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Thread: Not a business plan for success...

  1. #1
    Zenith & Vintage Mod Dan R's Avatar
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    Not a business plan for success...

    Got a coupon from a sporting good store and after some surfing, decided to get four boxes of sporting good supplies that go bang when used in the proper equipment. And given the diameter, I got it for well under $13 a box. Free shipping too! Did not even need to leave the house!

    Well, today as I drove into my driveway, I saw "one" package and I was like cool, a computer part that I had ordered from Amazon was here. Package was large, but hell, I am not Amazon, they can do what they want. As I retrieved it, I saw that it was two smaller, identical packages placed together. I saw the familiar label used for shipping hazardous items in the US and thought cool, my stuff that goes bang is here. The computer part will come later.


    Once inside, I opened the first box. Tons o' wrapping paper and at the bottom, one box of banging stuff. Good looking stuff. Well, the other three must be in the other box. As I picked it up, I was like no, it feels like one box. Sure enough, it was one box.


    So I was kind of getting upset thinking they lost my other two boxes or whatever, so I got on their website and tracked the order. Would you believe that they shipped four boxes of 50 from four different locations, AL, IL, TN, WI?


    That has got to hurt on the profitability!


    Submitted for your humor.

    Dan

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  3. #2
    El bot. geoffbot's Avatar
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    I mean, whatever their business plan is, Amazon is doing quite well for themselves :-) https://www.recode.net/2018/2/1/1696...-2017-earnings
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    Porous Membrane skywatch's Avatar
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    I don't understand shipping in this world we live in. When someone in Europe or Asia orders a CD from our web order form, it costs me $14 to ship a single CD, more than the cost of the disc. The aggregator I use is offering free shipping this month anywhere in the world. (Yes, I realize few people buy CDs these days, etc.) I don't understand how the free shipping works. Also, I recently ordered multiples of different watch batteries through Amazon, with free shipping, for under $4 for ten-packs per variety. They all showed up in different envelopes. And a 1 lb. (half kilo for our global folks) bag of pure powdered pigment (for making inks and paint) arrived with free shipping from the island of Cypress, for less than it would cost me just for shipping. I can only assume that deals are getting made in multiples for certain shippers.

    Enjoy your nameless explosive devices safely!
    Too many watches, not enough wrists.

  5. #4
    Member boatme99's Avatar
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    Maybe from 4 different sources? Is it unusual caliber?

    Oops, never mind. I just saw the last line.
    Last edited by boatme99; Dec 6, 2018 at 09:17 AM.
    54650

  6. #5

    Not a business plan for success...

    Strangely the same thing happened to me, but not with Wile E. Coyote strap-on flight boosters. I get mine right down the road from me at ACME Flight Booster Depot.

    I bought 3 shirts and 2 pants with free shipping from a popular men’s store and have thus far received 4 packages. Still missing one that is scheduled for delivery today.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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  8. #6
    Moderator gnuyork's Avatar
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    And Free return shipping on stuff too usually. I'm taking advantage of that with some boots I ordered - 2 sizes because I wasn't sure which size would fit me best. Same with a coat. I don't see how they do it, other than they must have deals lined up with shipping - economies of scale and all that.

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  10. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by skywatch View Post
    I don't understand shipping in this world we live in.
    Sadly, I think the same can be said of the U.S. Postal Service.
    .
    .
    .

    Retired from Fire/Rescue January 2019 with 30 years on the job

  11. #8
    Well, what I can tell you is that I worked for a very large company that spent high eight figures a year on shipping. As employees, we were allowed to take advantage of our negotiated shipping rates, and they were fraction of what you would pay as a regular retail customer. An order of magnitude less for international. Which means margins much be huge, and given enough volume, companies like Amazon must be able to negotiate incredible rates and still allow their vendors to make a profit.

  12. #9
    Zenith & Vintage Mod Dan R's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mlcor View Post
    Well, what I can tell you is that I worked for a very large company that spent high eight figures a year on shipping. As employees, we were allowed to take advantage of our negotiated shipping rates, and they were fraction of what you would pay as a regular retail customer. An order of magnitude less for international. Which means margins much be huge, and given enough volume, companies like Amazon must be able to negotiate incredible rates and still allow their vendors to make a profit.

    I understand the shipping component for sure. Used to work for a company that allowed the employees to use their shipping stuff. And I have seen how these huge warehouse pick and pack places work. It is quite amazing. But to have an employee pick and securely pack one box each in Alabama, Tennessee, and Wisconsin (all relatively cheap) and then Illinois (not so), I don't see how you can make money on it.

    That said, I have my four boxes and I am cool with that!

    Dan

  13. #10
    Member boatme99's Avatar
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    But we still don't know what caliber.
    54650

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