Suggestion Box

[WhiteFlowers]

Here's why I prefer to shop at Amazon then at QVC.  I'm an Amazon prime member so I receive all my items in 1-2 days period. QVC I receive items in 8-10 business days. I pay one fee of $50 per year to be a prime member and can order and return items (big, little heavy--doesn't matter) for no fee, I am also  guaranteed to receive items in 1-2 days. My Prime membership includes free music streaming & downloads. It also includes free movies. With QVC I pay between $6-10 in shipping to try and return an item. No free anything. If you order and keep or even return 5 to 7 items a year from QVC you pay more in shipping charges than an Amazon prime membership. I love Amazon and order many items from them.  I don't have to go to a store and waste my time shopping and not find what I need. I order beauty products, clothing, shoes, travel essentials, bird food, cleaning products, gifts, Christmas decorations, razor blades, etc., etc. Amazon is amazing!!! QVC not so much--hope they realize people shop online for what they need and expect it to arrive quickly and not have to pay shipping. Here's another tip for tptb -- make better product videos when products first arrive at the Q. Present merchandise with a product video online before you offer to customers.  This will help your items become more mobile buying friendly. I want to see an item with a short professional video describing item, it's benefit & features. Do not want a clip from a presentation that is mostly gabbing.  Do 90 second infomercial on every new product offered.  

[KYToby]

While i, too, have Amazon Prime and make frequent purchases from Amazon (I life in a same-day delivery market), I think it is a bit unfair to compare the two as you are not comparing apples to oranges.

Amazon requires a hefty fee for prime membership (I assume you have a student rate or some other discount as I pay twice as much).  Amazon alo, even with prime, requires minimum purchases at times in order to get free shipping or even order the item (such as Amazon Pantry and add-on items).  Amazon's prices change throughout the day on some items -- quite frequently.

Amazon is known for the harsh conditions of employees in its warehouses, and it significantly cuts prices to put competitors out of business only to raise them higher (it's no better than Wal-Mart).  It also has been accused of dubious treatment of its partners by monitoring its high-selling items in its Amazon Marketplace and adding them into inventory (and undercutting its partners).

Additionally, QVC has significantly higher overhead.  It runs a television studio and outlet stores plus it has to pay cable channels to carry the network and market itself.  Other than some online marketing, Amazon does not have these expenses. 

If you like Amazon, great.  Shop there.  It is not the great savior of retailing though.  it has its good points, but it is alo harmful to local businesses and it has people spending large amounts up front to pay for Prime Shipping, and it manipulates its pricing and minimums only to have people spend more money than they planned.  If you think it is great and wonderful, then you have fallen into their trap.

[millieshops]

Prime works well for a shopper like you - although I think you're paying them twice as much as you say unless there's some special program I never heard of.  $50 a year, really?

I rarely download music and I never stream TV content so that's a waste for me.  I don't even shop all that much, and so far in 2016, I've spent in shipping just under $70 at QVC spread over 18 orders --  I'd be one of the millions of Prime members helping make Prime cheap for a shopper like you.  That's why I quit.

As for those 8-10 business days you say it takes QVC to ship to you.  That might (might not though) bother me.  As it is the vast majority of my QVC shipments arrive in 4 days from order.  No idea why the difference and there's nothing I care about getting in 2 days - unless I want dinner tonight!

I do use Amazon.  I go to their website and read reviews of books I might want to read -  and then I get them at the public library.  That's like Prime in a way -  I'm already paying (taxes) -  and I get way more than my money's worth.  Maybe the best tax I pay right now.

I also order from Amazon when I want something and their price is enough less that paying shipping is okay or it's expensive enough to qualify for free shipping without paying for Prime.

By the way -  sometimes QVC gives me super deals -  I ordered a Perrricone TSV after checking Amazon for a comparison shop and QVC was $150 cheaper than Amazon's lowest price AND I got a tube of another Perricone with it for free so to speak  (I pay $100 for that tube other times.  Free shipping be d*mned when tou save money like that -  QVC's shipping was $2.98 that day -  not enough for me to go buy coffee at 7-11.

[Kachina624]

Comparing Amazon and QVC is like comparing apples and oranges, two entirely different types of operations.  Amazon takes online orders (try to find a phone # for them) and they ship.

QVC on the other hand is much more complex since they operate a 24/7 TV program on at least two channels.  Consider all the specialized electronic equipment and personnel they must have.  They also operate in several foreign countries.  Shipping, which is so prominent at Amazon, is just one facet the the Q's vast operation.  Customer service is much more important at QVC; you won't even find product videos at Amazon nor can you see clothing modeled or products demonstrated.

Both companies have their pros and cons but they really are not similar.

[Puppy Lips]

---

@KYToby wrote:

While i, too, have Amazon Prime and make frequent purchases from Amazon (I life in a same-day delivery market), I think it is a bit unfair to compare the two as you are not comparing apples to oranges.

Amazon requires a hefty fee for prime membership (I assume you have a student rate or some other discount as I pay twice as much).  Amazon alo, even with prime, requires minimum purchases at times in order to get free shipping or even order the item (such as Amazon Pantry and add-on items).  Amazon's prices change throughout the day on some items -- quite frequently.

Amazon is known for the harsh conditions of employees in its warehouses, and it significantly cuts prices to put competitors out of business only to raise them higher (it's no better than Wal-Mart).  It also has been accused of dubious treatment of its partners by monitoring its high-selling items in its Amazon Marketplace and adding them into inventory (and undercutting its partners).

Additionally, QVC has significantly higher overhead.  It runs a television studio and outlet stores plus it has to pay cable channels to carry the network and market itself.  Other than some online marketing, Amazon does not have these expenses. 

If you like Amazon, great.  Shop there.  It is not the great savior of retailing though.  it has its good points, but it is alo harmful to local businesses and it has people spending large amounts up front to pay for Prime Shipping, and it manipulates its pricing and minimums only to have people spend more money than they planned.  If you think it is great and wonderful, then you have fallen into their trap.

---

Well I know this part is true, because it happened to our business.

[Moonchilde]

I shop at Amazon as a Prime member. I comparison shop constantly.

There are quite a few things people buy from QVC that they cannot buy on Amazon, and sometimes, anywhere else. People don't always want something "just like" or "just as good as" a particular brand or line and don't want to waste time looking either. They want what they want, at the best possible price, the key word being possible. If you can only buy something you want at QVC it's a moot point.

You can find some of the things QVC sells on Amazon - some shoes, for example. I doubt you would find Linea, LOGO in your style/size, or Denim & Co.  But what if they don't have your shoe size? You can order generic Xmas decorations anywhere or go to Big Lots or Hobby Lobby - but if QVC has something only they sell, you're not going to find it on Amazon. QVC doesn't sell razor blades or bird food, last I heard, so - apples and oranges. Amazon just does not sell everything that QVC sells.

That said, if QVC sells something that I can also buy on Amazon for a better price, of course I'm there. I've done it and I'm sure will do it again. Sometimes, though not often enough, QVC will offer a cosmetics, hair care or other deal that can't be beat anywhere, by a big margin, even with s&h.

Amazon is my go-to for most things because of Prime, but Amazon's and QVC's merchandise doesn't overlap as much as you think it does, for most people.

[Silkeej]

I will say when shopping with Amazon you need to be careful and watch their prices on items. I was told Amazon does not set prices the vendors do and Amazon doesn't  check to make sure if they are out of line. Example "new" cookbook cost 19.98 plus shipping the same book only now it is " used" selling on Amazon for 49.95 plus shipping. Does that sound like a good buy? and yet there it sits on their website. At least at QVC you are being given fair prices and reasonable shipping and your items are new.

[WhiteFlowers]

Another plus that many people may not be aware of,  Amazon Prime members can get free books. The first is via the Kindle Lending Library. Prime users can "borrow" one free book per month from Amazon's selection of more than 500,000 titles. After the book is read, it must be returned to the library, at which point another book may be rented.

Secondly, Amazon recently launched Kindle First, which allows Amazon Prime members to download one free pre-release book per month. Each month there are four choices, with new options becoming available on the first of each month.

The Kindle Lending Library could have a value of up to $120 per year (assuming each book rented would otherwise cost $9.99 to download), and the value of Kindle First ranges from $60 to $120, depending again on the price of the book.

i do believe that going forward QVC needs to look at the mobile generation and how we shop and why if they want to stay relevant 

[WhiteFlowers]

Oh yes and then their is Zappos.  Another online retailer that delivers in 1-2 days, no prime membership fees, no shipping or return fees, very good product video, and amazing customer service. Yet another competitor for my money. 

[QVCkitty1]

I buy from both places, but probably more from  Amazon. I live in a small town without much in the way of stores, and there isn't much that I can't get from Amazon, and with Prime If I need it quickly , I'm good.