Snowball

Had an item ship from BN the other day and they use Drop Ship Express. I'm wondering, do they require a signature to deliver?

dvdirv

I just got my first B&N package from "Drop Ship Express." Actually, this firm is an agent (or something like that) for USPS! If this is not totally accurate, would someone please correct me.

My order was processed by Drop Ship then forwarded to USPS and sent as Media Mail. Translated, that means it took my package 5 days to get here after it was shipped--or a week after I ordered it. No signing was requested.

Compare that to other vendors which usually arrive in 2-3 days after ordering! Of course, I didn't pay for shipping, B&N did!

dvd-fisherman

Yes, can someone explain what this really is?

Snowball

Yeah, I just got one package from them yesterday. Took a LONG time to get here, at least a week. Some of my other orders from BN.com that are in stock are taking a long time to even ship...

MrPeanut

10 months have gone by, surely someone can explain what this is by now, because I'm confused. B&N sent me a tracking number for my order and it works with the USPS? This seems to make sense to me, but what are your experiences with it? When (or should I say "if") my package information it updated, it is done about 2 days late. It says my package went across the country very quickly, and arrived at my local processing center. It has been en route to my local post office for 5 days now though. Is this just how they work? If so, I'm going to need a bigger coupon then $10 to get me to order form them again.

starri

As I understand it, DSE isn't so much an agent of the USPS as a corporate partner. How it works is this--DSE picks up your package from BN (they're in New Jersey, right?) and takes it from there to your local postal processing center. Then the USPS routes it to your post office and your friendly mail carrier delivers it to you. In theory, it sounds pretty good; since two companies spilt the transportation costs, it's cheaper than, say priority mail or UPS ground. However, in practice, it's awful, since with two sets of hands on it, there's even greater chance for something to go wrong. It also tends to be slow as all get-out, owing mainly to the fact that the USPS, not making as much money of it as off first class or priority mail, is in no special hurry to deliver it.

One of the many, many reasons I no longer frequent bn.com.

J-Dubya

I made an order yesterday and they shipped the 1st of 3 dvds today. The others are pre-orders not due until late June/early August. Don't know how long it'll take but it's nice that they've picked up the tab for the extra shipments.

MrPeanut

thanks for the responses. as long as it comes within 2 weeks or so (they quoted 3-8 days) I won't complain, but won't order from them again with so many other options out there.

dvdirv

I don't use bn.com also for that reason. I don't mind waiting 4-5 days for a package to arrive, but a week is too long.

Has anyone noticed Buy.com's new shipping policy. They call it "budget shipping" and costs $1.45 per item comapred to their regular $2.25 "standard shipping"

The down side, just like bn.com is that they specify with budget shipping it takes 1-3 weeks for your item to arrive!

I'll pay a little more, thank you!

Smack

Stupid bn.com. I loved their old shipping -- the time for a package to get from NJ to Conn was usually a day via UPS, even on the cheapest shipping. Now it takes a week to go 1 state. Free is nice, but fast is better.

RevLiver

Since I never order anything but books from BN.com and I've got plenty of unread books lying around, I'm in no hurry and appreciate the free shipping. Combined with their 30% off all 2002 books, the 5% BN membership card discount and the 7% Discover card discount, I haven't bought a book from Amazon in awhile and don't intend to.