was fine. trusting amazon, i placed my order (free shipping). i just got my hard-drive today (2 days later), and packaging was on par with the retail version.
[edit] link: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2Q6A3WHMIDISG/ref=cm_cr_pr_cmt...
My one annoyance with Amazon: I live in Australia, yet Amazon item pages still say, even when I'm logged in , that I've qualified for "FREE Super Saving Shiping!" A quick check of Amazon's help pages will tell you that international customers aren't eligible for free shipping of any kind. All of my shipping addresses are in Australia, but Amazon doesn't do any checking of that before saying that I've qualified. Also,…
I don't fare well as I used amazon for nearly everything while in the UK, but now in Canada I'm stuck with CrapBuy and Shit-Mart who sell everything at hiked prices.
I think that the rise of Amazon as the primary retailer leaves the delivery market ripe for upheaval. The current delivery model is kind of awkward: they do a first delivery when you're at work, and then trying to coordinate with them becomes a huge hassle. I usually end up having packages delivered to my parents' house, since they won't leave packages at my door at my current apartment (and rightfully so!) To me, it…
At some point the state agencies has to clamp down on people not paying taxes (known as a use tax) on their Amazon purchases. I know a lot of my friends purchase from Amazon because they save 8.5% in tax. It's significant when you make a purchase like a Macbook. That's a huge competitive advantage that Amazon currently has over other online retailers (at least for California). Edit: Correction IRS => State agencies (…
I think that the rise of Amazon as the primary retailer leaves the delivery market ripe for upheaval. The current delivery model is kind of awkward: they do a first delivery when you're at work, and then trying to coordinate with them becomes a huge hassle. I usually end up having packages delivered to my parents' house, since they won't leave packages at my door at my current apartment (and rightfully so!) To me, it…
So when Amazon misses me, I just walk over with the DSL slip that says a package is there and scan the barcode on it and grab my package.
My one annoyance with Amazon: I live in Australia, yet Amazon item pages still say, even when I'm logged in , that I've qualified for "FREE Super Saving Shiping!" A quick check of Amazon's help pages will tell you that international customers aren't eligible for free shipping of any kind. All of my shipping addresses are in Australia, but Amazon doesn't do any checking of that before saying that I've qualified. Also,…
An idea that I've been thinking about for a while is an Amazon for perishable commodities. At least here in Western Europe, fresh produce has ridiculous markups. It seems obvious that producers and consumers get abused by distributors. I have the feeling that there's an opportunity in delivering to the customer's home, offering competitive prices in exchange for predictability (repeat orders, preorders, orders with flexible delivery dates, machine learned purchase patterns) that would let one move high volumes without keeping much stock.
To begin with one could focus on organic produce, which (again, in my area) has trouble finding shelf space.
I haven't discarded this idea yet, but I wouldn't mind if someone out there gave it a go first :).
My one annoyance with Amazon: I live in Australia, yet Amazon item pages still say, even when I'm logged in , that I've qualified for "FREE Super Saving Shiping!" A quick check of Amazon's help pages will tell you that international customers aren't eligible for free shipping of any kind. All of my shipping addresses are in Australia, but Amazon doesn't do any checking of that before saying that I've qualified. Also,…
Literally everything? Is Amazon selling any type of food? In any event, I don't think they're working with fresh (or even frozen) food anytime soon. An idea that I've been thinking about for a while is an Amazon for perishable commodities. At least here in Western Europe, fresh produce has ridiculous markups. It seems obvious that producers and consumers get abused by distributors. I have the feeling that there's an…
The above links go to the Grocery, Natural + Organic, and Gourmet Foods departments at Amazon. These mostly sell non-perishable items, but do include some frozen foods.
Amazon Fresh is a pilot program, currently in the Seattle area only. It features just about everything you can get at a grocery store, plus a partial selection of items from regular Amazon departments (books, music, electronics, etc.). A lot of companies went bankrupt trying to do this; Amazon seems to be taking baby steps to make sure it can be profitable.
I think that the rise of Amazon as the primary retailer leaves the delivery market ripe for upheaval. The current delivery model is kind of awkward: they do a first delivery when you're at work, and then trying to coordinate with them becomes a huge hassle. I usually end up having packages delivered to my parents' house, since they won't leave packages at my door at my current apartment (and rightfully so!) To me, it…
It seems like drop-boxes, like the ones used to return library books, could be built into the rooms in new apartment buildings. That would probably solve the delivery problem except when shipping really big packages (e.g. televisions).