[HN Gopher] Ask HN: What's going on with Amazon Prime shipping t...
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Ask HN: What's going on with Amazon Prime shipping times?
It used to be that in my area (NC Triangle), most items on Prime
were available with 2-day shipping, and often same-day or
overnight. As of the last month or so, the minimum time seems to
be 5 days, with a large number of items in the 10-15 day range.
I'm no Amazon lover; I view them much the same way I did Walmart
10-15 years ago. They've recently had a lot of quality issues and
the prices aren't as compelling as they used to be. If they can't
even offer fast shipping anymore, I can't think of a compelling
reason to use them over ordering directly from manufacturers or
more niche retailers.
Author : lukev
Score : 18 points
Date : 2022-12-31 19:07 UTC (3 hours ago)
| prirun wrote:
| I cut Amazon some slack during Covid, but once that was over and
| things were returning to normal, I was still seeing 4-5 day Prime
| shipping whereas I used to always get 2 days or less.
|
| I saw a post recommending to complain to Amazon, so I did, via
| their online chat to a CS rep. They amended the shipment I
| complained about and I got it the next day, and since then, most
| of my shipments have been within 2 days again.
|
| My advice: complain to Amazon. If everyone did this, it would
| make a huge difference. If you don't complain, you are basically
| telling them you're fine with whatever delivery times they want
| to give you.
| 8b16380d wrote:
| Also in Raleigh. The holidays have a lot to do with it imo.
| more_corn wrote:
| I don't know but. "Canceled"
| pwg wrote:
| > As of the last month or so,
|
| What other major event also occurred over "the last month or so"?
|
| That "event" historically results in a significant up-tick in
| total numbers of sales (and resulting numbers of packages
| shipped).
|
| Would it not seem reasonable for times to extend when a
| significant increase in total packages shipped also occurred "as
| of the last month or so"?
| lukev wrote:
| If you're referring to the holidays: this did not occur for the
| past several years. Typically they will scale up temporary
| staffing to handle demand. If they failed to do so for some
| reason, that is also interesting to me.
| tw98521358 wrote:
| I doubt they were able to surge hiring. The labor shortage is
| real nobody wants to work mcjobs, especially with amazons
| terrible reputation
| travelhead wrote:
| Amazon cut inventory sending limits for merchants which means
| many skus are out of stock. Why did they do this? A combination
| of fewer employees, fewer warehouses and less space, etc.
|
| Overall trend is going in the wrong direction. They should be
| helping merchants and providing more space and opening more
| warehouses.
| inetsee wrote:
| "They should be ... opening more warehouses."
|
| Opening more warehouses would require hiring more people. I
| remember reading that turnover among Amazon warehouse workers
| is exceptionally high. Sooner or later Amazon will have to
| raise what they pay these workers, which will drive prices for
| products sold on Amazon to increase.
| the__alchemist wrote:
| Yo; I'm in raleigh. Sort of similar? Some items get there in 2
| days; some take up to a week, and you generally know when you
| order. Maybe it has to do with the distro center?
| zabzonk wrote:
| As a Prime user in the UK I am definitely not experiencing this -
| I get reliable 24-hour delivery on just about all small to
| medium-sized things.
| iSloth wrote:
| As a prime user in the UK, I am definitely experiencing this -
| Not had a 24 hour delivery in a long time
| zabzonk wrote:
| Where are you living? I live in Lincoln with the logistics
| depot in Doncaster. I have never had less than a 24 hour
| delivery, if that what Amazon said they would do, with very
| good delivery tracking. Of course, some goods may take
| longer, and you are informed about this.
|
| I'm not a mindless Amazon fanboy, and I think Bezos is a bit
| of git, but the service I've had over the years has been
| pretty good.
| unixbotnuke wrote:
| With shipping times going out into the weeks range, IMO it is
| time to just cut out the middleman and order directly from wish
| or aliexress.
| tomwheeler wrote:
| Although the weather or holidays may exacerbate long delivery
| times a bit, I've noticed delivery times increasing for at least
| a year here in the St. Louis area, especially during the last
| four months. The weather was fine and holidays were far away, so
| poor logistics and a lack of competitive pressure seem more
| likely to me.
|
| It's particularly frustrating because delivery for things I need
| quickly (for example, a PoE switch to replace one that failed)
| almost always takes nearly a week now, while they offer to
| deliver non-urgent things (such as Post-It Notes) the next day,
| if not overnight.
| braingenious wrote:
| It is very likely a combination of it being the holiday season
| and incredibly bad weather. Anecdotally, there have been a lot
| more semi truck crashes than usual in my area due to insanely bad
| road conditions.
| silisili wrote:
| Where I moved, the normal shipping time is 4 to 5 days, USPS.
|
| Since December, it's been 2 weeks.
|
| Usually, it'll arrive a little sooner than they say, though.
|
| Luckily for me, I was getting annoyed with AMZ fake reviews,
| scammy sellers, and cheap Chinese stuff anyways.
|
| I've been ordering more from manufacturers directly, and getting
| better stuff delivered faster. I've also been using eBay a lot
| recently, it's not the wild west it was 15 years ago. Fast
| shipping, real storefronts. Much better than AMZ for most things.
|
| For stuff I want really quick, I just use Walmart+. They'll
| usually bring it same day, at worst 2 day shipping.
|
| As an aside, all this has kinda made me wish for a new type of
| portal. Something similar to ebay, but for legitimate, verified
| businesses only. Or perhaps even just a portal where I can
| search, it'll show me prices, but clicking directs me to the
| store/mfg site to finish?
| PaulHoule wrote:
| In my bit of upstate NY Prime hasn't been two day since 2001. It
| does make a difference compared to going out to the store. Every
| other online retailer, however, is trying to impress with
| shipping.
| WallyFunk wrote:
| Wait till you're based in a non-UK, non-US, non-German country
| and watch with astonishment as your parcel changes hands with
| several different sorting depots over the course of WEEKS just to
| get a tacky little USB charging adapter. Then you learn patience
| with Amazon.
| hjgjhyuhy wrote:
| That depends, at least in the Nordics shipments from Germany
| usually arrive fast.
| mattl wrote:
| I've not experienced that. Many items I've ordered in
| Massachusetts have arrived the next day or even same day. Smaller
| items have taken the usual 2 days and even import stuff has been
| within a week.
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(page generated 2022-12-31 23:02 UTC)