is Amazon getting worse?

Quote: kenarman

AZD I am suprised that you think the store is ever paid for. Major retailers such as Wal Mart and Target are almost always tenants. They feel they can utilize their capital better elsewhere in their operation. Also as anchor tenants they often get such favorable lease rates that they are probably below the landlords true costs but he uses them to attract the smaller tenants that provide the profit for the development.

By "paid for" I mean cost of occupancy no matter if it is the mortgage, bonds, or rent.

Quote:

I also think that the marginal cost for the bottle of Tums is more than you think. It had to be freighted to the store, stocked, check-out and possibly even went through a distribution centre before the customer walked out the door with it.

Yes, but it will be shipped with all of the other goods they are getting. But here is the thing, the pre-customer distribution costs are fairly close. Either a WMT or AMZN center will get probably a pallet or several of the stuff, it will then be broken down to smaller cases to be sent to the store or final customer. But here is where it will get tricky. WMT gets probably 1 delivery of products to their HBA (health and beauty aids) per store per week. One consolidated shipment. AMZN has to ship each individual bottle to the consumer. While AMZN has some consolidation in the system, it is nowhere near what WMT will achieve.

Quote: reno

There's no reason for Amazon to only stock antacid at some fullfillment centers, but not others. It's a popular product, it isn't particularly bulky or heavy, and it's not perishable, so Amazon might as well stock it at 100% of their fulfillment centers.

Actually, there probably is. AMZN has logarithmed their system to the death. Ever wonder why when you get 2-3 items it magically comes in just under the $35 cutoff for free shipping? I guarantee you that they look at what is bought together and put that stuff in one place and other "togethers" in another. They will compare the cost of labor to pick and pack vs the cost to ship. And they do it the most efficient way. They will not have every item in every center.

Quote: reno

Also, the fact that it's only $6 to for a 45 lb package is a clue to just how steep a discount Amazon gets from USPS & UPS due to their enormous volume of packages

Order $50 of almost anything at Walmart
and shipping is free. No other costs or fee's.

Was totally free for a while.... shipped friends 99c Mac and Cheese packages for giggle.

Amazon endured a lot of criticism from skeptics who were underwhelmed with the prices and selection of yesterday's anniversary sale, which the company touted as bigger than Black Friday.

Oh well, maybe next year.

Help !!


I just ordered some junk and some semi junk from Amazon and took advantage of a 30 day free trial of AMAZON PRIME.

I rarely use amazon at all and i happen to know someone who has it who will send items to me if I want them.

I doubt I'll use amazon more than a few times more this year.

what does this amazon prime cost me per year if I fail to cancel it????

Is it worth it for me to have amazon prime??

Quote: Fleastiff

what does this amazon prime cost me per year if I fail to cancel it????

$99 About the Amazon Prime Membership Charge
At the end of the Amazon Prime free trial or annual membership period, your card will be charged $99 automatically for the next membership period.
The annual charge for Amazon Prime includes FREE Two-Day Shipping, Prime Instant Video, and the Kindle Owner's Lending Library.
If you didn't intend to convert your membership to a full 12-month membership, you can cancel your Amazon Prime membership on the Manage Prime Membership page. If you haven't placed an Amazon Prime-eligible order, you are eligible for a full refund.

So if you cancel you may have to pay the shipping charge on the item you ordered.

If you watch a movie every month, and buy a few things every year plus read some books, it probably makes up for the $99. The selections are not as good as Netflix which costs $96 per year.

Quote: Pacomartin

So if you cancel you may have to pay the shipping charge on the item you ordered.

Yipes, I didn't realize that. I have ordered four items so far and the shipping would probably have been thirty bucks.

In the time of video tapes all I did was read the boxes, I never rented a tape: too expensive.

I thought a free trial offer meant free.

dumb me.

I get free delivery of Kindle e-books and Audible audiobooks ;)

Quote: Nareed

I get free delivery of Kindle e-books and Audible audiobooks ;)

A lot of the books I like to read are not part of prime.

they just dinged my card for 100.xx or something close to it.

Now I hope that doesn't foul up any of my scheduled payments to utilities or bookmakers.

guess I better start watching some of those no-good videos just so I get something for my money. I recently found it wiser to drive to Target and buy a few packages of yoghurt rather than order the minimum of 32 packages that Amazon would ship. I'm sure the stuff would spoil before I ate my way through 32 packages of yoghurt.