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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

#201

Post by BillyMaize »

cc438 wrote: post #173
BillyMaize wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here. My girlfriend and I both buy basically all non food items from Amazon because we live in a small town and we are a 20 minute interstate drive away from any stores other than krogers. This has saved us a ton of money on gas and lots of time that easily makes up for the prime cost each year. The one time I have had to return a package was very easy as well. I can't imagine ever going back to spending gas mon…

Maybe I'm the only person who has this issue but Amazon's categorization of items, broken search filters, and poor administration of 3rd party listings makes it very difficult for me to find items that I would regularly want to buy. I can search for something like "Vacuum Filter" and receive results from 26 departments including Baby Products. So say I go to Home & Outdoor > Vacuums & Floor Care › Vacuum Accessories…

I have had this problem once before, I was trying to buy a jewelry box for my girlfriend and the picture was way different from the actual item. I think this is mostly because Amazon is willing to put up anything any supplier wants to produce and those suppliers don't know what they are doing. In this situation at least it was easy enough to flag the images as wrong for that item and they were replaced with correct pictures in a few days.

Picking a department is always annoying especially when there are two or more it could easily be in, but overall I like the search options. For example I have wide feed so I always need 4E shoes and Amazon can filter out all of the shoes which don't have 4Es.

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

#202

Post by jasonlotito »

Spooky23 wrote: post #183
jasonlotito wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, I decided to check up on diapers. Amazon: $45.99 (doesn't include the $2 coupon on the page). Also, on the page: Pay as low as $26.74 ($0.18 / count) with Subscribe & Save and Amazon Mom Target: $47.19 Target also offers a subscription, and 5% additional savings if you use their credit card. Maybe their are additional savings, but I didn't see any of it mentioned. Maybe it's different for formula for wipes, but I…

In our case, Amazon is $0.38/count and Target is $0.35. Plus, Target is a smaller package (my son grows like a weed, I want just-in-time inventory), I get another penny per diaper off with the credit card, and Target accepts stacked coupons, which typically translates to another $0.05-$0.10/count discount. Also, the we don't use it, but the Target generic brands are very high quality and cheap. Saved us a bundle when…

Couple things here:

1. Amazon has more size choices. 2. You didn't say up front you were comparing different diaper brands. Maybe they are just as good. However, we've tried different diaper brands in the past, and went with those we knew would work.

Not that any of this changes things. I was just curious about the pricing. We use Pampers because we found them to be the best for what we needed. Now though, we get them free. =/

Anyone who thinks all diaper brands are the same has never had the experience of choosing poorly. =)

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

#203

Post by aroch »

jasonlotito wrote: post #180
aroch wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There isn't that much variation in diaper and formula across brands...

In diapers? Yes, there is. As for Formula? You can't just change to whatever is cheapest that week.

Meaningful change in diapers? Not really.

Then stock up, and seriously? Their shelf stocking doesn't work that way. Any SKU ordered (other than food stuffs and specialty seasonals) are stocked for, at least, one month in any given location before long term stocking is decided on

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

#204

Post by ja27 »

wtvanhest wrote: post #136
Spooky23 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

I live in downtown Boston which seems to have no convenient shopping like DC or Florida. Very overpriced CVS is where I must buy stuff. When I buy things like you describe, I price check at walmart.com. typically amazon is less after shipping.

I live in a pretty suburban area in Florida. A trip to Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. costs me about half a gallon of gas ($1.60 at the moment) and an hour of my time. Then there's the risk that they either don't carry the item I'm looking for or that it is out of stock. That usually tips the scales in Amazon's favor even if they aren't the cheapest.

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

#205

Post by km3k »

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…

> That's like saying you didn't get what you wanted from one ebay listing so all of ebay is bad

That could be what is being said. Almost everyone I've talked to that doesn't like eBay essentially says something like this.

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

#206

Post by blisterpeanuts »

klipt wrote: post #197
blisterpeanuts wrote: post #96

Sales taxes are going to bite into their business. My state (Massachusetts) has forced them to charge sales tax starting some time later this year, and that's bound to affect sales. Tax-free New Hampshire is 45 minutes away from Boston, and I suspect that once the sales tax kicks in, all those malls and outlets up north are going to see an uptick in business. In fact, probably that's why they're squeezing the shippin…

Shouldn't you technically be paying a use tax if you buy stuff in NH but use it in Boston? I thought that was also the logic behind requiring online stores to charge tax. http://www.mass.gov/dor/individuals/taxpayer-help-and-resour... > Example: You purchase furniture for your Massachusetts business or residence from an out-of-state firm and pay no Massachusetts sales tax. You are required to pay the 6.25 percent Mas…

According to the use tax definition in that link, the vendor has to actually deliver the item to the resident within the state boundaries:

"Sells to Massachusetts residents or businesses and delivers, repairs or installs goods or telecommunications services within the Commonwealth."

Without that stipulation, essentially anything you buy anywhere outside the state for which you didn't pay sales tax, then carried back into the state, is subject to a "use tax". This seems both unreasonable and unenforceable.

Suppose while on a trip you buy a souvenir at a gift shop in NH, or Alaska, or Delaware, or Oregon, where there is no sales tax. Does this law actually require that you are to pay tax on it when you bring it over the border? That sounds like a tariff or customs duty, a power which the Constitution specifically assigns to only the Federal government.

Also, given that the price of the item includes baked-in compensatory taxation such as higher property taxes or income taxes, effectively you would be double-taxed. New Hampshire, for example, has much higher property taxes than does Massachusetts. They have to get their revenue somewhere.

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

#207

Post by blisterpeanuts »

WalterBright wrote: post #196
a3n wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, I wonder if that saved 90% of non-food shopping would actually be an increase in overall shopping. "Sure, I spend $90 out of $100/mo shopping at Amazon, but before I joined Prime I only spent $40 total." It's the same reason why I don't belong to Costco, it's just an encouragement to buy things that I normally couldn't be bothered to get up off my ass for.

I don't shop at Costco because the long checkout lines kill any price advantage.

Yes but don't forget all the yummy free samples! The free samples make up for the long lines (lunchtime has shorter lines anyway)

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

#208

Post by 001sky »

cmccabe wrote: post #194
001sky wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a semantic distinction, between cost and opportunity cost. And the sentence is really just your imagination. The market is driven by quite sophisticated investors these days. You have to remember that hedge funds (as one example) are not mutual funds. They are in all kinds of illiquid complex stuff. There is plenty of depth for strategy that makes sense, and has longer term payouts. Again, the issue is more t…

News flash: most technology companies don't really pay dividends. Probably, the main reason is because dividends are taxed at a pretty high rate. It's easier just to keep the money overseas in some tax shelter or other (Apple, Google), or plow it back into the company as investment (Amazon). Microsoft is one of the few tech companies that pays dividends. Spending money on dividends looks like a poor choice. If your s…

News flash: most technology companies...

While its true that lack of profits limit dividends, return on invested capital is measured using other metrics. So the question of dividends "not a news flash", in the sense that it's not central to the topic.

The question of profits, though remains. Three possibilities:

(1) Tax losses & Tax Shields (avoidable, but cash positive)

(2) Obfuscation of earnings (avoidable, but to deter entry)

(3) Stategic operating losses (unavoidable)

_____________

(4) Incompetence (or actual lack of business leverage).

Since no one is really arguing (4) the question is more which of 1-3 is relevant? I don't think avoiding dividends would be a central consideration, but YMMV.

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

#209

Post by donavanm »

sudoscience wrote: post #168
AsymetricCom wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon doesn't have the... 'Washington Infrastructure' to be able to compete at a regulatory level, so they have to compete on price like any other homeless vagabond.

Amazon has lobbyists and Obama has given speeches in Amazon fulfillment centers...

For PACs in the 2012 cycle Amazons PAC spent $220K, Microsoft spent $2.3M, Oracle $540. In direct lobbying this year Amazon spent $1.7M, Microsoft $5.5M, and Oracle $3.7M.

So yeah, Amazon is paying to get representation. But they're still significantly smaller than the "enterprise" folks.

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

#210

Post by jasonlotito »

aroch wrote: post #203
jasonlotito wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In diapers? Yes, there is. As for Formula? You can't just change to whatever is cheapest that week.

Meaningful change in diapers? Not really. Then stock up, and seriously? Their shelf stocking doesn't work that way. Any SKU ordered (other than food stuffs and specialty seasonals) are stocked for, at least, one month in any given location before long term stocking is decided on

> Meaningful change in diapers? Not really.

My experience is otherwise. Maybe in your experience through multiple brands is that they are all the same, but your experience is equally limited.

The simple fact that my experience says otherwise, however, does disprove yours.

> Then stock up

On diapers?

I can't believe you have children and would "stock up" on diapers. Kids grow.

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