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That's basically what https://www.shoprunner.com/ https://www.shoprunner.com/ is trying to be, I think? It's not as integrated as it could be, but it accomplis

That's basically what https://www.shoprunner.com/ https://www.shoprunner.com/ is trying to be, I think? It's not as integrated as it could be, but it accomplishes the same thing.

usaphp 9y ago
The problem with shoprunner is that not every store supports it,but all stores can ship with ups "prime".
- SparkyMcUnicorn 9y ago
  What's to stop someone from sharing their UPS Prime membership with everyone they know? Verified address(es) sound like the only answer, and that brings up another set of problems to solve. Beyond that, just because UPS offers a membership doesn't mean that retailers will have it integrated into their checkout flow/logic. In a lot of cases that would be a re-work and could take a long time before it was practically usable.
  - andrewflnr 9y ago
    Maybe it's strictly associated with the address: every time UPS ships something to your address, it gets flagged for express treatment. Seller doesn't have to know about it at all.
    - manacit 9y ago
      This would actually be significantly harder than you would think - definitely much more difficult than a 'flag' on your address. Below constitutes my (limited) experience working as an engineer at a company with a big logistics component (not Amazon). When you run an operation the size of Amazon (or even muuuuch smaller) and are putting out a lot of freight for UPS/FedEx, you batch up your outgoing material based on ship method and 'next hop'. In order to speed up the delivery from a 3-5 day window to a 2 day window, you would have to explicitly purchase the '2 day' shipping option for that customer, or it would get batched in with all of the other 3-5 day goods, which could get sent to a totally different distribution center than the 2 day. We're talking huge numbers trucks all going to "Indianapolis 2 day" versus "Lexington Ground" or whatever - once it gets on that ground shipping truck, I don't think it matters a ton what your address is flagged, as it's going to go that shipping method.
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
    - SparkyMcUnicorn 9y ago
      It would still be hard to implement. The shipper still has to make an additional request to UPS to make sure they get paid for the label. The first and largest complaint people will make is that they can't use UPS Prime while on vacation or to ship gifts.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
  - vxNsr 9y ago
    As andrewflnr said, it would be tied to your name and address, or maybe two addresses (home and vacation/business) and four names (family) the same way USPS offers Informed Delivery[0] based on name and address. It offers the carriers a double dipping (charge shipper standard rate and then charge you subscription fee) but there's definitely a market for it. [0]https://informeddelivery.usps.com/box/pages/intro/start.action https://informeddelivery.usps.com/box/pages/intro/start.acti...
creepydata 9y ago
ShopRunner is also free if you have an American Express card.
- cdr 9y ago
  ShopRunner is also free, forever, if you ever sign up for one of their free trials - I think they tend to happen around Black Friday. I signed up for a free 1 year trial 5+ years ago, and it's still active. I don't know if they're desperate to goose their user numbers or what, but I've never heard of anyone's trial expiring.
zippergz 9y ago
I use Shoprunner where it's supported, because I get it for free with Amex. My experience is that it's not as good as Prime. Prime is supposed to give you free delivery in 2 days. Shoprunner is supposed to give you free 2-day shipping. These are very different things. Yes, the Shoprunner package is shipped via a 2-day shipping method, but the merchant often takes several days before they ship it. I've had Shoprunner orders take a week or more to arrive. Every once in a while Prime misses its promise date, but it's pretty rare, and usually only by a day. I don't think I've EVER had a Shoprunner order arrive in 2 days. Unless the merchants are all prepared to start passing orders off to the carriers more quickly, a carrier program will have a hard time matching the Prime experience.
- phil21 9y ago
  This is pretty typical for most not-amazon (or amazon-competitor) stores, I've found. It's why I am so reluctant to use third party sites, even though I know it's for the better if I do. Newegg I've found to fulfill the Shoprunner "two day" shipping promise pretty reliably. I actually get a lot of stuff the next day due to being relatively close to their Indiana drop-ship partner/warehouse/whatever.

That's basically what https://www.shoprunner.com/ https://www.shoprunner.com/ is trying to be, I think? It's not as integrated as it could be, but it accomplishes the same thing.

usaphp 9y ago

The problem with shoprunner is that not every store supports it,but all stores can ship with ups "prime".

SparkyMcUnicorn 9y ago
What's to stop someone from sharing their UPS Prime membership with everyone they know? Verified address(es) sound like the only answer, and that brings up another set of problems to solve. Beyond that, just because UPS offers a membership doesn't mean that retailers will have it integrated into their checkout flow/logic. In a lot of cases that would be a re-work and could take a long time before it was practically usable.
- andrewflnr 9y ago
  Maybe it's strictly associated with the address: every time UPS ships something to your address, it gets flagged for express treatment. Seller doesn't have to know about it at all.
  - manacit 9y ago
    This would actually be significantly harder than you would think - definitely much more difficult than a 'flag' on your address. Below constitutes my (limited) experience working as an engineer at a company with a big logistics component (not Amazon). When you run an operation the size of Amazon (or even muuuuch smaller) and are putting out a lot of freight for UPS/FedEx, you batch up your outgoing material based on ship method and 'next hop'. In order to speed up the delivery from a 3-5 day window to a 2 day window, you would have to explicitly purchase the '2 day' shipping option for that customer, or it would get batched in with all of the other 3-5 day goods, which could get sent to a totally different distribution center than the 2 day. We're talking huge numbers trucks all going to "Indianapolis 2 day" versus "Lexington Ground" or whatever - once it gets on that ground shipping truck, I don't think it matters a ton what your address is flagged, as it's going to go that shipping method.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
  - SparkyMcUnicorn 9y ago
    It would still be hard to implement. The shipper still has to make an additional request to UPS to make sure they get paid for the label. The first and largest complaint people will make is that they can't use UPS Prime while on vacation or to ship gifts.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- vxNsr 9y ago
  As andrewflnr said, it would be tied to your name and address, or maybe two addresses (home and vacation/business) and four names (family) the same way USPS offers Informed Delivery[0] based on name and address. It offers the carriers a double dipping (charge shipper standard rate and then charge you subscription fee) but there's definitely a market for it. [0]https://informeddelivery.usps.com/box/pages/intro/start.action https://informeddelivery.usps.com/box/pages/intro/start.acti...

creepydata 9y ago

ShopRunner is also free if you have an American Express card.

cdr 9y ago
ShopRunner is also free, forever, if you ever sign up for one of their free trials - I think they tend to happen around Black Friday. I signed up for a free 1 year trial 5+ years ago, and it's still active. I don't know if they're desperate to goose their user numbers or what, but I've never heard of anyone's trial expiring.

zippergz 9y ago

I use Shoprunner where it's supported, because I get it for free with Amex. My experience is that it's not as good as Prime. Prime is supposed to give you free delivery in 2 days. Shoprunner is supposed to give you free 2-day shipping. These are very different things. Yes, the Shoprunner package is shipped via a 2-day shipping method, but the merchant often takes several days before they ship it. I've had Shoprunner orders take a week or more to arrive. Every once in a while Prime misses its promise date, but it's pretty rare, and usually only by a day. I don't think I've EVER had a Shoprunner order arrive in 2 days. Unless the merchants are all prepared to start passing orders off to the carriers more quickly, a carrier program will have a hard time matching the Prime experience.

phil21 9y ago
This is pretty typical for most not-amazon (or amazon-competitor) stores, I've found. It's why I am so reluctant to use third party sites, even though I know it's for the better if I do. Newegg I've found to fulfill the Shoprunner "two day" shipping promise pretty reliably. I actually get a lot of stuff the next day due to being relatively close to their Indiana drop-ship partner/warehouse/whatever.