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Assuming that you would have paid $8-$10 for that level of shipping before. If you're like me, you never would have paid extra for 2-day shipping, but when it's

Assuming that you would have paid $8-$10 for that level of shipping before. If you're like me, you never would have paid extra for 2-day shipping, but when it's framed in the language of "free", everything changes.

douche 11y ago
I'm not that old, and I remember when you had to pay for any level of shipping.
- detaro 11y ago
  If you compare Amazon with Prime to Amazon without and don't care about the speed, you only save on shipping if you often order <30 €. So Amazon has that benefit over many other stores even if you do not pay for Prime. Shipping prices generally are interesting. I get that shipping isn't free, but often enough there really would be potential to optimize. E.g. Amazon ships what they can in small cardboard envelopes (stuff like USB drives, small cables, electronic parts, that kind of thing). Efficient and fast. Other sellers want 4.99 € shipping for that. Which, if I' buying stuff for 15-25 €, is a notable percentage of the price. (And yes, if you send me a big shipping box in which I have to dig through the packaging chips to find the product, then you probably paid close to that for shipping, but that really wasn't necessary) Or the one that also has stores, where you can either pay 5.99 € shipping or do store pickup. And I'm thinking "eh, the price is a bit cheaper than everywhere else, but they want more shipping. BUT I can easily pick it up myself and maybe even get it a bit quicker.". Change the shipping method, and discover that it now charges me no shipping, but increased the product price by 5.99 €. And which point I ordered somewhere else, didn't go to their (big, probably expensive) store and didn't have a chance to be tempted to buy some additional stuff there.
  - pbhjpbhj 11y ago
    > (And yes, if you send me a big shipping box in which I have to dig through the packaging chips to find the product, then you probably paid close to that for shipping, but that really wasn't necessary) // At work I often ship ceramics [in the UK] - none of the couriers will insure it, the reason I'm told is that they all use overhead conveyors and so all parcels have to survive a 2m fall. Perhaps that's part of the reason for "overpacking". Another could be that it's observer bias; occasionally they run out of smaller boxes and so use a large one (necessitating lots of filler) and these occurrences get reported.
- natch 11y ago
  Maybe they were A/B testing and you fell into a test group, because I've been using Amazon since very near the beginning and they have always had a free shipping option with no Prime needed. Or I'm going crazy, also a possibility ;-).
smoyer 11y ago
I had two kids in college when we first bought Prime and it paid for itself in one semester due to textbook shipment costs. Buying textbooks via Amazon was often half the price of the local university bookstores (whether affiliated with the campus or not).
- mikeash 11y ago
  Couldn't you have had those books shipped for free anyway, just slower? The way I buy online, Prime doesn't save me any money. I always go for the free shipping. Without Prime, I wait longer. Prime only saves money if you routinely pay for faster shipping, and do a lot of people really do that?
  - goldenkey 11y ago
    Amazon is not as cheap as the culture makes it out to be. Most of the time its actually a ripoff compared to other online shopping when you factor in promo codes or deals. Walmart.com offers free shipping for orders over $45. Target.com offers free shipping also. And if you are ordering dog/cat food or some niche thing, ordering from Chewy.com or computer parts from Newegg, etc.. will net you better prices. I'm not sure if its Amazon who's canvasing online forums or the myth just continues to get perpetuated by less than savvy shoppers. But Amazon is hardly cheap unless you really do need the 2-day shipping. Which most of the time, people don't mind waiting 3-5 days to save 10-20%.
    - dxhdr 11y ago
      Disagree, most of the time it's actually the exact same price as any online site. Go comparison shop RAM or harddrives on Amazon and Newegg. Newegg may have a larger selection but all of the major name-brand items are the same price on both sites. If some sponges are $1 cheaper on Walmart.com, who cares. I'm not going to waste 10 minutes comparison shopping for sponges; Amazon is free to make its margins there if it'd like. Here's an example -- I found a Kingston SSD drive on Newegg that has a Limited Time Offer "See price in cart" gimmick discount. It's $1.10 more expensive on Amazon. I found another Newegg limited time discount Samsung SSD drive that's actually $0.76 cheaper on Amazon. You are not going to be saving 10-20% by waiting 3-5 days. Juggling logins and shopping carts across a half dozen different websites isn't convenient. Coupon hunting isn't convenient. Amazon Prime is all about convenience and it delivers.

douche 11y ago

I'm not that old, and I remember when you had to pay for any level of shipping.

detaro 11y ago
If you compare Amazon with Prime to Amazon without and don't care about the speed, you only save on shipping if you often order <30 €. So Amazon has that benefit over many other stores even if you do not pay for Prime. Shipping prices generally are interesting. I get that shipping isn't free, but often enough there really would be potential to optimize. E.g. Amazon ships what they can in small cardboard envelopes (stuff like USB drives, small cables, electronic parts, that kind of thing). Efficient and fast. Other sellers want 4.99 € shipping for that. Which, if I' buying stuff for 15-25 €, is a notable percentage of the price. (And yes, if you send me a big shipping box in which I have to dig through the packaging chips to find the product, then you probably paid close to that for shipping, but that really wasn't necessary) Or the one that also has stores, where you can either pay 5.99 € shipping or do store pickup. And I'm thinking "eh, the price is a bit cheaper than everywhere else, but they want more shipping. BUT I can easily pick it up myself and maybe even get it a bit quicker.". Change the shipping method, and discover that it now charges me no shipping, but increased the product price by 5.99 €. And which point I ordered somewhere else, didn't go to their (big, probably expensive) store and didn't have a chance to be tempted to buy some additional stuff there.
- pbhjpbhj 11y ago
  > (And yes, if you send me a big shipping box in which I have to dig through the packaging chips to find the product, then you probably paid close to that for shipping, but that really wasn't necessary) // At work I often ship ceramics [in the UK] - none of the couriers will insure it, the reason I'm told is that they all use overhead conveyors and so all parcels have to survive a 2m fall. Perhaps that's part of the reason for "overpacking". Another could be that it's observer bias; occasionally they run out of smaller boxes and so use a large one (necessitating lots of filler) and these occurrences get reported.
natch 11y ago
Maybe they were A/B testing and you fell into a test group, because I've been using Amazon since very near the beginning and they have always had a free shipping option with no Prime needed. Or I'm going crazy, also a possibility ;-).

smoyer 11y ago

I had two kids in college when we first bought Prime and it paid for itself in one semester due to textbook shipment costs. Buying textbooks via Amazon was often half the price of the local university bookstores (whether affiliated with the campus or not).

mikeash 11y ago
Couldn't you have had those books shipped for free anyway, just slower? The way I buy online, Prime doesn't save me any money. I always go for the free shipping. Without Prime, I wait longer. Prime only saves money if you routinely pay for faster shipping, and do a lot of people really do that?
- goldenkey 11y ago
  Amazon is not as cheap as the culture makes it out to be. Most of the time its actually a ripoff compared to other online shopping when you factor in promo codes or deals. Walmart.com offers free shipping for orders over $45. Target.com offers free shipping also. And if you are ordering dog/cat food or some niche thing, ordering from Chewy.com or computer parts from Newegg, etc.. will net you better prices. I'm not sure if its Amazon who's canvasing online forums or the myth just continues to get perpetuated by less than savvy shoppers. But Amazon is hardly cheap unless you really do need the 2-day shipping. Which most of the time, people don't mind waiting 3-5 days to save 10-20%.
  - dxhdr 11y ago
    Disagree, most of the time it's actually the exact same price as any online site. Go comparison shop RAM or harddrives on Amazon and Newegg. Newegg may have a larger selection but all of the major name-brand items are the same price on both sites. If some sponges are $1 cheaper on Walmart.com, who cares. I'm not going to waste 10 minutes comparison shopping for sponges; Amazon is free to make its margins there if it'd like. Here's an example -- I found a Kingston SSD drive on Newegg that has a Limited Time Offer "See price in cart" gimmick discount. It's $1.10 more expensive on Amazon. I found another Newegg limited time discount Samsung SSD drive that's actually $0.76 cheaper on Amazon. You are not going to be saving 10-20% by waiting 3-5 days. Juggling logins and shopping carts across a half dozen different websites isn't convenient. Coupon hunting isn't convenient. Amazon Prime is all about convenience and it delivers.