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Amazon.com Introduces Same-Day Delivery

50 points by pospischil 17y ago

pospischil 17y ago
Ever since Barnes and Noble introduced this (in Manhattan) a few years back, I wondered when Amazon would follow suit. It's an awesome idea, and not a bad price for Prime members, but I wonder what percentage of available items are in each warehouse.
- khafra 17y ago
  I'll bet Amazon already has a pretty good idea of which items are currently most frequently ordered with overnight delivery.
- locopati 17y ago
  B&N has Amazon beat on shipping costs for Manhattan though. Unless Amazon brings down the cost, B&N will still be my choice. Be interesting to see how B&N responds - will they expand to other cities?
zzzmarcus 17y ago
Pretty pricey. I'm not sure how B&N compares, but for one book the minimum shipping cost on Amazon would be $18.48. http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200105970 http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=2...
- pospischil 17y ago
  Well -- its only $6 if your a prime member. And $18.48 is pretty darn reasonable compared to UPS same-day shipping prices (admittedly designed for a very different purpose).
  - RevRal 17y ago
    Prime is REALLY worth it when it comes around to the holidays, and this just makes it better. Less hastle. Better gifts. Easier to hide the gifts. And Prime's perks continue throughout the year.
listic 17y ago
I wonder if they'll ever expand their international shipping options. Currently, their shipping to Russia costs $35.98 minimum (International Priority Courier only) and they only ship new books (no used books, CD, DVD, etc.) That has been the fact for a long time, and provides means for existing for various middlemen (who also work with eBay and others). Seems like all the progress in quality of service of US companies is US-focused?
- dantheman 17y ago
  Used books are sold by independent vendors, so they're not really shipped by amazon but by a 3rd party... I don't know about CD's & DVDs
  - zandorg 17y ago
    Those too. Basically, if you price the book at 1p, Amazon doesn't get their 15% (?) cut, which is why so many sellers charge 1p (or 1 cent). But if the postage is more than £2.75 (in the UK at least), they have to charge more, and then Amazon get their cut. Basically, it's hard to make a decent profit by selling used books on Amazon, however, you can just put up the price. I've seen most used prices shoot up in the last few months.
- enthalpyx 17y ago
  The distribution of Amazon web sites seem to be heavily weighted towards those countries with the highest GDP. Maybe not a coincidence. 1. www.amazon.com 2. www.amazon.co.jp 3. www.joyo.com 4. www.amazon.de 5. www.amazon.fr 6. www.amazon.co.uk
jbyers 17y ago
Much of the stuff we order on Amazon Prime comes within 24 hours regardless of the shipping option. It's pretty impressive to order something two-day at 3 PM and have it arrive the next morning. Amazon's operational prowess and relationships with their shippers continue to amaze.
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
- gloob 17y ago
  You are annoyed at the fact that some people still like actual physical books, and decided to swear and snark about it. Neither of those responses are particularly appreciated here, although exceptions are often made if there is an actual point hiding behind the snideness. Alas, however, your point is something roughly along the lines of "people who have different aesthetic preferences[1] than I do are luddites and are holding us back, and attempting to provide them a product or service in exchange for money is stupid". You then go on to provide approximately no justification for your assertions. I didn't vote you down, incidentally, but I suspect that probably is a rough summary of why some people did. [1] I'm speaking of the aesthetic preference for physical books over digital ones, here.
  - RevRal 17y ago
    Thanks, I must be in a bad mood. (I just caught swine flu and I am now a pariah) Anyway, I love physical books, especially since I go through most books with two different colored pens. I know the value of having something physical. But I see how random the rage must have been in this topic. I should probably hold myself back here and wait for a better context to explain my thoughts. See you around.
    - TrevorJ 17y ago
      I hope you start to feel better soon. At least you can socialize on the internet.
mdemare 17y ago
I'm still waiting for same month delivery. Standard shipping takes 18-32 business days. How hard is it to ship all packages to the bigger European countries, and then use the national one-day postal service? Not enough volume?
- eru 17y ago
  > and then use the national one-day postal service? I just sent a letter from Britain to Germany, and it was there the next day. So you might not even need to ship to all countries.
ig1 17y ago
Um. Amazon already do same-day deliveries in London and Birmingham in the UK. Have done for some time now.
kevinpet 17y ago
I can't help but think that providing and advertising a specific service targeting only a handful of cities is going to give a good handle to all those state revenue boards trying to say they have a nexus within their jurisdiction for purposes of tax collection.
lamby 17y ago
Didn't Webvan do this? :)

50 points by pospischil 17y ago

Ever since Barnes and Noble introduced this (in Manhattan) a few years back, I wondered when Amazon would follow suit. It's an awesome idea, and not a bad price for Prime members, but I wonder what percentage of available items are in each warehouse.

khafra 17y ago
I'll bet Amazon already has a pretty good idea of which items are currently most frequently ordered with overnight delivery.
locopati 17y ago
B&N has Amazon beat on shipping costs for Manhattan though. Unless Amazon brings down the cost, B&N will still be my choice. Be interesting to see how B&N responds - will they expand to other cities?

zzzmarcus 17y ago

Pretty pricey. I'm not sure how B&N compares, but for one book the minimum shipping cost on Amazon would be $18.48. http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200105970 http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=2...

pospischil 17y ago
Well -- its only $6 if your a prime member. And $18.48 is pretty darn reasonable compared to UPS same-day shipping prices (admittedly designed for a very different purpose).
- RevRal 17y ago
  Prime is REALLY worth it when it comes around to the holidays, and this just makes it better. Less hastle. Better gifts. Easier to hide the gifts. And Prime's perks continue throughout the year.

listic 17y ago

I wonder if they'll ever expand their international shipping options. Currently, their shipping to Russia costs $35.98 minimum (International Priority Courier only) and they only ship new books (no used books, CD, DVD, etc.) That has been the fact for a long time, and provides means for existing for various middlemen (who also work with eBay and others). Seems like all the progress in quality of service of US companies is US-focused?

dantheman 17y ago
Used books are sold by independent vendors, so they're not really shipped by amazon but by a 3rd party... I don't know about CD's & DVDs
- zandorg 17y ago
  Those too. Basically, if you price the book at 1p, Amazon doesn't get their 15% (?) cut, which is why so many sellers charge 1p (or 1 cent). But if the postage is more than £2.75 (in the UK at least), they have to charge more, and then Amazon get their cut. Basically, it's hard to make a decent profit by selling used books on Amazon, however, you can just put up the price. I've seen most used prices shoot up in the last few months.
enthalpyx 17y ago
The distribution of Amazon web sites seem to be heavily weighted towards those countries with the highest GDP. Maybe not a coincidence. 1. www.amazon.com 2. www.amazon.co.jp 3. www.joyo.com 4. www.amazon.de 5. www.amazon.fr 6. www.amazon.co.uk

jbyers 17y ago

Much of the stuff we order on Amazon Prime comes within 24 hours regardless of the shipping option. It's pretty impressive to order something two-day at 3 PM and have it arrive the next morning. Amazon's operational prowess and relationships with their shippers continue to amaze.

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

gloob 17y ago
You are annoyed at the fact that some people still like actual physical books, and decided to swear and snark about it. Neither of those responses are particularly appreciated here, although exceptions are often made if there is an actual point hiding behind the snideness. Alas, however, your point is something roughly along the lines of "people who have different aesthetic preferences[1] than I do are luddites and are holding us back, and attempting to provide them a product or service in exchange for money is stupid". You then go on to provide approximately no justification for your assertions. I didn't vote you down, incidentally, but I suspect that probably is a rough summary of why some people did. [1] I'm speaking of the aesthetic preference for physical books over digital ones, here.
- RevRal 17y ago
  Thanks, I must be in a bad mood. (I just caught swine flu and I am now a pariah) Anyway, I love physical books, especially since I go through most books with two different colored pens. I know the value of having something physical. But I see how random the rage must have been in this topic. I should probably hold myself back here and wait for a better context to explain my thoughts. See you around.
  - TrevorJ 17y ago
    I hope you start to feel better soon. At least you can socialize on the internet.

mdemare 17y ago

I'm still waiting for same month delivery. Standard shipping takes 18-32 business days. How hard is it to ship all packages to the bigger European countries, and then use the national one-day postal service? Not enough volume?

eru 17y ago
> and then use the national one-day postal service? I just sent a letter from Britain to Germany, and it was there the next day. So you might not even need to ship to all countries.

ig1 17y ago

Um. Amazon already do same-day deliveries in London and Birmingham in the UK. Have done for some time now.

kevinpet 17y ago

I can't help but think that providing and advertising a specific service targeting only a handful of cities is going to give a good handle to all those state revenue boards trying to say they have a nexus within their jurisdiction for purposes of tax collection.

lamby 17y ago

Didn't Webvan do this? :)