will my movies actually get here or should I pay a little more for to buy it from Amazon directly
In my experience, reliability is a non-issue for the amazon marketplace. Just pick someone with many (hundreds) of ratings and you’ll get your item.
What may be different is the shipping speed. It’s been highly variable for me, ranging from even before the delivery estimate to a couple weeks for normal ground shipping.
Edit: Just to be clear, on average, shipping has been comparable to corporate Amazon.
You don’t get free shipping over $25 from 3rd-party sellers, just Amazon directly.
I’ve bought many books from third party sellers on Amazon, and been pleased with them.
Third party sellers on Amazon have to abide by a lot of Amazon rules about refunds, etc. (I don’t know what these rules all are, but I know a third party book dealer and he told me this.) You have nothing to worry about.
Nor free two-day shipping if you have Amazon Prime.
Usually, that’s true, but I’ve run into a few exceptions.
Still, the free shipping is pretty much the only thing that will get me to buy from Amazon directly. I even found a little site that will search for items at or just over a certain price if shipping would cost more.
My only complaint is the shipping speed from 3rd party sellers. I’ve had things take up to three weeks to arrive.
I have only bought 3 or 4 things from third-party sellers at Amazon, but the shipping has been markedly slower - like 2-3 times as long, in all cases.
Joe
Me too, but it’s rare. I think most of the shippers use Media Mail.
But some of them will send an item first class, especially if the weight is light – it can be just as cheap and the seller gets better feedback.
When I’m shopping used, I look for sellers with at least 98% positive feedback, and I ignore sellers who don’t bother to describe the item. “May have underlining” isn’t good enough.
Amazon puts a limit on the amount of postage 3rd party sellers can charge. Most of them ship using Media Mail which is the cheapest and takes the longest. They use Media mail or lose money on the postage.
When you buy used books, movies, etc. the author / artist doesn’t get any money or royalties on the item. I try to keep this in mind when I buy entertainment items.
KOK - I see AuntiePam mentioned the Media Mail.
Your friend wants to know, eh?
You can get free shipping/Prime if it says “fulfilled by Amazon.” Amazon holds the goods in a warehouse, and the seller gives them the go-ahead to send it.
As long as price+shipping < Amazon’s price, then it’s worth it. Most sellers have hundreds if not tens of thousands of feedback ratings. I do notice the suggested time is variable. I have gotten “you’ll see it in a week” and “3-4 weeks maybe” from Amazon for the same product type (CDs or whatever). Often I’ve been surprised when it came quicker.
I concur with what most people have said. You’ll get your item eventually, but the shipping often takes a lot longer. In one case it took a book a month to arrive.
I sell on Amazon, & buy there, too.
My advice–
1)Used items are graded. Pay attention. Amazon gives descrption of what these standards mean. Pay attention.
2)If a Seller has both Used items, & New items posted for the same product: buy from somebody else. Mistakes happen–let them happen to somebody else.
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If there is a quality problem–complain to the Seller. He may offer a full or partial refund.
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The bargans are quite real. Hunt them.
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Rare/out-of-print items can be had at astonishingly cheap prices. I bought a 125 year old novel for $9. First Edition.
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Many Sellers offer express shipping. Check for this at purchase. Better still–learn patience. You’ll get it–cheaper!
I believe I’ve bought stuff from third-party sellers (on the Amazon Marketplace) and gotten the free shipping. I think this happens when Amazon stocks the stuff in its warehouses. You can filter the search results to show only the items that come with free shipping. (But it might cheaper to buy the item from a vendor that charges shipping.)
Also, it is relatively safe to order stuff from these sellers. Last week, I linked to this article from the New York Times about a guy who runs an online eyeglass store and whose business model was to deliberately antagonize his customers (not just rudeness but threats and intimidation) so that they’d complain in online forums and thereby improve his Google search results. (After the article appeared, Google changed its algorithm so that his site no longer appeared on the top of the results.) But even that guy behaved himself when selling through Amazon because Amazon doesn’t tolerate sellers who antagonize its customers.
That guy wasn’t on Amazon, I think. He also wasn’t really a seller - he got orders and basically ordered the stuff he got orders for on EBay with direct shipment to customers.
BTW, those who read that article and got as enraged as I did will be happy to know that his ranking on Google sank to the basement, and that he has been arrested.
I’ve never had a problem with third-party sellers. One nice thing - if you keep something in your shopping cart, sometimes a better deal shows up. There is an old econ book I wanted to order for my daughter which a few years ago was > $100. It just showed up for $21. (Missing a dust jacket, but no problem.)
Yes, I mentioned that his store no longer appears at the top of the Google search results, and I mentioned him in connection with Amazon because of this paragraph from the article:
However, just because something is rare, or a first edition, that doesn’t mean that it’s valuable. Condition counts for a lot. My grandfather had a wonderful book and magazine collection, but because he was a smoker, and he didn’t take care of his items, their condition deteriorated over the years. Oh, the collections were still worth something, but not nearly as much as if they had been properly cared for.
And if the item doesn’t say “smoke free house” or similar, and you’re sensitive to smoke odor, or just don’t like it, ASK. Same for pet dander, if you’re allergic, check the description. I don’t buy anything from eBay any more unless the seller specifically notes that it’s been kept in a smoke free environment…I bought a few things that I had to set out in the garage to try to let the reek go away. Some things did eventually give up most of the smoke odor, but many didn’t.