Tired of Amazon.com "punishing" me for not getting hooked on Prime.

[nakedfrog]

Run out of paper towels? Nah, I just buy more before I run out

 

[purbeast0]

I don't know where you all live but where I am at I can get like 50% of the shit I order from Amazon that same day, and most items I can get next day and if not then, within 2 days.

I've ordered stuff multiple times at like 2pm and had it by 6pm that same day.

Amazon owns.

 

[Geekbabe]

These services are all good ideas, but nearly everyone is price-sensitive, so if they want them to take off, then adding fees, tips, delivery minimums, being out-of-stock of items, doing lame substitutions, etc. is not going to win the war to get people to shift over to using their spiffy new service!

I'd probably use meal-delivery services like Uber Eats & Door Dash more if it didn't come out to $27 with tip to deliver a burger & fries in my area!

I shop carefully at Amazon, I am noticing they have items that I used to only find at Aldi & most of their items cost more. Also, if you buy something all the time the price stays high, skip it for a few trips & the price gets lower. My usual order was $100 a week, I will be changing my ordering pattern to be sure I hit the $150 mark & only ordering things I can’t get at Aldi via Instacart. Don’t get me wrong, I love Amazon but have to make sure I get the most for the money.

 

[Kaido]

I shop carefully at Amazon, I am noticing they have items that I used to only find at Aldi & most of their items cost more. Also, if you buy something all the time the price stays high, skip it for a few trips & the price gets lower. My usual order was $100 a week, I will be changing my ordering pattern to be sure I hit the $150 mark & only ordering things I can’t get at Aldi via Instacart. Don’t get me wrong, I love Amazon but have to make sure I get the most for the money.

They built an Aldi's right across from my last apartment, it was awesome!

I think a lot of companies are running into issues of profit margins vs. service opportunities. If Amazon could guarantee me a good deal on grocery shopping without making it a headache (substitutions, stock issues, pricing issues, etc.) I'd probably use it all the time, but it's usually easier just to hit up Aldi's & ShopRite on my way home, especially because places like ShopRite have digital coupons available, which can easily save $500 a year for an extra couple minute's worth of effort!

 

[Captante]

I'd probably use meal-delivery services like Uber Eats & Door Dash more if it didn't come out to $27 with tip to deliver a burger & fries in my area!

Grubhub had sent me a 20% off promo and I have their "free" GH+ through Prime plus I was craving McDonalds last night. (for some fvcked up reason!)

I was really hungry so I ordered a 20 piece McNuggets, 3 double-burgers and used a promo for a "free" large fries. After delivery-fees, tax and a 20% tip for the driver it came to $42.77 !!!!! (and they now charge .70 cents per dipping sauce with nuggets NONE is included anymore!)

What the actual fvck ?!? Obviously I bailed out.

Got in my car and took the 5 minute ride to the drive-through... $18.68 total for the exact same low-grade food.

Still kind of a rip-off but that GH price was out of hand!

 

[nakedfrog]

Yeah, I'm baffled by the amount of people getting food from any of those delivery services, it makes no sense to me whatsoever.

 

[Captante]

I shop carefully at Amazon, I am noticing they have items that I used to only find at Aldi & most of their items cost more. Also, if you buy something all the time the price stays high, skip it for a few trips & the price gets lower. My usual order was $100 a week, I will be changing my ordering pattern to be sure I hit the $150 mark & only ordering things I can’t get at Aldi via Instacart. Don’t get me wrong, I love Amazon but have to make sure I get the most for the money.

Don't use Amazon search at all except to find very specific items.... as you mentioned they play games with prices and the 3rd party "sellers" they push.

Use Google shopping to price-shop instead and just throw "Amazon" on the end of your query.

Try to do this on a web-browser that isn't signed into Amazon... Edge is perfect for this since nobody uses it lol. (make sure it didn't import logins from Chrome!) Bonus points if you do this using a VPN.

 

[Captante]

Yeah, I'm baffled by the amount of people getting food from any of those delivery services, it makes no sense to me whatsoever.

And don't forget that insane $42+ price for McDogburger's was after a 20% discount and GH+ membership AND I had a promo code for a "free" large fries that knocked off about $5 too!

So fast-food delivered for two NORMAL people (or me!) would have been like $50 at full-retail.

 

[Kaido]

Grubhub had sent me a 20% off promo and I have their "free" GH+ through Prime plus I was craving McDonalds last night. (for some fvcked up reason!)

I was really hungry so I ordered a 20 piece McNuggets, 3 double-burgers and used a promo for a "free" large fries. After delivery-fees, tax and a 20% tip for the driver it came to $42.77 !!!!! (and they now charge .70 cents per dipping sauce with nuggets NONE is included anymore!)

What the actual fvck ?!? Obviously I bailed out.

Got in my car and took the 5 minute ride to the drive-through... $18.68 total for the exact same low-grade food.

Still kind of a rip-off but that GH price was out of hand!

Yeah, I got the "free" GH+ through Prime & it's been total garbage in my area. Uber Eats bought Postmates, so now it's really just UE vs. Door Dash. I tried out the Uber One subscription, but everything was still crazy expensive:

Uber One | Mitgliedschaft

www.ubereats.com

tbh, if I magically got a zillion bucks, I'd probably get food delivery for breakfast, lunch, and dinner lol. But like in your situation, it's just insulting...more than 50% the cost of just going there yourself isn't a "nice treat" for yourself, that's highway robbery!!

 

[Captante]

Bad as both services have become I find Doordash to be the better of the two.

Somehow despite my NOT having whatever DD calls their "Plus" membership thing anymore, I still get nearly the exact same prices from GH+ when I compare.

Plus crappy GH marks places "closed" when I know damn well the kitchen is open for another 90 minutes to 2 hours while DD does not. (and "late-night" is the only reason I might be tempted!)

 

[pcslookout]

Bad as both services have become I find Doordash to be the better of the two.

Somehow despite my NOT having whatever DD calls their "Plus" membership thing anymore, I still get nearly the exact same prices from GH+ when I compare.

Plus crappy GH marks places "closed" when I know damn well the kitchen is open for another 90 minutes to 2 hours while DD does not. (and "late-night" is the only reason I might be tempted!)

Doordash is horrible here.

 

[Red Squirrel]

These delivery services really bloat the price. If you can buy direct from the restaurant it's always better for you and for the restaurant.

 

[deadlyapp]

These delivery services really bloat the price. If you can buy direct from the restaurant it's always better for you and for the restaurant.

Honestly it doesn't unless you only buy bottom of the barrel food. I pay maybe 5-10 dollars more if I get food delivered by DD if I keep everything else equivalent (consider a tip on take out, which I often do anyways). Yes - It is much better for the restaurant if I don't do door dash and I pick up directly (tip goes directly to them) but they're competing against me doing nothing - I'm never competing DD against pick up.

Yes if you buy shit fast food that is already cheap and you would never tip on, then of course you'll pay more.

 

[Pohemi]

There's 'paying more', and then there's paying ridiculously more when the food order literally doubles or more the price of the food. This isn't only happening at McDonalds.

Besides the tip to the driver, there's the numerous fees for the service employing the driver, and they usually jack up the menu prices of the restaurant you are ordering from. It's not hard to see how these companies make profit, but the drivers aren't seeing much of it.

Drivers working for these companies are getting shafted by the companies, and then again by customers who feel the costs are too high and reduce the cost in the "only place they can", the tip.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Just buy from Newegg, bigger selection, better search, always arrives in two days.

I got my last non-Prime Amazon order in two days but usually it's a week. because they don't ship for 5 days...

Newegg always took forever for me plus they stole $30 from me last time I ordered something there so that company can die in a fire. Went from the best online shop I used 15-20 years ago to the worst the last few years.

 

[Captante]

Honestly it doesn't unless you only buy bottom of the barrel food. I pay maybe 5-10 dollars more if I get food delivered by DD if I keep everything else equivalent (consider a tip on take out, which I often do anyways). Yes - It is much better for the restaurant if I don't do door dash and I pick up directly (tip goes directly to them) but they're competing against me doing nothing - I'm never competing DD against pick up.

Yes if you buy shit fast food that is already cheap and you would never tip on, then of course you'll pay more.

I have to respectfully disagree completely.

Meals delivered by Grubhub or Doordash FREQUENTLY cost in the area of DOUBLE what picking it up yourself would. (and I get takeout from "pricey" places too!)

Fortunately I have a few decent local places that deliver themselves so I'm not stuck dealing with those scumbags when I want dinner brought to me.

 

[Pohemi]

Newegg always took forever for me plus they stole $30 from me last time I ordered something there so that company can die in a fire. Went from the best online shop I used 15-20 years ago to the worst the last few years.

They got purchased by a Chinese parent company, and the service and shipping departments went to crap within a year or two. It happened pretty rapidly and caused me to stop shopping there.

 

[deadlyapp]

I have to respectfully disagree completely.

Meals delivered by Grubhub or Doordash FREQUENTLY cost in the area of DOUBLE what picking it up yourself would. (and I get takeout from "pricey" places too!)

Fortunately I have a few decent local places that deliver themselves so I'm not stuck dealing with those scumbags when I want dinner brought to me.

Just did a spot check for a restaurant I often order from.

DD is ~$3 more per item
No delivery fee
$4 tax and fees

In person - $26 + tip
DD - $33 + tip

Another restaurant looks to be $5-6 more per dish (on a $30 entree)

YMMV - just depends on how much your time and convenience is worth.

 

[purbeast0]

Thanks for bumping this thread.

The title reminded me I had to order 3 things on Amazon so I just place the order now.

One item will be here today between 5pm and 10pm, and I ordered it at 4:25pm.

The other 2 will be here tomorrow.

All with prime shipping.

 

[Captante]

Just did a spot check for a restaurant I often order from.

DD is ~$3 more per item
No delivery fee
$4 tax and fees

In person - $26 + tip
DD - $33 + tip

Another restaurant looks to be $5-6 more per dish (on a $30 entree)

YMMV - just depends on how much your time and convenience is worth.

Might have something to do with location and higher costs ... I'm in a medium-size city. (New Haven CT)

The issue for me isn't the straightforward "fees" the delivery companies apply so much, it's the jacked up menu prices. (actual %'s vary)

From a customers perspective the fee's (although high) are out in the open and I can choose to pay or not to do so. Plus another "couple dollars" tacked on doesn't really feel like a deal-breaker individually.

The MENU price-jacking however is another story when it comes to DD/GH etc's profit-margin as those "couple $'s" multiplied by 50 bazillion delivery orders adds up quick! It also hurts business owners in the same way to a lesser degree.

Keep in mind that the only people who will even notice the price alterations are those who order delivery from a place where they also order off the REAL menu enough to recall those prices.

 

[VashHT]

Yeah I never have problems with prime shipping, it's almost always next day and same day seems to be more common now too. Can't remember the last time anything took longer than 2 days for it. I live kind of close to a big warehouse in Kenosha though not sure how much that helps.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I have to respectfully disagree completely.

Meals delivered by Grubhub or Doordash FREQUENTLY cost in the area of DOUBLE what picking it up yourself would. (and I get takeout from "pricey" places too!)

Fortunately I have a few decent local places that deliver themselves so I'm not stuck dealing with those scumbags when I want dinner brought to me.

Yeah you need to look at the price of the food items too they will be a few bucks higher than if you go there and order.

Also lot of places have interac fees so the best way to save is to use cash even if you're going to pick it up. All these fees really add up. Delivery, tip, any credit/debit fees, then as a result, higher taxes because the total is more. So all this can easily add $10 to the price. I'd consider $10 as "bloating the price".

 

[Gardener]

I don't like the bait & switch they pulled. The price has hiked up to $139 per year, but at least in my area, the advertised 2-day shipping has sometimes turned into several days or even a week at times. They still stick the "free shipping with Prime" logo when you're shopping on their webpage, but it's really annoying now because it not longer means "2-day shipping". There aren't really any computer stores available in my area anymore, so if I need parts for something like a repair job, I've been relying on Prime for years now to get the equipment here in a couple days (replacement drive or laptop power supply or whatever) & I can no longer rely on the 2-day shipping method.

The old 2-day shipping after they take 3 days to ship your order trick. Added bonus are 100's movies IMDb rated 4.5 or less, available for free with Prime.

 

[WilliamM2]

Newegg always took forever for me plus they stole $30 from me last time I ordered something there so that company can die in a fire. Went from the best online shop I used 15-20 years ago to the worst the last few years.

I've placed probably 1000 orders since 2001 for my employer, or myself. Never had an issue they didn't resolve immediatly. And that was only a few times.
How did they "steal" $30 from you?

 

[SteveGrabowski]

I've placed probably 1000 orders since 2001 for my employer, or myself. Never had an issue they didn't resolve immediatly. And that was only a few times.
How did they "steal" $30 from you?

My brother gave me a Newegg gift card for Christmas a few years ago. I ordered a Playstation game from them that they said got damaged in the warehouse before they could ship it and instead of giving me the $30 credit back on the non-expiring giftcard I bought it on they would only issue me a $30 gift card with a 90 day expiration date, which I told them I refused to accept because I didn't need any PC hardware and was just going to save the credit until some games I wanted came out to use it then. So finally after a ton of run around they sent me a bad check for the $30 they owed me. After also using them almost exclusively for PC builds for myself and friends since 01 they threw away my business over a lousy $30 when all I was asking for was it back as a non-expiring gift card. Probably built 15 systems bought entirely from them over the years but now I build using Amazon almost entirely, with the occasional component from Best Buy. Newegg is dead to me and there is nothing they can ever do to gain my business back.