danwiz

JoeySeven - now that is wonderful. I tried it out on a few products and it seems to really do a pretty good job! Thanks.

zyzzle

Bloody, conniving bastards, Amazon! Raise "free" shipping to $49, also raise the cost of a single media item (BD, DVD) to *$4.98*! I didn't check the new, improved shipping cost of books, I was so disgusted, but it's probably up to $9.95 for a paperback now...

Doing their best to kill Marketplace sellers by imposing outrageous media shipping rates.

Also doing their best to force Prime down our throats... 95% of the cost of which is pure profit to them, of course. Its $100-a-year exhortion is a sunk cost for the Amazon buyers, but cash-in-hand for Amazon executives.

Bye, bye greedy bastards....

Why So Blu?

Did it go up to $4.98 per media item?

Josh-da-man

It probably is you're buying from a seller that isn't FBA.

Mikael79

Yes, I'm sure they'll be out of business in a week.

zyzzle

Strangely, it seems if you buy "direct from Amazon" media items are showing $4.98 each to ship... From marketplace sellers, shipping on media items is still $3.99 each, no quantity discounts. For how long, I wonder?

Both prices are outrageous to ship what amounts to a ~4 ounce package.

A more reasonable charge would be $1.99, but Amazon needs to make their 200% profit on shipping. Just because they can. And they're big... so they won't be taken to the task or questioned by the loyal Amazon followers, of course. Amazon can do no wrong...

Ropes Pierre

when free shipping was 25 min i was ordering like it was going out of style. more shite than i needed, but ah only needed a little more to make 25. when it went up to 35, i ordered less frequently but still spent. putting together enough stuff to make 50 dollars i will be ordering very little and infrequently. they made more on me before, and i imagine there are many "casual" buyers who are similar. i would be curious to see how their profits are affected and whether others order less often now.



tl;dr amazon gave me canceraids

davidh777

First, you're never going to see those profit numbers. Second, of course some people are going to be ordering less often, or not at all. Amazon has decided that they'll raise shipping, move some people to Prime, get some to pay higher shipping, and lose everyone else. They're OK with that, or they wouldn't be doing it. They ran the numbers and made a decision, just like zyzzle ran the numbers and deducted that Prime is 95% pure profit to them.

Viper187

Yeah, yeah. Free shipping costs more. What I want to know is why these idiots insist on building shit in EVERY goddamn state!? Are they trying to screw everyone? If they kept their warehouses and shit isolated to a few states like NewEgg, most of us would be saving on sales tax. Instead, we look for Amazon fulfilled sellers that don't have the tax applied. Well, I do. Is Amazon actually profiting more from them than direct sales, or are they just retarded? Just because Amazon needs more warehouses doesn't mean they need to keep picking a different state to build each one in.

davidh777

Hasn't Amazon pretty much punted the sales-tax battle?

fumanstan

I hope it's not like that

bsmith

It's now $4.98 to ship a single DVD or Blu-ray, $50 minimum for free shipping, and they have the slowest free shipping. It's like they are daring me to shop somewhere else. DD is $1.99 and BestBuy.com $2.99 to ship the same items. I thought the idea behind all the warehouses were to make the shipping experience better not worse and more expensive. While I'll still make some purchases from their site, it looks like the majority will be from marketplace vendors instead.

Viper187

You know what. I'd pay $5 for shipping IF they'd let me pick the fucking carrier!!! All these years and the biggest retailers online still expect us to just take whatever bullshit carrier they choose. If they want $5 for standard shipping, I want standard fucking USPS shipping, NOT UPS/FedEx dropping shit at the post office a day late every goddamn time. I watch my tracking when I get things from Amazon and other places sent UPS. Whenever a SurePost package hits the regional hub an hour or so south of me, it's at the local UPS building right here in town and on a truck to deliver the next morning before 7am. Yet, when a SurePost package comes through the same hub, and local UPS depot, they somehow can't get the package to the post office, which is TWO MILES AWAY, until 12-1PM.

Alan Smithee

Well, the good thing about this is I'll be inclined to buy more from my local record store, even if their prices are a couple bucks above Amazon's prices since the $4.99 shipping cost makes it a moot point now.

zyzzle

Yes, there's no doubt about it... For $5 shipping of a 3-4 oz package for a single media item, it *should* be shipping First Class at a minimum... But Amazon needs to make their 200% profit, so they will ship the slowest means possible. Unless you've forked out the $100 / year Prime fee (well, more like a surcharge, or tax). It's in their Game Plan. They've worked it out...

Obviously, I'm not the only one pissed at Amazon's effrontery and sheer gall this time around. They realize that they can "afford" to lose customers... When companies become this brazen, we need to speak with our wallets, and NOT patronize them!

It's also unfortunate, because by this new $50 threshold for free shipping and $5 shipping charge per media item, they're doing their level best to put the final nail in the coffin of physical media sales... Self-fulfilling prophecy, because both Amazon, and the studios WANT this to happen, so that they can make more profits and have more control via streaming delivery and sales... We won't actually "own" any product then...

Viper187

Which is exactly why I won't buy hardly anything digital other than a few console games with no physical release. I learned my lesson with PC games in the 90s. I stopped buying things I have to jump through hoops to actually use. Why buy a PC game when you have to crack it to play without the damn disc in the drive anyway? Now they use and abuse the internet. Requiring you to connect, register with them, etc to play a goddamn singleplayer game. They can take their unfriendly DRM and stick it.

Plus, these companies wanting things to go digital still haven't learned the simple fact that once something is online, it should fucking stay online! Get your licensing shit right or don't release anything. Digital items should NEVER be removed from the marketplace. I'm constantly seeing digital console games, etc get de-listed, and it's ridiculous.

zyzzle

Their (conveniently unannounced) shipping cost hike was made as surreptitiously as possible, during a "slow" month (February), when gas prices are at historic lows. Customers, Amazon's warped reasoning will go, now have more spending money at hand, and they're not going to cavetch as loudly during this time at the price hike...

So, they strike while the iron's hot, and in their serpentine ways, slither back into their dens, while it hopefully goes unnoticed by the majority of their loyal fan base.

And, in the fallout, other companies will raise their shipping rates in a follow-the-leader move, further reinforcing Amazon's god-like status.

bsmith

I contacted Amazon about it through customer service email. They just restated the new policy and said if i order quickly I might get it accepted under the old policy. I explained again the issue and stated it just doesn't work for me and that i will have to start shopping elsewhere. I then received their second response again stating the new policy but with a twist that what ever I order next they will give me free next day shipping. I said no thanks and once again explained the issues and told them i will come back when their policy changes. Otherwise, it will be market place purchases only or other vendors depending on what makes most sense. They said they would pass the message along.

My recommendation would be to contact customer service through email and politely let them know that the new $50 minimum and $4.98 base shipping for a DVD is not acceptable. Sorry, but there are much better options out there. I think by sticking with the facts and being polite it is more likely to be sent up the chain. If enough complain just maybe the corporate types will rethink this plan because there are some that just don't want anything to do with Prime.

Why So Blu?

I don't have an issue with it. I've been PRIME and proud since like 2003. It's the only way I roll and I see at getting PRIME streaming for $8.25 a month per year if it's divided up. It's a bargain. I guess people don't really like paying $99 at a clip as opposed to being charged per month. Yeah, yeah, I'm sure we'll get some folks that don't care for the streaming and vice versa but you get a shitload of options for $99 a year.

zyzzle

Well, being nice and polite *used* to work in the old days when businesses seemed to truly care about their customer base, when losing a customer could cost them dearly in the long run. Now, Amazon is so cavalier that they just don't care about losing customers, as they've "worked the numbers" in the sense that they can "afford", say a 5-10% customer loss, because the increased shipping costs will more than pay off in the long run. They'll be in the black before long, even with the customer shrinkage, and that's *all* that matters. Customer loyalty and / or longevity means two shits to them.

Finally, most of those customers they'll lose will be "devil customers" anyway, and Amazon doesn't care about them. They don't make enough money off them to matter, so the loss is "good" for them!

They've got to start building all those retail stores, more shipping centers, and getting us ready for the coming Amazon drone attack... All while charging us more for the privilege of their gracious omnipresence...

MLBFan24

As a non-Prime member, with the $49 minimum for free shipping, I'm more likely to price-match at Target now. I was ok with the $35 minimum.

Most of my Amazon shopping is around the Christmas season though, so it won't affect me that much.


Side note: I think the Amazon retail locations will fail. Right now, they only have the rent for the distribution centers. Now they want to add retail space rent to their operating costs? Why? Amazon pretty much owns the online marketplace. Just do what you do best. Let Target and Wal-Mart battle it out in the retail space.

Red Hood

I just learned that Amazon put a restriction on all sellers about selling Star Wars stuff. Similar to the DVD restriction, the seller has to jump through a lot of hoops in order to sell Star Wars merchandise.

bsmith

Hey, if Prime works for you great. But for me it is nothing but paying $99 upfront to cover shipping costs when I can get it free. Why would I want to do that, especially given that I'm in no hurry for anything since i have plenty to watch that i can wait a few extra days here and there. Now we just have to wait and see how many others could care less about Prime, aren't interested in getting pushed into something we don't want or need, and are willing to go elsewhere if need be. I generally spend a few thousand a year on Amazon, if they don't want that business that is fine with me.

Viper187

It's that kind of bullshit that keeps terrible outfits like DD in business. When I spend money on something, I want it in my hands within a week. Prime is awesome for this reason. It's the 21st century. Anything less than shipping in stock items within 24 hours of ordering and using first class mail should be unacceptable, and it would be if other people stopped being so damn patient.

Alan Smithee

But if you have any actual STORES near you that still sell physical media, it'll hopefully be a boost for their sales- and I still prefer buying in-store anyways as you can make sure there's no shipping damage, plus I pre-ordered Good Dinosaur from Target weeks ago and on release day it's not here yet! Still hoping Amazon's stores will bring back the magic of Tower and the like but we'll see.