Amazon.com ship dates

In My Humble Opinion
1

A poll, not a flame.

While poed at amazon this year, after comparing prices with bn.com I went with them anyway. The Sunday after Thanksgiving I made a big order, and was surprised that the date to be shipped with the free shipping option was 12/17. (Everything was in stock.) But I went with free shipping anyhow.

Judging by the date it showed up, they actually shipped it a few minutes before I ordered it.

Two days ago I ordered some more stuff, and they gave the very reasonable ship date of 12/12, which they beat by shipping today. (Yesterday in some time zones.)
My hypothesis: Amazon wants to drag you to their site by the promise of free shipping, but then wants to scare you into paying for shipping by giving unreasonable ship dates. Wanting to get their money as soon as possible, though, they’ll ship right away no matter. Since they profile you so well, once they find you can’t be intimidated they won’t try again. If you can be, they’ll push out the date again. After all, they offered you free shipping and if you pay instead, you blame yourself.

So, the poll:

When offered free shipping, did you take it?
If so, when was the promise date and when did they really ship? (Relative to when you made the order)
If you took free shipping, and made another order, when did they promise and when did they ship.
If you didn’t take free shipping, and made another order qualified for free shipping, when did they promise shipments?

I’m just curious about their algorithm.

2

[QUOTE=Voyager]
A poll, not a flame.

While poed at amazon this year, after comparing prices with bn.com I went with them anyway. The Sunday after Thanksgiving I made a big order, and was surprised that the date to be shipped with the free shipping option was 12/17. (Everything was in stock.) But I went with free shipping anyhow.

Judging by the date it showed up, they actually shipped it a few minutes before I ordered it.

Two days ago I ordered some more stuff, and they gave the very reasonable ship date of 12/12, which they beat by shipping today. (Yesterday in some time zones.)
My hypothesis: Amazon wants to drag you to their site by the promise of free shipping, but then wants to scare you into paying for shipping by giving unreasonable ship dates. Wanting to get their money as soon as possible, though, they’ll ship right away no matter. Since they profile you so well, once they find you can’t be intimidated they won’t try again. If you can be, they’ll push out the date again. After all, they offered you free shipping and if you pay instead, you blame yourself.

So, the poll:

When offered free shipping, did you take it?
If so, when was the promise date and when did they really ship? (Relative to when you made the order)
If you took free shipping, and made another order, when did they promise and when did they ship.
If you didn’t take free shipping, and made another order qualified for free shipping, when did they promise shipments?

I’m just curious about their algorithm.
[/QUOTE]

I always do free shipping. With the millions of people that buy every week, there’s no reason to be a complete dick and stave off shipping for a few days. If there is a huge backlog at any particular warehouse, sure, you’ll be last, but otherwise they’ll ship as soon as possible.

Same with New Egg. Oh, we haven’t completed your order, we haven’t completed your order, etc. This goes on for a day. Then on the second day, oh yea, we sent it yesterday sometime yesterday and it will arrive there in an hour. That way, shipping seems to take a few hours instead of two days.

Still impressive, though.

3

I do free shipping most of the time. I suspect that their motives are no more sinister than this: If they quote you a ship date and ship earlier than that, it’s a good thing. If they quote you a ship date and ship later than that, it’s a bad thing. Therefore, they have every reason to give you the worst ship date they might use, because if they actually ship on that date, it’s not late.

Underpromise, overdeliver – basic service industry stuff.

4

We’ve never paid for special shipping from Amazon, but we’ve always received our orders well before they were promised. In fact that might have backfired on them, since now I’m a bit disappointed if it takes more than a couple of days for them to ship, no matter what they say. Even the item that was supposed to backordered and maybe not arrive until February was here within a month.

I think, as said above, it’s just basic marketing strategy. Give people better service than you promise, even if that means not promising as much as you think you can deliver. Then you’re covered if things do take a while.

5

Can’t get free shipping for international delivery, but I’ve never found their shipping dates to be based on any kind of scam - I’m sure it’s calculated from reasonable guesses on availability, but they can easily be inaccurately estimated.

6

I used to get free shipping if I honestly didn’t need or want it immediately it. This is often the case as I usually have 4-5 books in the queue. I have had things take more than 90 days to get.

Now I have found it to be economical enough to use the Prime service that I just pay for that and then get two day shipping on everything at no further charge.

7

I can’t answer the poll, as earlier this week I actually went with a different retailer that promised to ship more quickly, when Amazon informed me that even with standard shipping two of my items would not arrive before Christmas.

Which makes me think that, especially at this time of year, Amazon can’t possibly have a vested interest in telling people that ship times will be longer than they really are; there are too many people like me that will simply go with a different retailer that WILL get the items here in time for Christmas.

8

I worked for Amazon about 10 years ago and “underpromise, overdeliver” was the companywide motto.

That was before free shipping, but IIRC they figured delivery times based on the maximum possible - that is, if you ordered it on Friday night they assumed it would be processed Monday and ship out Tuesday (when in fact it would more likely ship out over the weekend or first thing Monday) and that it would take the maximum delivery time estimated by UPS or USPS (10-12 days or something). I believe it’s more of a cover-your-ass move rather than a deliberate attempt to get you to pay for speedier shipping. I don’t know if they do this any more but while I was there they automaticallly upgraded the shipping for ALL packages around Christmas just to reduce the number of “Amazon ruined my kids’ Christmas!” complaints we were sure to be bombarded with on Dec. 26.

I always use free shipping with them now but it is rare that I am in such a hurry that I pay much attention to their arrival dates. Normally I am pleasantly surprised by the speed, and I wouldn’t expect free shipping to be any slower than standard paid shipping. Though my feeling is that this time of year they would de-prioritize the free shipping packages because the customer chooses it, with the understanding it will take longer.

9

I always, always, always use free shipping. Free shipping, 20% discount, and no taxes? I haven’t stepped foot in an actual book store in ages. I always expect things to be sent out a week or so after I order it, so it’s always a nice surprise when I get the email the next day saying the order was shipping already, but if it takes a week (and for everything that isn’t out of stock, it’s never even that long), it takes a week. When I’m making two or three purchases a month, that 7 or so bucks adds up…I’ve easily saved several hundred dollars since the free shipping started. Easily.

10

[QUOTE=Rachael Rage]
I believe it’s more of a cover-your-ass move rather than a deliberate attempt to get you to pay for speedier shipping.
[/QUOTE]

Yeah… it’s not like the speedy free shipping is a huge secret. Even people who overnight everything, I’d imagine, will eventually order something they don’t need promptly and realize that free shipping will usually get them their stuff within a few days. And personally, if I know shipping is free and within the week at Amazon, paying an extra eight bucks to get something five days doesn’t seem so appealing.

11

I almost always choose Amazon’s free shipping. This time of year it’s lightening fast. The rest of the year I will see a delay of 3-4 days before they ship my items, but they usually beat their own estimates.

12

*When offered free shipping, did you take it? *
Yes, I almost always do. If I ordered now and needed something before Christmas though, I might opt to pay, just to make sure.

If so, when was the promise date and when did they really ship? (Relative to when you made the order)
I was recently upset because both items on one of my recent orders were in stock, sold from Amazon themselves, but they quoted a ship date of a week from the order. In reality, they shipped within a couple days. I noticed they’ve removed the text of “usually ships within one business day” that I used to see on almost every item.

If you took free shipping, and made another order, when did they promise and when did they ship.
I made a couple orders after this, and I recall reasonable ship dates on those orders, not a whole week. They also shipped before or at their ship date.

*If you didn’t take free shipping, and made another order qualified for free shipping, when did they promise shipments? *
N/A

13

I use free shipping whenever I can. I have a bunch of low-cost items in my wish list to make up the necessary amount if the thing I’m ordering doesn’t qualify for free shipping by itself.

Between Amazon and UPS, my orders seldom take more than 2-3 days to arrive, and I’ve come to expect that the order usually goes out before the quoted ship date. In fact, I just ordered something that wasn’t supposed to be released until Dec. 12, with an estimated ship date of the 17th, and it actually shipped on the 11th and should be here tomorrow.

14

Just bought tons of shit from Amazon for the holidays, all gave ridiculously exaggerated estimated delivery times (up to 21 days), all items arrived within two weeks, most within one week, some within two days.

I agree the reason they do that is in case there is an unforseen delay, you don’t have a bunch of people pissed off that they didn’t get their stuff in time for a holiday or whatever, they exaggerate to cover themselves. I already received two items they said may not arrive before the 25th.

15

Oh, I forgot. (somewhat related) I ordered a birthday present for Z.R. Test on Amazon on cyber Monday. It was on sale for $100 off, or I couldn’t have afforded it. When I clicked on it, it automatically redirected to a affiliate seller of the same item that was NOT on sale. In order to get the sale item page I had to click on the “83 new and used” link and then click the sale item again. The item description said, “out of stock, available soon.” I bought it anyway, figuring if it didn’t come by the 22nd I’d just tell him what was coming. It shipped that very day, even though it said out of stock.

I just checked and confirmed that trying to buy the same item today does the exact same thing, except now the actual sale item says it is on backorder.

16

I always use the free shipping option, and never get it before the end of the estimated delivery day. I’m still waiting for an item that’s in stock that I ordered in October. Estimate: December 13.

17

I do a lot of ordering from Amazon. I have Amazon Prime, and it usually works exactly as advertised, free 2-day shipping. Sometimes I get the item in one day, but I’ll forgive them that. :wink:

However, when you start dealing with “Amazon Partners”, things are a little less rosy. The last two Christmases I’ve ordered something in plenty of time for Christmas from an Amazon partner that was “In Stock”, but they didn’t get the item to me by Christmas.

There have also been a few Amazon.com items, like paper CD sleeves, that I ordered and was later informed that they have a supply problem and it would take like 2 MONTHS, and I could cancel my order if I wished. I wasn’t in dire need, so I let the order stay. It did turn out to be like 2 months or more before I got the CD sleeves.

Anyway, to summarize, 90% of the time items stocked by Amazon seem to be shipped and arrive very quickly.

18

Thanks for the responses, everyone.

[QUOTE=Rachael Rage]
I worked for Amazon about 10 years ago and “underpromise, overdeliver” was the companywide motto.

That was before free shipping, but IIRC they figured delivery times based on the maximum possible - that is, if you ordered it on Friday night they assumed it would be processed Monday and ship out Tuesday (when in fact it would more likely ship out over the weekend or first thing Monday) and that it would take the maximum delivery time estimated by UPS or USPS (10-12 days or something). I believe it’s more of a cover-your-ass move rather than a deliberate attempt to get you to pay for speedier shipping. I don’t know if they do this any more but while I was there they automaticallly upgraded the shipping for ALL packages around Christmas just to reduce the number of “Amazon ruined my kids’ Christmas!” complaints we were sure to be bombarded with on Dec. 26.

[/QUOTE]

My second order, with a ship date in five days after the order and real ship before that is what I’ve usually experienced. The first order, with the ship date way far in the future but which shipped right away was the anomaly. But it sounds like this isn’t a common experience.

I don’t blame Amazon if a third party is slow, but I’ve had very good experience with them - in fact the partner shipment in my first order came before the bulk of the order.

In the past Amazon has overcommunicated if anything, which I appreciate. I ordered five copies of a book to give out at a conference, and when I checked I found that they had canceled it (not available) without telling me. Too bad, because I would have ordered something else if I had known in time. I complained, and only got an explanation of why they couldn’t ship stuff not in stock. Duh.

19

Sigh…I ordered a bunch of stuff on the 10th, which I need absolutely by the 21st, because I need to pack it in my suitcase. The ship date (SuperSaver) was estimated as 12/17, which was cutting it a bit close.

I finally gave in at about 3 am in a fit of insomnia and upgraded to Regular shipping, and a few hours later, I received an e-mail that the order was shipped, along with another shipment for which I placed the initial order at 3 am.

So yes, they definitely prioritize everything above Super Saver shipping. But I guess I’m willing to pay a few bucks to reduce the risk that my stuff won’t show up before I have to leave, leaving me with no gifts for my boyfriend’s family (including his parents, whom I am meeting for the first time).

20

Well, my on-going experience is disappointing, but not unexpected. I ordered something with the free shipping option. The details are:

Order date – Dec. 10

Original expected shipping date - Dec. 17 (stated by Amazon when I ordered)

Claimed shipment date – Dec. 12 (a pleasant surprise, claim by Amazon on the tracking page)

Estimated arrival – Dec. 19 (again from the tracking page)

Actual shipping date – Dec. 21 (from today’s tracking page)

Actual arrival date - ??
I just wish they were more realistic with their claims and didn’t allow me to get my hopes up. Granted it is the Christmas rush, but should it really take 11 days to pull together an order and get it out? This will teach me to believe their promises around Christmas.