Is Amazon Prime worth it to Hawaii?

[Chas]

It is nice because before, I had a PO box in the same zip code as my physical address, so I could put both my PO box and my physical address in the form when ordering. Now that they are different zip codes that's not an option so I really appreciate that FedEx does that.

[Wao nahele wahine]

We had several Amazon orders that were supposed to arrive this week.  The first order was from a third party vendor, was free shipping with Amazon Prime, and was supposedly transferred to USPS from Amazon in Buena Park CA.  This order has had no updates for a week, and is currently 'running late'.  We have had this happen before with the extremely long transfer from Amazon to USPS. The tracking number starts with 9361, not one of the typical first four number combinations for USPS .  In a few more days Amazon will most likely offer us a refund or replacement option, and several weeks from now the original package will magically arrive.

The second order was three items ordered separately from third party vendors that had free shipping from Amazom Prime.  The second order is arriving early, and was shipped UPS.

All ordered items were in stock.

[malahini]

this has happened to me at least three times now. Free stuff.

[dan_c]

We had several Amazon orders that were supposed to arrive this week.  The first order was from a third party vendor, was free shipping with Amazon Prime, and was supposedly transferred to USPS from Amazon in Buena Park CA.  This order has had no updates for a week, and is currently 'running late'.  We have had this happen before with the extremely long transfer from Amazon to USPS. The tracking number starts with 9361, not one of the typical first four number combinations for USPS .  In a few more days Amazon will most likely offer us a refund or replacement option, and several weeks from now the original package will magically arrive.

The second order was three items ordered separately from third party vendors that had free shipping from Amazom Prime.  The second order is arriving early, and was shipped UPS.

All ordered items were in stock.

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I recently bought something from a third party fulfilled by Amazon item.  The tracking indicated I would receive it earlier than I thought -- sure enough I did, but it was the wrong item (4 boxes of Nespresso pods)... the next day the Amazon tracking refreshed to the normal arrival date and I got what I ordered.

I've had stuff have the same running late, with the offered refund or replacement issue.  I usually took the replacement offer while the original item turned up a week or two later.  I was able to determine on a few of these that my original order was mistakenly routed on the slow boat from California.

I haven't had this happen since Amazon has been flying directly into Kona.

[terracore]

I recently discovered that Walmart.com now ships a lot of items to Hawaii (last I checked they wouldn't ship anything).

A few days ago I was looking at a product on Amazon and felt like the price was robbery but it wasn't available locally. I looked on walmart and it was less than half, free shipping because over $35 and it arrived in 3 days. There is no $35 minimum if one wants to join their version of prime.

Also they fixed the problem with the web site that wasn't allowing us to add layer feed to curbside delivery orders. So now we can get our layer feed without having to step foot in the store. Unfortunately they don't do frozen or refrigerated items curbside, but they do offer delivery.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Amazon will begin charging a 5% additional fee for fuel and inflation starting April 28th.  If you’re planning a big order soon, you might want to get it in sooner rather than later.  

I’ve been through periods of inflation in the past, and have seen prices rise with the inflation rate factored in.  This is the first time I can recall a company double dipping, that is selling what are probably inflation price adjusted products, then charging a 5% inflation surcharge on top of that.  

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/13/energy/am...index.html

[terracore]

Unfortunately they don't do frozen or refrigerated items curbside, but they do offer delivery.

Since I posted, this has changed. If you select curbside pickup and select a time, you can get pretty much anything in the store brought out to the car including produce, frozen items, etc.

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Amazon will begin charging a 5% additional fee for fuel and inflation starting April 28th.  If you’re planning a big order soon, you might want to get it in sooner rather than later.  

I’ve been through periods of inflation in the past, and have seen prices rise with the inflation rate factored in.  This is the first time I can recall a company double dipping, that is selling what are probably inflation price adjusted products, then charging a 5% inflation surcharge on top of that.  

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/13/energy/am...index.html

This fee applies to 3rd party sellers who use amazon's fulfillment services.  So not items sold by Amazon, or items sold and shipped by 3rd party sellers who do not use amazon's fulfillment services.

But regardless, you are right, everything is costing more each time we buy it.  I've been buying things I know I'll need soon for the farm as I'm able sooner rather than later.

Another example, we were paying $25 for a 50# bag of dog food at Walmart, this time it was $28 for 44#.  The manufacturers are trying to "soften the blow" of inflation with shrinkflation, but the "help" is purely psychological.

[AaronM]

How much does it cost to retool packaging?