# Amazon's "Super Saver Shipping"-why so bloody long? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 12, 2007, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-super-saver-shipping-why-so-bloody-long/418870 "2007-09-12T03:59:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gulo\_gulo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bcef8e/32.png) [@Gulo\_gulo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gulo_gulo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-super-saver-shipping-why-so-bloody-long/418870/21 "2007-09-12T21:10:48Z")
[QUOTE=John DiFool] I ordered a couple of discount games a couple of weeks ago-the ship date was the 2nd as shown via email and the “Where’s my stuff?” page. So it’s now 9 days later, it’s not here, and I can’t imagine the US Mail (which is how it’s being shipped) being that stinkin’ slow with it. “Projected arrival date” is given as being between the 13th and the 19th inclusive. I am beginning to wonder if Super Saver Shipping is all that it’s cracked up to be (esp. if you make the assumption that time=money…). [/QUOTE] Ex-Amazon employee here. The usual response to SSS complaints is you’re getting what you pay for. 🙂 Did you receive the email stating that your order has actually shipped? If not, it’s overdue and I bet there’s a supply issue. SSS orders should ship out within 3-5 business days. If this is the case, I’d shoot them an email and ask what’s up. If you have received the message that stated that the items were shipped then they won’t do anything for you until five days past the latest due date (day end of the 24th). I agree that SSS has slowed in the past year for my personal purchases. When I purchase something from a friend’s wishlist, however, I notice it goes out pretty quickly. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-super-saver-shipping-why-so-bloody-long/418870/22 "2007-09-12T21:21:59Z")
Weird… SSS for me always comes earlier than the expected arrival date… So I like to use it as much as possible. But, if I’m impatient (or if it is a gift for someone else), I do buy their shipping, as I want that by a certain date, instead of a longer estimated arrival time. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-super-saver-shipping-why-so-bloody-long/418870/23 "2007-09-13T03:44:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Nemo your tin foil hat is slipping. To do what you are suggesting would increase costs two ways. First there would be extra warehouse space for the half filled orders. Secondly you would have to have your people handle the order twice. So the business model would look something like the underwear gnomes It’s not a conspiracy theory. It’s standard business practice albeit one that companies don’t like to talk about. (“We’re intentionally downgrading our service so we can charge you more” isn’t really a good sales pitch.) I’ll concede that Jurph’s idea about holding up orders on the computer rather than my off-the-cuff suggestion about holding them up physically in a warehouse is a better one - but the point I was making was how it could make sense to intentionally hold up an order rather than to suggest a specific means of doing so. And I’ll also repeat I have no evidence that Amazon in particular practices this specific business practice. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-super-saver-shipping-why-so-bloody-long/418870/24 "2007-09-13T22:50:50Z")
At my company, we ship products to other companies rather than consumers. All of our orders have a “ship window”–a set of dates between which we can ship and not be counted “early” or “late”. If stuff gets finished early, we actually do put it on a shelf until its ship window opens. Of course, in the corporate world, things work a little differently. You might be thrilled if your new Harry Potter book comes in earlier than expected, but a company might get mad if their widgets come in early–where are they supposed to store that stuff until they actually need it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-super-saver-shipping-why-so-bloody-long/418870.md?page=1)