Amazon S-L-O-W shipping

[terracore]

FYI I've been thinking about leaving Prime, and trying out Walmart+. It's a joke for anything but local delivery to Hilo. It is supposed to include "free shipping" but everything you try to buy is "out of stock". Yet switch to a mainland address and it's magically back in stock. Even small non-hazardous items sometimes refuse to ship. Rip-off.

I had a Walmart + free trial but if I recall correctly the only real benefit was saving $7 for each local delivery, and once a fair tip is added the local delivery isn't financial sustainable anyway.  Curbside pickup is free and doesn't require any clubs.  They had some growing pains with their curbside pickup that were frustrating early on, but apparently they've ironed them out because I haven't had any problems for several months.

The location surcharge is a newer "feature".  If one is ordering something that is just a few pounds, its a bargain considering that it arrives UPS after 2-3 days so no waiting in line at the Post Office.  I recently bought some T-post gate hinges from Walmart delivery and total price after the location surcharge was only about $2 more per unit than Amazon and I didn't have to wait 4-6 weeks to get them or wait at the post office.  That is worth more than $2 to me.  But if ordering something like dog food, forget it.  The location surcharge is more than the dog food.

Target has free 2-day UPS delivery for $35+ orders when using their Red Card (save 5% with Red Card).  Most of the items ship from HNL or LIH.  I've even placed an order and received it the next day.  Like Walmart was before the location surcharge, it seems to good to be true and not sure it's going to last, but they seem to have figured out how to make items that are too heavy to ship ineligible for UPS, though they are eligible for same-day either curbside or home delivery with SHIPT.  We had a SHIPT membership (unlimited free home deliveries) but again the gratuity made it unsustainable.