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Amazon Shipping Question

post #1 of 8
9/15/05 at 9:40am
Thread Starter 
I just Pre-Ordered "Batman Begins" Deluxe Edition from Amazon to take advantage of the low price (The same as the single disc version for those who don't yet know) anyway, I ordered something else with it to boost my total above $25 so I could get the free shipping option. However, my estimated ship date is not until Oct, 23rd and "Batman" comes out on Oct 18th. In fact, I was under the impression that online retailers shipped pre-orders early so that it would get to you on the street date. Does Amazon postpone ship dates when you select the free shipping option?
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post #2 of 8
9/15/05 at 11:42am
Does Amazon postpone ship dates when you select the free shipping option?


That's an interesting question...I recently ordered five books (one was a pre-order for a book releasing the last week of August) and noticed the same thing. The pre-order was for a book releasing on 8/30 (I think), the order was supposed to ship on or around 9/8 and arrive between 9/13 and 9/20. It was no big deal, but the book got pushed back, the rest of the order still went out on 9/8 and I had it the next day! With free shipping for both parts of the order.
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post #3 of 8
9/15/05 at 9:26pm
Now I don't know about Amazon's shipping policy, but "technically" dealers are not suppose to ship prior to a release date. Yah, I know that almost everybody does it, but perhaps Amazon just plays by the rules.
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post #4 of 8
9/16/05 at 7:16pm
Quote:
Now I don't know about Amazon's shipping policy, but "technically" dealers are not suppose to ship prior to a release date. Yah, I know that almost everybody does it, but perhaps Amazon just plays by the rules.

The one week delay is a built-in penalty for the benefit of free shipping. You can see this in action if you play around with the shipping speeds on an order. If you set it to the regular or 2-day shipping, the estimated date will usually reset to either the day of release or the day before.
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post #5 of 8
9/19/05 at 9:03am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
The one week delay is a built-in penalty for the benefit of free shipping. You can see this in action if you play around with the shipping speeds on an order. If you set it to the regular or 2-day shipping, the estimated date will usually reset to either the day of release or the day before.


Yeah, I did exactly that the other day and noticed that. That kind of pisses me off at Amazon. I have even ordered more than I had originally intentioned to get their free shipping and then they hold up my order intentionally because I chose the free shipping that they offered. I don't think there is any disclaimer about this either, they only way you would know is if you remember to check the expected ship date. Today they lost and order from me because of this. I went with Deep Discount DVD. The time it takes to arrive might be on the long side with free shipping, but at least they don't intentionally hold up a shipment if you choose free shipping. I ordered this morning and the estimated ship date is tomorrow.
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post #6 of 8
9/20/05 at 4:55pm
The estimated ship dates at Amazon are almost always not accurate. I've ordered a lot of things from Amazon with free shipping and it usually ships well before the estimated date. Typically I get pre-ordred DVDs on or a few days after the official release date. However arrival times could vary depending on how far you live from the warehouse the item was shipped.
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post #7 of 8
9/21/05 at 12:42am
Quote:
I've ordered a lot of things from Amazon with free shipping and it usually ships well before the estimated date.

I never had this happen the 2 times I used the free shipping option. I imagine it's at the packer's discretion. If they are running ahead of schedule the individual packer might pack the free ship stuff earlier than required.
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post #8 of 8
9/21/05 at 3:05am
Amazon free shipping is weird. What you'd think it would mean would be that they'd ship it the same time as usual, only at a cheaper rate, so it would take longer to get to you. Instead, what they seem to do is sit on it for a week or so, and then ship it fairly quickly (I usually get it 2 or 3 days after it actually ships, which is usually a week after it's been ordered).

On the one hand, I'm in no rush, so it's no big deal. On the other hand, it just pisses me off in principle. I mean, if they want to discourage people from using the free shipping (which seems to be the only good reason for the delay), then just don't offer the damned thing. No one is making them offer free shipping. If they are going to offer it, then don't punish people for using an option that you provide.
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