I agree they are a great company, although there have been a couple of problems in the past, they really do seem to care about that and put it right. The profit business - I can't understand, they must make a profit somewhere .............The additions, like Kindle etc, are not that long ago, so maybe they started making profits on ideas like this ................
I order a number of things online for us. Mostly things that I can't find in local stores. Actually, I not only order things from Amazon and other websites, I do some reviews of the products I buy. However, one thing to watch when ordering something, and I learned this...........the picture of the product you thinking about buying, may NOT be the same thing that arrives at your doorstep. That has happened to us a few times and have had to either send the item back (us paying the return cost, but not getting it refunded) or exchanging the item. One thing for sure, "online buying" isn't going anywhere and is getting bigger and bigger. One other smart thing to think about: when in a store and you find something you want to buy, check either the store's website or Amazon for a lower cost. Most stores will match the lower cost.
Because my wife sells books on Amazon, as a 3rd-party seller, I know that Amazon will sometimes change her description of the book, adding a photo of another edition of the book, and sometimes even change the edition identification that she has provided. This sometimes results in returns, since buyers are expecting the same version that is pictured.
@Ken Anderson - well they would expect to receive the goods in the picture, not right to your wife or customer
It seems like Walmart is trying hard to compete with Amazon and increase online sales. last year, they started a program that cost $49 per year, and allowed for the free 2-day shipping like Amazon offers. Apparently, it didn't work out like they thought, and now they have dropped the annual membership cost; but they are still allowing the free shipping. It does require a minimum purchase of at least $35; and Amazon has free shipping with larger orders, too, even without having Prime. Walmart also still has the free-to-store shipping, which I have used before. When it is not a large item, and you are shopping at Walmart anyway, picking up the item at the store is not a problem, usually. I think that it is good that Walmart is becoming competitive with Amazon, and this will put pressure on Amazon to offer even more services for Prime members, just to stay ahead of the competition. I noticed that Walmart has a regular lane for people who are picking up groceries at the drive-through, so you can order online, and not even get out of your vehicle to pick your groceries up. Since I mainly buy fresh produce, I like to look and choose my own foods; but I can see where this would be fine for people who buy canned or pre-packaged foods, and do not need to look at each item before they purchase it. https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/30/w...hout-a-membership-on-purchases-of-35-or-more/
Considering the direction Amazon appears to be headed in (https://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2018/...angerous-and-powerful-than-you-want-to-admit/), Walmart should find it a tough road. Two behemoths butting heads may prove amusing.
I have purchased many things from Amazon since 2012. Never had any issues with them. Normally I order hard to find items, or Christmas stuff. On line shopping is nice..but .. still like to look.touch and feel some things before buying. We have been searching for a smaller desk, to replace the very large one in a bedroom. Hubby just finished making a Murphy bed, and want the colors and size of desk to fit the room. Very hard to find in the stores or online. @Yvonne Smith .. Walmart Online grocery ordering is a life saver when your sick or bad weather is around. And they seem to do very well in picking good produce items.
It seem like more and more stores are offering the online/pickup kind of shopping. I know that Sam’s club has done that for several years, and my daughter sometimes uses that when she does not have time in her busy work schedule to shop. I think that it would be great for someone that was sick or even just didn’t want to go through the store fining their groceries. In order to keep up with Amazon, both Walmart and Sam’s also ship food items now, I think; but as far as I know, you still need to do the drive-by pickup for fresh food and produce. The next thing that Amazon is supposed to be doing is running a delivery person from Whole Foods , so that when you have Amazon Prime, you can order, and someone delivers it right away, sort of like the old fashioned neighborhood groceries often did in large cities. I think that I have even seen something called “Uber for food” or something like that.
I am starting to order from some other places, such as Chewy for cat stuff. Amazon's 2-day delivery promise had fallen by the wayside, at least as far as my orders went, even before the virus nonsense came along and now I think they're just using the virus as an excuse for bad service.
Amazon is quick with deliveries! I ordered an inclined rowing machine Saturday night, and it arrived Monday morning...less than 2 days! Hal
I am a Prime member and most everything I have ordered from them in the past month has taken weeks to arrive. Usually, they will give me an anticipated arrival date that isn't so horrible but then they keep extending it, and by the time something actually arrives, I've forgotten that I'd ordered it. I can't think of anything that I have had delivered in two days in more than a month. Most of the time, its more than a week before it's even shipped. Just today, I received something that I had ordered in late April. I only order stuff that is Prime-eligible. I used to like Amazon and enjoyed being able to order almost everything I need from one source, for the sake of convenience and because I don't like a bunch of companies having my credit card information, but I am tired of the crappy service they've been giving me lately.
Here are my most recent orders, but they are typical. I am a Prime member, which is supposed to come with free 2-day shipping yet I rarely receive anything in less than ten, and it's not uncommon for it to take two weeks, and even as long as a month or more. Compare the order dates with the estimated arrival dates. I used to get good service from Amazon but ever since the phony virus scare, their delivery times have sucked.
I pulled some Amazon data from MacroTrends: Amazon is highly profitable. They pound down their Taxable Income by investing profits back into the business (classified as R&D.)
I have seen a couple of programmes on Amazon recently and as you say @John Brunner - highly profitable and now, with Netflix etc - even more so !