Sorry Amazon, I don't care. And my Amazon Prime is still going bye-bye this year. The prices are always higher than other vendors so the free shipping is all but moot and your other services suck. I can't even get the Music service to work.
Amazon Free Shipping minimum is now $49
171–180 of 241 posts
Re: Amazon Free Shipping minimum is now $49
#172This is just assuming that they'll even let you order $49 worth of items in one box. I let my Amazon Prime lapse because I was rarely using it. A few weeks ago I decided to do a bulk order. I ordered 18 items with a total of $110. They split my shipment into three packages of approximately $50, $50, and one item by itself in another box for $10. Since one of the boxes didn't have $35, they tried to charge me shipping…
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Re: Amazon Free Shipping minimum is now $49
#173Well, that's fine.
I'll just buy more from AliExpress. Shipping is free, albeit long.
Re: Amazon Free Shipping minimum is now $49
#174All 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.
> Their site is unbearably bloated with scripts and whatnot
I don't think most people (outside of HN for sure and still a lot within HN) actually run NoScript or something that makes them aware of the number of scripts on a page. And frankly, 99.9% of the time, I don't care about that.
Re: Amazon Free Shipping minimum is now $49
#175Since 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.
All of my stories are Amazon's problem, though.
Story 1 is because Amazon did not properly pack boxes (only a couple air pillows to prevent shifting in the box, no bubble wrap at all); 2 is not splitting the order between multiple boxes OR using higher weight boxes, and also not using ANY air pillows; 3 is failure to attach shipping label to the box instead of the product's box; 4 is failure of Amazon policy before I even get to make an order; 5 is failure of Amazon policy and outright insulting.
Yes, I think Amazon should get into shipping, but they also need to start PACKING THEIR SHIT RIGHT.
4 and 5 are the worst, I want to give them their money and they can't get their shit together enough for them to take it. I am already their customer, they already did the hardest part, now take my fucking money.
Re: Amazon Free Shipping minimum is now $49
#176Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe if you buy Amazon items then, even if they split the shipment, they won't charge you. The above sounds like you were buying from different merchants.
I think everybody's been burned by that once. We keep using Amazon, of course, so it's obviously sitll working out for them. Then again, my in-laws got burned by Amazon's various dark patterns enough times that they've given up on it. Can't say I blame them.
I've switched to specialty vendor stores for dog food (wag) and electronics accessories (monoprice). I'll keep switching as better options come online.
Re: Amazon Free Shipping minimum is now $49
#177Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe if you buy Amazon items then, even if they split the shipment, they won't charge you. The above sounds like you were buying from different merchants.
I think everybody's been burned by that once. We keep using Amazon, of course, so it's obviously sitll working out for them. Then again, my in-laws got burned by Amazon's various dark patterns enough times that they've given up on it. Can't say I blame them.
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Re: Amazon Free Shipping minimum is now $49
#178I love Amazon and I love Prime (the included streaming services and ebooks are great, on top of free shipping). But, lately I've been noticing cracks in the armor of Amazon, where they're leaving openings for competitors. I have, just in the past year, ordered a huge variety of things from other vendors, because Amazon prices were far from competitive. And, with free two day shipping from merchants partnered with Sho…
I've yet to encounter a situation where saving a few bucks on an item was worth the combined cost of paying shipping at another site plus risking having to deal with their customer service. Just in the last two months my Amazon experiences have included:
- Bought a ~$60 item to give as a gift, that didn't arrive on time and the tracking info hadn't updated since it left the Amazon facility. Contacted them the day it had been scheduled to arrive and they overnighted a replacement, no questions asked.
- Bought a pair of pants just before Christmas, ended up getting two pairs of pants for Christmas (go mom). Went to return the ones I purchased (hadn't been worn yet), and Amazon refunded me without even requiring a return (~$25 item).
- Bought a heater a few weeks ago that arrived with one of the dials on its control panel knocked out of place, and no way to re-seat it without disassembling the unit. Amazon paid for return shipping and UPS pickup, and had the replacement item at my door on the second day after I requested a replacement.
I'm not a fan of many of many aspects of Amazon... but in terms of customer service, I don't use any other site that comes close.
Re: Amazon Free Shipping minimum is now $49
#179Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe if you buy Amazon items then, even if they split the shipment, they won't charge you. The above sounds like you were buying from different merchants.
The non-amazon shipped stuff on Amazon honestly had been a pain ever since they introduced it. If you have prime it mostly is just a huge nuisance.
A lot of it is such JUNK, too. Amazon has no qualms whatsoever about selling stuff that, frankly, belongs in the garbage. I've cooled off on Amazon a lot since earlier years because shopping on there is an experience fraught with angst thanks to trying to find the best trade-off between price and utility. Oftentimes the cheapest items for any given category (e.g. snorkel masks and touchscreen gloves, two recent things I purchased) are pure junk that aren't fit for their stated purpose.
Whereas if I'm in a brick-and-mortar store, I can at least evaluate the quality of something hands-on, and then have a better idea of if the cheapest is good enough. This is exacerbated by item descriptions that are frequently inaccurate, even showing the wrong photos. The third party sellers especially don't seem to be held accountable for much, and processing returns through them is often a disaster.
I fear that Amazon is creating damage to their brand by not establishing some minimum floor for product quality. Right now they rank somewhere between a dollar store and a Walmart in my mind.
Re: Amazon Free Shipping minimum is now $49
#180I love Amazon and I love Prime (the included streaming services and ebooks are great, on top of free shipping). But, lately I've been noticing cracks in the armor of Amazon, where they're leaving openings for competitors. I have, just in the past year, ordered a huge variety of things from other vendors, because Amazon prices were far from competitive. And, with free two day shipping from merchants partnered with Sho…
In the past year or two, I've noticed a dramatic rise in the number of counterfeit products. If you buy directly from Amazon, it generally seems ok, but all bets are off when you buy from a third party. I've also noticed the increased gaming of the reviews system. If you read reviews of many of the highest rated products, you often find that most are shills who are given products for free in exchange for "fair and un…
Amazon is seriously undercutting their reputation thanks to the resellers that they allow on their site, many of whom have problematic product quality, authenticity, and accuracy of item description (to say the least). You really have to be careful that you aren't getting ripped off or buying junk. Most retail establishments protect their brands better.