Shipping Gripe

[MrSlacker]

But we as consumers don't have to like it. I understand the need for a vendor to economize on shipping, but the fact that these new systems are slower and less efficient, and consumers have no idea their merchandise is stuck in them until it ships. It galls me the same way a "new and improved package" jar of peanut butter does...when you turn it over and see the concave bottom robbing you of two or three ounces. Those cutesy names irk me as well, a new innovation my ass! They should have just called them basic economy 4th class and be done with it!

You know what REALLY irks me - buyers who think that there is a 100% mark up on all parts - even when its on sale. Sure, if I sell something at full MSRP, there is a nice profit on some brands. But no one buys at MSRP. Hell, no one even buys at Minimum Advertised Price.

So tell me, how am I suppose to sell a $20 item that has wholesale cost of $13 ship it for "free" via Ground and still make money to pay my bills? UPS Ground is basically $9 minimum. SurePost or SmartPost is around $5.50 minimum (usually close to $6.50). So I am left with $2 profit if I am lucky....


And lets get REALLY technical here - there is a size and weight limit for both SurePost and SmartPost - I think its 10lbs. So if you are getting it via this service, its most likely a small, light and cheap item.

/rant

[nando]

This is like doing all your shopping at the dollar store, and complaining that your $1 bag of chicken nuggets is only 40% real chicken..

[dnguyen1963]

This is like doing all your shopping at the dollar store, and complaining that your $1 bag of chicken nuggets is only 40% real chicken..

40%...you are an optimist.

[dude8383]

Haha I was going to jump in here but it looks like what I wanted to say has already been very accurately stated already :)

[PKile]

[QUOTE
And lets get REALLY technical here - there is a size and weight limit for both SurePost and SmartPost - I think its 10lbs. So if you are getting it via this service, its most likely a small, light and cheap item.

/rant[/QUOTE]

Than why do I get a lot of small items sent to me in those Priority Mail boxes about the size of a VHS tape, and receive it in 3 days? Not everyone is using the Slow Boat systems.

Here's the solution...full disclosure. List Smartpost, Surepost and Innovations right up front in the shipping description. That way the customer knows what system will be used. Maybe even a list of shipping options with additional costs, if the customer wants it quicker...like the big vendors do.

[MrSlacker]

Haha I was going to jump in here but it looks like what I wanted to say has already been very accurately stated already :)

lol i got this :)

[dude8383]

Can you provide an example of the item you purchased so we can see what you're talking about?

[TobyB]

Yeah, it's worse for me because the post office won't drive up our driveway.
So I request/pay for/pay extra for UPS, and it still ends up sitting in the mud
down at the bottom of the hill. A week or so later... Ironically, the post office
truck drives up to the house on Sundays, since it's now subcontracted to Amazon
for their deliveries. THAT is some messed- up privatization crap right there, that is...

Not a fan at all. Part of the reason I Amazon as little as possible, since you don't
get much of a say in how they ship...
...well, that and them razing a good part of the city I used to like. But it's a rant thread, right?

hee

t

[jeffnhiscars]

I was a long time Amazon prime member and of course, loved the fact that I could get a table saw to my door the next morning for an extra $3.99. However they did a few things to annoy me so I dropped prime a year or so ago. What I have figured out since then is something I suspected....that the "Econ" free shipping they say will take "6-10 days" doesn't seem to exist because it's actually more expensive to pull something from their incredibly efficient shipping system and make it take longer.

In short, I get Prime turn times..not all the time but most of the time.. without paying for it since it seems it all goes the same way. Anyone else notice this ?

[agent]

I'm pretty sure all my Prime "free two day shipping" orders come via UPS. Sometimes they arrive next day, presumably since we have a distribution warehouse in the area. Before I was a Prime member, the "free economy shipping" would usually come through USPS and take no less than three days, sometimes more - despite the fact we have a distribution warehouse in the area.

[AndrewBird]

I order a LOT of stuff through Amazon Prime and it is a mixture of carriers. It all depends on what warehouse it is coming from and which is the cheapest to get it here in 2 days. Warehouses near me usually use Priority Mail as it only takes two days or less anyway, but if it ships from the east coast, I've seen UPS and Fedex and OnTrac. Amazon also has their own shipping now called Amazon Logistics.

Prime has spoiled me though. If something takes more than 4-5 days to get to me, I'm complaining. lol

[jeffnhiscars]

Don't misunderstand me....I had have had Amazon prime deliveries so often that my neighbor asked if I was getting drugs from the ups driver lol

my point is that if you were to give up prime now you might notice that shipping doesn't take much longer for most items. I do have gripes with Amazon though. When I decided to let my member ship expire I just didn't update the credit card I used for renewals and they emailed me saying "don't worry we will use one of your other cards". Since my intent was to let it lapse I had to pull all my cards.

The other thing was learning that the longer items sit in your wish list the more expensive they seem to get. Seems they figured out that the longer you have interest in something the more you will pay. That kind of thing creeps me out and ya know....not having Prime is kind of like not having cable...you get past missing it and are then just glad you aren't spending money on it

[b*saint]

Ive had something Im getting paid for thats been stuck at my local post office for 4 business days. I have to go down Monday and try and retrieve it. I should get a refund. 5 days to ship something from a town 40 minutes away? Next time Ill just go pick it up. Itll take the same amount of time as me having to drive to my post office and them trying to locate it.