Amazon Taking Longer To Ship To Non-Prime Customers

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

After all these years of Amazon Prime being around, most of us know that a major perk of the subscription service is free, expedited shipping. But it looks like Amazon’s focus on getting packages to Prime customers has resulted in slower deliveries for shoppers who didn’t ante up $99/year for Prime.

This is according to online retail analysts at StellaService, who recently told Forbes that Amazon’s regular shipping is starting to slip.

“There are 40 companies on our list, and Amazon has always been in the top 10,” explains Kevon Hills, VP of research for StellaService. “This year, we’ve seen them fall outside of the top 10, which is the first time we’ve seen that happen.”

Since Prime customers are not only paying for the guaranteed delivery dates, but also tend to be more regular and loyal customers of Amazon, it would seem to make sense that the company is going to great lengths to keep those shoppers happy. But is it happening at the expense of the millions of casual Amazon customers?

“I think the focus, for them, has shifted from standard shipping to being fast and making sure they deliver on that promise for Prime,” Hills tells Forbes, who notes that a number of other online retailers have made significant improvements to their shipping — another reason Amazon has dropped down the list. “The industry is getting faster, and we’ve seen Amazon fall off a little bit.”

Source: consumerist

 

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

I ordered two separate items from Amazon early Friday morning. I do have Amazon Prime.
I was pleasantly surprised to find the first item was delivered on Saturday morning and the second one was delivered on Sunday.

 

[AWS]

As a Prime member myself I find the shipping time to be faster than any other retailer. I often pay the extra price for next day air when ordering from Newegg or others and I find Amazon always beats them when ordered on the same day and I don't pay the extra bucks for it.

Last week I ordered a mouse on Friday morning. To my surprise I had it in the afternoon. It was delivered by a guy with an Amazon van. I would guess the mouse was in the new warehouse they built a few miles from me and it was packaged and sent right away.

 

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

Although I wasn't happy when Amazon raised their prices for the Prime membership, it's still well worth it to me.

 

[Bill M.]

It used to be worth the investment for me. As of Jan.2016, Amazon is collecting SC sales tax. I haven't used Amazon since. There are alternatives.

 

[AWS]

It used to be worth the investment for me. As of Jan.2016, Amazon is collecting SC sales tax. I haven't used Amazon since. There are alternatives.

Amazon has a new warehouse is Illinois and so far I haven't been charged any taxes for my purchases. I know online retailers have to charge state tax if they have offices or do business in the state. I wonder if this is miss on their part or if they haven't actually got around to implementing it in Illinois since the warehouse just opened in November.

One thing that I was not happy about is 3 years ago Amazon removed me from the affiliate program because Illinois passed a law that affiliate sales had to be taxed and the company had to sent out W-99 forms to affiliates. Amazon dropped the affiliate program in Illinois. Now that they have a presence here maybe I can get back in the program.