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Yes. I actually do accept this, and it's OK with me. Prime has saved me so much time -- and, arguably more valuable, attention -- obtaining objects I need. I li

Yes. I actually do accept this, and it's OK with me. Prime has saved me so much time -- and, arguably more valuable, attention -- obtaining objects I need. I literally do not care about the price difference between a $1 and a $5 roll of tape: as long as I don't need it sooner than 2 days from now, it's comin' on amazon, because the alternative is either searching online and actually thinking about it, or leaving my home -- and my time and attention are worth much more than that.

peckrob 11y ago
Exactly. My time has a value and it is most definitely worth more than $4. If I need something but I don't need it right now, Amazon is the answer. Need a pack of sharpies? Yeah, they might be a few bucks cheaper at Walmart, but then I'd have to go to Walmart. That's an hour of my time wasted driving to the store, walking all over the place to get the sharpies, waiting in line for 15 minutes or struggling with the annoying self checkouts that never work right, then driving home. And I would probably end up getting a few other things that I didn't really need because I don't want to waste the trip. With Amazon Prime? 30 seconds max and they arrive 2 or days later. And I'm on to my next task. I have too much going on to quibble over the difference of a few dollars when the time savings is so dramatic. Now, for a major purchase of a few hundred or more, I'm going to spend some time deal hunting. But for everyday items Amazon is plenty sufficient and the prices are usually good enough.
- pgrote 11y ago
  ... and that is if they have the Sharpies. There is no way to check the inventory at Walmart before you go, so you are left to hope it is there. Each time we go to Walmart there are a couple of items not on the shelf. They are still struggling with it. http://www.forbes.com/sites/retailwire/2015/08/23/is-walmart-really-fixing-its-out-of-stock-problems/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/retailwire/2015/08/23/is-walmart...
  - toomuchtodo 11y ago
    How the hell is Walmart's inventory surfacing to consumers so bad, yet their supply chain so efficient?
- kaybe 11y ago
  What happened to putting it on the shopping list? Or do you never go to the store?
- ssharp 11y ago
  The option isn't really between getting it from Amazon or getting it from Walmart. Realistically guessing, there are a fair number of places within a short driving distance where you don't need to walk far to find the Sharpies and don't need to wait in line for 15 minutes. I'm a Prime subscriber and use it all the time for a lot of stuff. The nearest Walmart is 20 minutes away from me, so a trip there and back for something small actually would take close to an hour. However, I have local options that suffice. So if I need a Sharpie right now, I can drive a half a mile down the road to the dollar store and buy one. There is no line and the store is small enough to quickly navigate. If I don't need the Sharpies right now, I mark it down on my list and get it the next time I do make a trip to Walmart or some other larger retail store/grocer.
jessriedel 11y ago
Yep, it's so easy to spend 30 minutes all-told going to the store, so if you value your time at minimum wage you've already wasted the savings. Still, the world would be better with a viable Amazon competitor, especially with tools that would let you search both simultaneously.
hockeybias 11y ago
Ditto.
mattmaroon 11y ago
I wonder where everyone lives where stopping into a store is so much time. Nowadays you can order and pay for things online. I walk into the store, give them my name, sign for something, and I'm done. Everyone here is like "I drive 30 minutes to the store...". I guess maybe HN has a lot of users who live in Alaska? I'd suspect if people calculated their hourly rate on doing so they'd go right back to stores. But that wasn't the point anyway. The point was that Amazon's high prices and sucky UI have opened the door to a competitor. I'm not sure it'll be Jet. I'm not even sure it'll be someone. I mean, they can just lower their prices and fix their sorting. But either way we end up better off. If there were a site as convenient as Amazon, with comparable service, but lower prices and a better UI, wouldn't you use it? I think that's possible. I don't know if it will be Jet long-term. But it's possible, and that's interesting.
- loco5niner 11y ago
  The last 2 times I did online order pick-up it was not that convenient. Best Buy pickup wasn't bad, but they couldn't find my order. Maybe looked for 4 minutes? At Walmart, I couldn't even find anyone at the pickup station! It took at least 20 minutes to get the "right" someone (I did flag multiple people down but they couldn't help me). Then it took at least 10 more minutes to go through the process. Admittedly, both experiences were about 3 years ago. Maybe I'll try again.
  - mattmaroon 11y ago
    Well everything sucks at Wal-Mart.
r00fus 11y ago
Yes, however, if you have other delivery services (e.g. Google Shopping Express) you should look around. Stuff on GSX can often be on sale (like in the retail stores), and even not on sale, stuff is often cheaper there. Inventory can vary, but I get it same-day or next, not 2 days later. I use it so often that the yearly costs (like prime, about $100/y) is a drop in the bucket. Amazon used to be less expensive, but in the past few years, I've noticed local stores are sometimes drastically cheaper on basic goods.

peckrob 11y ago

Exactly. My time has a value and it is most definitely worth more than $4. If I need something but I don't need it right now, Amazon is the answer. Need a pack of sharpies? Yeah, they might be a few bucks cheaper at Walmart, but then I'd have to go to Walmart. That's an hour of my time wasted driving to the store, walking all over the place to get the sharpies, waiting in line for 15 minutes or struggling with the annoying self checkouts that never work right, then driving home. And I would probably end up getting a few other things that I didn't really need because I don't want to waste the trip. With Amazon Prime? 30 seconds max and they arrive 2 or days later. And I'm on to my next task. I have too much going on to quibble over the difference of a few dollars when the time savings is so dramatic. Now, for a major purchase of a few hundred or more, I'm going to spend some time deal hunting. But for everyday items Amazon is plenty sufficient and the prices are usually good enough.

pgrote 11y ago
... and that is if they have the Sharpies. There is no way to check the inventory at Walmart before you go, so you are left to hope it is there. Each time we go to Walmart there are a couple of items not on the shelf. They are still struggling with it. http://www.forbes.com/sites/retailwire/2015/08/23/is-walmart-really-fixing-its-out-of-stock-problems/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/retailwire/2015/08/23/is-walmart...
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  How the hell is Walmart's inventory surfacing to consumers so bad, yet their supply chain so efficient?
kaybe 11y ago
What happened to putting it on the shopping list? Or do you never go to the store?
ssharp 11y ago
The option isn't really between getting it from Amazon or getting it from Walmart. Realistically guessing, there are a fair number of places within a short driving distance where you don't need to walk far to find the Sharpies and don't need to wait in line for 15 minutes. I'm a Prime subscriber and use it all the time for a lot of stuff. The nearest Walmart is 20 minutes away from me, so a trip there and back for something small actually would take close to an hour. However, I have local options that suffice. So if I need a Sharpie right now, I can drive a half a mile down the road to the dollar store and buy one. There is no line and the store is small enough to quickly navigate. If I don't need the Sharpies right now, I mark it down on my list and get it the next time I do make a trip to Walmart or some other larger retail store/grocer.

jessriedel 11y ago

Yep, it's so easy to spend 30 minutes all-told going to the store, so if you value your time at minimum wage you've already wasted the savings. Still, the world would be better with a viable Amazon competitor, especially with tools that would let you search both simultaneously.

hockeybias 11y ago

Ditto.

mattmaroon 11y ago

I wonder where everyone lives where stopping into a store is so much time. Nowadays you can order and pay for things online. I walk into the store, give them my name, sign for something, and I'm done. Everyone here is like "I drive 30 minutes to the store...". I guess maybe HN has a lot of users who live in Alaska? I'd suspect if people calculated their hourly rate on doing so they'd go right back to stores. But that wasn't the point anyway. The point was that Amazon's high prices and sucky UI have opened the door to a competitor. I'm not sure it'll be Jet. I'm not even sure it'll be someone. I mean, they can just lower their prices and fix their sorting. But either way we end up better off. If there were a site as convenient as Amazon, with comparable service, but lower prices and a better UI, wouldn't you use it? I think that's possible. I don't know if it will be Jet long-term. But it's possible, and that's interesting.

loco5niner 11y ago
The last 2 times I did online order pick-up it was not that convenient. Best Buy pickup wasn't bad, but they couldn't find my order. Maybe looked for 4 minutes? At Walmart, I couldn't even find anyone at the pickup station! It took at least 20 minutes to get the "right" someone (I did flag multiple people down but they couldn't help me). Then it took at least 10 more minutes to go through the process. Admittedly, both experiences were about 3 years ago. Maybe I'll try again.
- mattmaroon 11y ago
  Well everything sucks at Wal-Mart.

r00fus 11y ago

Yes, however, if you have other delivery services (e.g. Google Shopping Express) you should look around. Stuff on GSX can often be on sale (like in the retail stores), and even not on sale, stuff is often cheaper there. Inventory can vary, but I get it same-day or next, not 2 days later. I use it so often that the yearly costs (like prime, about $100/y) is a drop in the bucket. Amazon used to be less expensive, but in the past few years, I've noticed local stores are sometimes drastically cheaper on basic goods.