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Hmm. I dislike this development. Let me explain. Amazon already has enormous market power and with the current pandemic, it is probably one of the few companie

Hmm. I dislike this development. Let me explain. Amazon already has enormous market power and with the current pandemic, it is probably one of the few companies that will survive this largely unscathed; it may even be able to benefit. I am not completely sure as to why that is the case. My recent order says it will be delivered at the beginning of May. But then, they will pick up a lot of business from all the places that will have gone under. Still, how do you buy anything on Amazon, when it has a month wait time for things you want/need?

ghaff 7y ago
Delivery times clearly vary a lot. I have admittedly not tried to order any "quarantine goods" like webcams but I think everything I've ordered has arrived in two days.
whb07 7y ago
Where were you when Walmart had this same argument applied to it? Hows about when Kmart had it? Hows about Sears? .... you get the point.
- A4ET8a8uTh0 7y ago
  I will admit that I am not sure I do understand your argument. For the record, I am never happy about too much power residing in too few hands. It rarely ends well. But neither Walmart, Kmart, nor Sears had as big of a grip on US economy as Amazon does simply, because Amazon is not just a giant online store. It is not apples to apples comparison. It is possible I am misunderstanding what you are trying to say. Care to elaborate?
  - bhupy 7y ago
    > But neither Walmart, Kmart, nor Sears had as big of a grip on US economy as Amazon does simply, because Amazon is not just a giant online store Citation needed — all three have enjoyed periods in history as dominant nationwide market leaders in retail. Sears' mail order catalog was essentially the pre-Internet Amazon, and commanded a comparable scale.
    - A4ET8a8uTh0 7y ago
      Yes. You do have a point there, but what is your equivalent for AWS?
alistairSH 7y ago
I've ordered a selection of things from Amazon (and other vendors) over the last month and none have taken a month to deliver. I used to be able to get many things from Amazon same-day or overnight - that is rarely available now. But, 2-3 days is still common. And the things that are listed as 3+ weeks often aren't available any faster from other sources.
- nostromo 7y ago
  It's all over the map. Some of my orders have come on a normal timeline. Others have been sitting in "waiting to ship" for weeks. Another was entirely canceled by Amazon without explanation.
  - alistairSH 7y ago
    I suspect it's largely based on what is in Amazon warehouses. The items listed as a month+ are probably Amazon Marketplace (3rd party sellers) who don't have items at Amazon warehouses at this time - unless it's changed, Amazon was not accepting new inbound Marketplace shipments that weren't "important" items.
    - nostromo 7y ago
      It's the opposite -- 3rd party sellers aren't bottlenecked by Amazon's warehouses and are shipping faster.
      - alistairSH 7y ago
        I thought "Amazon Marketplace" items were fulfilled by Amazon? Maybe I have the different categories mixed up?
twblalock 7y ago
It's odd that you are portraying Amazon's ability to survive the coronavirus situation as a negative thing. It's a good thing, and we should want more companies to be as resilient and adaptable. We are better off right now because Amazon exists and is able to deliver to people who are sheltering in place.
- A4ET8a8uTh0 7y ago
  I am not. It is laudable that they are able to thrive in adverse environment. My complaint is specifically about the amount of marketshare and corresponding market power, which is already pretty big. At certain point, too much power has to be controlled. There is a reason we have antitrust laws.
  - twblalock 7y ago
    Antitrust laws are targeted at specific monopolistic behaviors, not against bigness in general.
    - A4ET8a8uTh0 7y ago
      You are absolutely correct. That said, 'bigness' invites monopolistic behaviors. I am actually saying: do not let it grow big enough to cause problems in the future. It works in gardening.
      - twblalock 7y ago
        We should punish violations of the law if and when they happen, rather than pre-emptively asking businesses if they could please be a bit less successful. Bigness is not a problem in itself, and we should be more appreciative of it as a form of resiliency after this pandemic. Big business has performed better than most other American institutions. Our ability to cope with the shutdowns has been heavily reliant on big business, especially big tech.
        A4ET8a8uTh0 7y ago
d1zzy 7y ago
This is true for all non-essential stuff right now but it's very likely it will get delivered in half the estimated time. The estimated time is a conservative estimate.

ghaff 7y ago

Delivery times clearly vary a lot. I have admittedly not tried to order any "quarantine goods" like webcams but I think everything I've ordered has arrived in two days.

whb07 7y ago

Where were you when Walmart had this same argument applied to it? Hows about when Kmart had it? Hows about Sears? .... you get the point.

A4ET8a8uTh0 7y ago
I will admit that I am not sure I do understand your argument. For the record, I am never happy about too much power residing in too few hands. It rarely ends well. But neither Walmart, Kmart, nor Sears had as big of a grip on US economy as Amazon does simply, because Amazon is not just a giant online store. It is not apples to apples comparison. It is possible I am misunderstanding what you are trying to say. Care to elaborate?
- bhupy 7y ago
  > But neither Walmart, Kmart, nor Sears had as big of a grip on US economy as Amazon does simply, because Amazon is not just a giant online store Citation needed — all three have enjoyed periods in history as dominant nationwide market leaders in retail. Sears' mail order catalog was essentially the pre-Internet Amazon, and commanded a comparable scale.
  - A4ET8a8uTh0 7y ago
    Yes. You do have a point there, but what is your equivalent for AWS?

alistairSH 7y ago

I've ordered a selection of things from Amazon (and other vendors) over the last month and none have taken a month to deliver. I used to be able to get many things from Amazon same-day or overnight - that is rarely available now. But, 2-3 days is still common. And the things that are listed as 3+ weeks often aren't available any faster from other sources.

nostromo 7y ago
It's all over the map. Some of my orders have come on a normal timeline. Others have been sitting in "waiting to ship" for weeks. Another was entirely canceled by Amazon without explanation.
- alistairSH 7y ago
  I suspect it's largely based on what is in Amazon warehouses. The items listed as a month+ are probably Amazon Marketplace (3rd party sellers) who don't have items at Amazon warehouses at this time - unless it's changed, Amazon was not accepting new inbound Marketplace shipments that weren't "important" items.
  - nostromo 7y ago
    It's the opposite -- 3rd party sellers aren't bottlenecked by Amazon's warehouses and are shipping faster.
    - alistairSH 7y ago
      I thought "Amazon Marketplace" items were fulfilled by Amazon? Maybe I have the different categories mixed up?

twblalock 7y ago

It's odd that you are portraying Amazon's ability to survive the coronavirus situation as a negative thing. It's a good thing, and we should want more companies to be as resilient and adaptable. We are better off right now because Amazon exists and is able to deliver to people who are sheltering in place.

A4ET8a8uTh0 7y ago
I am not. It is laudable that they are able to thrive in adverse environment. My complaint is specifically about the amount of marketshare and corresponding market power, which is already pretty big. At certain point, too much power has to be controlled. There is a reason we have antitrust laws.
- twblalock 7y ago
  Antitrust laws are targeted at specific monopolistic behaviors, not against bigness in general.
  - A4ET8a8uTh0 7y ago
    You are absolutely correct. That said, 'bigness' invites monopolistic behaviors. I am actually saying: do not let it grow big enough to cause problems in the future. It works in gardening.
    - twblalock 7y ago
      We should punish violations of the law if and when they happen, rather than pre-emptively asking businesses if they could please be a bit less successful. Bigness is not a problem in itself, and we should be more appreciative of it as a form of resiliency after this pandemic. Big business has performed better than most other American institutions. Our ability to cope with the shutdowns has been heavily reliant on big business, especially big tech.
      - A4ET8a8uTh0 7y ago

d1zzy 7y ago

This is true for all non-essential stuff right now but it's very likely it will get delivered in half the estimated time. The estimated time is a conservative estimate.