Community Chat

[reiki604]

I'm an Amazon Prime advocate. We never buy anything we don't need and both my brothers are on my account so we all use it. We each have entered our own credit card and have it shipped to their addresses. Even if we didn't do this I still would find it worth it to get whatever I need at the touch of a button. 

[Bird mama]

@Moonchilde

I'm going on 54 years old and remember the days of ordering something and having to weight 6-8 weeks for delivery after mailing in the order form, lol.

Amazon can drag their feet all they want, it won't get me to sign up for Prime (now it's a matter of principle).  I cancelled the one order because it was something I needed sooner rather than later for my one bird.  I've since found another source.

I'm kind of newer to Amazon - couple of years.  I found merchandise from other places before I ever heard of them and will be fine if they start getting pis*y about it.

[Moonchilde]

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@Nicknack wrote:

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@Moonchilde wrote:

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@Bird mama wrote:

Not to harp on Amazon, but when I first started buying, my orders seemed to ship out lickety split.  Last couple of orders dragged on and on, to the point I cancelled one order after waiting nearly a week.  When I tried to cancel another order because they were dragging their feet it was at my house in 2 days.  Usually I order a two-pack of my Cholest Off and a couple bags of my Hagen pigeon food, so making $49 is no sweat.  I don't order from them often and have become accustomed to needing a minimum order of $35, which I tended to exceed.

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One of the first things I noticed when they started to push Prime hard a couple of years ago was that my non-Prime free shipping over $35 orders started taking almost twice as long to arrive as they had before the big Prime campaign.  It was pretty standard for me to receive free shipping orders in 2-4 days, but it went to 5-8 days after Prime. So to me, they *stopped* giving me the service I was accustomed to, that they clearly could do, in obvious anticipation that the delays would make me sign up for Prime.  Whereas before everyone got excellent shipping, now the only people who get excellent shipping are those with Prime. So yes, that stings a bit, and still does.

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I noticed that too @Moonchilde.  It irritated me, too, but I still order from them all the time.  I just checked, and I've placed 8 orders this year.

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I mostly order only things I need now, rather than want. And Christmas gifts. It does often save your tuchus with Xmas or birthday gifts.

And yes, now that I have Prime (for a few more months, anyway), I do order more freely, but still things I actually need.  And for me, still maybe 4-6 times a year. They *make* money on my Prime membership.

[quilter61]

I also belong to prime and it pays for itself.   Someone else posted about ordering pet food from amazon.   I have three dogs and order all my dog food from them.   It is $20 cheaper per bag than what the local pet stores sell if for.   I even have it on auto delivery every two months get a 24 pound bag and don't have to go to the store.   

Also, use the prime video.  Only use the free shows and movies.

[chickenbutt]

All of a sudden it occurred to me how much money they get for Prime!   

If only ONE million people have Prime, that's ONE HUNDRED MILLION dollars!    I'd be willing to bet that there are way way way more than just one million customers who have Prime.

It's quite the phenomenon!   Sure, they put out money for shipping but when a company is large enough to ship the kind of volume they ship, they also get HUGE discounts from the carriers.

Amazon has certainly been a serious model for retailing!  I remember when I first joined Amazon.  They were just selling media - books, CDs, etc.

Now, I'm hard-pressed to find that something I seek is not there and the vast majority of the times the price is lower than other sources.

[Moonchilde]

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@Bird mama wrote:

@Moonchilde

I'm going on 54 years old and remember the days of ordering something and having to weight 6-8 weeks for delivery after mailing in the order form, lol.

Amazon can drag their feet all they want, it won't get me to sign up for Prime (now it's a matter of principle).  I cancelled the one order because it was something I needed sooner rather than later for my one bird.  I've since found another source.

I'm kind of newer to Amazon - couple of years.  I found merchandise from other places before I ever heard of them and will be fine if they start getting pis*y about it.

@Bird mama  I spent a lot of $$ with Amazon over the years - computers, tablets, cameras, printers, etc as well as gifts and other items. Most of that was when the minimum for free shipping was $25 and state sales tax was not mandatory, so you would literally save hundreds. Well worth it.

But once they raised things to $35 and lost the sales tax advantage, I realized that it wasn't a big advantage to shop with them any more price-wise, and that I was tired of finding things to add on to make the $35 that I didn't actually need and wouldn't have bought otherwise. I was throwing away money. So, I almost stopped buying, but you can't avoid it entirely ;-)

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[chickenbutt]

Birdmama - Oh my goodness, I also remember when it took 6-8 weeks to get something you ordered.  You either ordered over the phone or you pulled the order form out of a catalog, filled it out, mailed it to them, then waited approximately forever and a day.

How spoiled are we now?  hehe (rhetorical question of course)

[chickenbutt]

Moonchilde - I remember when Amazon was going to have to start charging sales tax in my state.  While I knew it was not their choice, of course, I was really disappointed and I actually remember thinking that it would have a great influence on how much I purchased there.

As it turned out, it didn't, as I was still paying less than elsewhere.  But it was kind of a shock, particularly on high-ticket items!

[OnlyShopsOnline]

We have Amazon Prime and, so far, it has been worth it.  When the free shipping amount was $25, many times I added in something that I might not have purchased, just to get the free shipping.  I figured that merchandise was better than shipping charges, lol.  Now, I just order what I really need.  So, that, along with the videos, books, etc, has made it a good choice for us.

But, I don't always automatically purchase from Amazon.  I still figure out all of my options.

However, when the free shipping amount went to $35, and Amazon Prime became more popular, I did notice huge price increases on lots of items.  And, because of those increases, I have sometimes found it cheaper to order elsewhere and pay shipping.  I just depends on how quickly I need something, and whether I'll have time to go to a B&M store to make a purchase.  Sometimes it's just not worth my time to run an extra errand.

It does surprise me, with gas prices so low, that many companies are increasing shipping charges.  Weren't gas prices the excuse they used a few years ago to increase charges?

Oh, and for those that don't realize it....when your guaranteed 2 day Prime delivery doesn't arrive in two days, you have options, if you call Customer Service.  I usually request that they tack on an extra month to my Prime membership. I think they have other options as well.

[chickenbutt]

OSO - That's a good thing for people to know!  I have called on an order that didn't arrive and they extended my Prime for a month.  I thought that was nice of them.

Now, I won't call Amazon on it if the late delivery was due to some UPS thing or weather-related.  But if it was something where some snafu happened with when THEY shipped it, or something like that on their end I have.

That's happened so few times, though.   I have to admit that not only do they get the job done but their customer service is superior.