Delaying Amazon Shipping on Purpose

Mr BoMBAStiG on 18/06/2020 - 13:27

There are certain items that go on sale at Amazon that I would like or need but have no rush in receiving. The main reason I don't buy them is I can't justify the resources that would go into shipping me a packet of toilet paper just on its own. Then next week, a case of mineral water. Then next week an umbrella. Surely if I have absolutely no rush to receive items, Amazon would like to ship multiple items at once?

Can someone tell me why there is not an option for me to buy and pay for Amazon items at a sale price and have them sit in my paid cart until I am ready to ship them together? What economic force is stopping Amazon offering this?

No rainchecks: not relevant as I am paying upfront. They wanted an impromptu sale and they got one.
Storing my goods: not asking them to, just pick them from the warehouse when I activate the shipping command.
Stock levels: I would agree that if items are out of stock when I order I will wait longer until they are in stock or split the order.
Discontinued items: Notify me that an item is running low and not being restocked, or just auto-ship at that point so I don't miss out.

This of course only applies to Amazon supplied stock, not 3rd parties.

General Discussion

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Comments

  • jimbobaus on 18/06/2020 - 13:31
    +2

    It is because they use a live stock management system
    when it sells its removed from their stock.

    you might put item A in cart on day 1 and then buy it day 18 and in that time cost price or the like may have gone up.

    you cant go to Kmart and say oh i want this but in 2 weeks can u just put it aside for me
    you need to lay by or buy it

    Amazon is no different

    • Mr BoMBAStiG on 18/06/2020 - 13:37
      +1

      I said I would pay for it on day 1.

      • jimbobaus on 18/06/2020 - 13:44

        re-reading the post i actually like your idea
        i think this risk is they would no longer have a product when the time comes to ship it
        also inventory movement is their jam.. they are all about very quick and high turnover of goods

        • Mr BoMBAStiG on 18/06/2020 - 13:57

          i think this risk is they would no longer have a product when the time comes to ship it

          Easily mitigated with stock management. E.g. 5 people have paid for an item and delayed shipping. Stock level gets to 5 and there is no restock coming, Amazon auto ships the 5 items to those 5 customers. The item will be restocked? Sell the 5 items as per normal and if someone with has delayed shipping requests it to be shipped, Amazon tells them to wait for restock as per the ToS they ticked.

          • Hybroid on 18/06/2020 - 15:04

            @Mr BoMBAStiG: One some items with Prime you can select a preferred delivery date up to a week ahead. So you can buy items over few days and select them all to be delivered next Tuesday.

            Doesn't necessarily mean they'll all arrive in the same box due to logistics/different warehouses etc.

        • spackbace on 18/06/2020 - 14:08
          +6

          also inventory movement is their jam.. they are all about very quick and high turnover of goods

          Which also means they don't want a corner of the warehouse dedicated to sold stock, awaiting shipping out. Then someone adds something to their order, and you have to put the 2 items side-by-side. Maybe easy in a small operation, but not in the case of Amazon.

          And again, how much space would be wasted on sold but not shipped out items. For 2 weeks, or a month, that's lost inventory space.

          • Bargain80 on 18/06/2020 - 14:38
            +1

            @spackbace: yes. this creates extra cost for the handling (extra storage, extra man hour and changes to their warehouse system).
            dealing with one customer is fine but they have to cater millions of customers so it's not that simple.

          • Mr BoMBAStiG on 18/06/2020 - 15:33
            -1

            @spackbace: Not asking them to move it to a corner, just don't pick it when I pay for it.

            Like I mentioned in the other comment, it comes down to shipping costs compared to storage costs which I am sure they have run the numbers on.

            I could even mean less man hours and effort. Surely assembling 1 order with 5 items costs less to Amazon than 5 orders with 1 item.

            • spackbace on 18/06/2020 - 16:10
              +4

              @Mr BoMBAStiG:

              just don't pick it when I pay for it.

              Which still means it's taking up space, regardless of where in the warehouse it is.

  • Blue Cat on 18/06/2020 - 13:42

    From my understanding they put a very low price on purpose so people would just instantly buy it up, because they want to get rid of old stock or oversupply of stock.
    You buying the item and keeping it for who knows how long, goes against this very purpose they are putting up the bargain prices for.

    • Mr BoMBAStiG on 18/06/2020 - 13:47

      Say there was a 30 day limit on the delay and then they ship your order regardless. The timer started from the first item you purchased and then you have 30 days to buy more things before they ship whatever you have in your paid-for cart.

      It would come down to what is cheaper for them: holding inventory longer or shipping multiple items?

  • [Deactivated] on 18/06/2020 - 13:44

    I wouldn't feel bad about consuming resources. Your delivery would be part of a huge distribution, so it doesn't matter if you order one thing or 50, 10 tonnes of goods is going to be transported regardless.

    • Mr BoMBAStiG on 18/06/2020 - 13:48

      It has to be a cost to them as well. They are paying couriers and AusPost $X for every individual parcel that leaves the warehouse.

      Does Amazon have a social responsibility to reduce their resource footprint in anyway they can?

      • [Deactivated] on 18/06/2020 - 13:51
        +1

        I bet they're not paying delivery for individual parcels. Probably a yearly contract or by the tonne.

        • dasher86 on 18/06/2020 - 14:58

          they would be invoiced by shipment on a contracted rate.
          Tonne rates would somewhat apply more to linehaul & airfreight rather than last mile delivery.

  • PissLUR on 18/06/2020 - 13:52
    +3

    the delivery man doesnt like you. they are paid on a package basis.

  • outlander on 18/06/2020 - 13:59

    It's a good idea, based on practicality and logic. What you have to understand, is that that's an old way of doing business.

    Amazon isn't run with that goal in mind. I'm sure they've considered it, and maybe one day will implement it, but profitability is not their main focus right now.

    Right now, they are in their growth phase. They want to spread everywhere, become the place to get anything, become the first thing you think of, so that you stop even checking other stores.

    Delayed shipping is contrary to that goal

  • EFC94 on 18/06/2020 - 14:01

    Good idea, but you're basically asking them to store your goods for you. Even if they leave your product with all the "unsold" ones, it may cause issues with their auto restocking process.

  • foxmulder on 18/06/2020 - 14:02

    If you use parcel point address, the parcels will sit in the parcel point for 2 weeks, does this help?

    • TheAccountant on 18/06/2020 - 14:10

      OP is concerned about the wastefulness of resources that go into shipping one item at a time. Parcel Point is the same thing, they ship multiple packages to a different location rather than to your house.

  • bongom on 18/06/2020 - 14:37
    +1

    Would cost Amazon money to store your paid items for free. You have to pay for self storage elsewhere.
    Is there a time limit for the free self storage?
    If you want to cancel/amend the order it will also cost Amazon money.
    You would be better off using a freight forwarder that consolidates the items.

  • MrHyde on 18/06/2020 - 14:44
    +2

    There is storage cost. They are still paying for it to stay in the warehouse. A sold item is not one they can sell to others - so it is taking up space. Firms normally have a calculation to determine holding costs. For example, this is from one of our customers. A $1000 item costs them $10 per month to store. They strictly measure their holding costs and a key KPI for them is minimising holding costs. Now, one of those items does not matter - but if you then have 100s and 1000s of such items; they add up quickly.

    Your item that has been paid for would be a liability on their books. They wouldn't want to ship it out to you when they are running low on stock; cause that is when they would up the price. The cheap price would be offered to get the item out of their warehouse - so it would defeat the purpose to sell cheaply; but still hold onto the stock.

    • Mr BoMBAStiG on 18/06/2020 - 15:37
      -2

      I guess it all comes down to them missing out on my money now and hoping I eventually will buy the item, at RRP when I really need it, compared to getting my money now and incurring a small storage cost then saving on shipping costs.

  • bdl on 18/06/2020 - 15:04
    +1

    You actually can in the US, you can delay shipping and they incentivise it by giving you a free movie rental or credit towards Amazon services (movies, app purchase) or similar. Would be great if they brought that here (as well as Amazonsmile) once they become more established.

    See: https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=9433645011

    • Mr BoMBAStiG on 18/06/2020 - 15:31

      There you go. I'd be happy with this.

      • MrHyde on 18/06/2020 - 17:09

        That program just waives the 2-day delivery timeframe that Prime members get and reduces it to delivery within 6 days.

        • bdl on 18/06/2020 - 21:26

          Correct, moves it from prime delivery to 'best effort' delivery. I aso found it aggregated some orders that I placed at different times.

      • Bren20 on 18/06/2020 - 17:14
        -1

        this doesn't aggregate your purchases though, it just sends them later

        • bdl on 18/06/2020 - 21:25

          Incorrect. I've used in the US and it aggregates purchases when it could (from same distribution centre, for example).

          • Bren20 on 19/06/2020 - 00:04

            @bdl: Nice, I've also used it in the us,but about 5 yrs ago, and no aggregation when I did it

  • jimdotpud on 18/06/2020 - 16:09

    Amazon doesn't care about you and your feelings. they ship stuff as its available, even for multiple items on a single order, they wont guarantee to hold and ship all at once.

  • Bren20 on 18/06/2020 - 17:15
    +3

    I think they don't have this as it's too confusing a concept for the small number of people who would use it. It's not 'free' for them to implement a process like this, it would take a lot of development

  • brandogs on 19/06/2020 - 03:11
    +1

    You can do this with the "Subscribe and Save" feature that is available on select grocery items.

    I did this last month when 36 pack of coke was $22.50. To do this just click "Change" which is under the Sub and Save price.

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