Amazing Amazon

I haven’t used fresh yet. It’s an extra $200/yr more than prime. Prime now delivers from 3 different local grocery stores in Seattle for free ($5 suggested tip). The main difference is fresh is packaged so it can be left for you. Prime now isn’t, so you have to be home for delivery. Prime now lets you select which 2-hour delviery window you want, so it’s not a big deal to be home. I’m wondering if prime now will impact RE prices the way Whole Foods does. If you live close enough to the prime now site, then it’s basically 1-hour delivery for free vs the $7.99 premium.

I’m pretty sure the Amazon drivers net more than Uber drivers. They’re paid $18/hr plus the $5 tip per delivery. Plus, you don’t have to deal with people riding in your car.

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But you bet Amazon will eventually blanket the nation with coverage, well at least the big metros. That’s one reason why capex at Amazon never ceases. As a stockholder I have mixed feeling…

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I prefer to think of that as the moat. Any competitor would have to spend similar amounts on capex. How many would get funded?

I told you last year, Amazon is to be watched.

They’re going to need to cleanup their delivery methods… We were expecting a box yesterday. Around 9pm, I’m wondering where it’s at. Online, it says it was delivered around 6:30pm by what appears to be Amazon’s own delivery service. I go out and look at the nearest two neighbors’ houses–not there (mind you, this is not an action to take likely as we’ve had so many package thefts, that just snooping around other porches could get you in trouble).

Today, the package shows up very wet–clearly was on someone’s porch all night and a neighbor dropped it by. Gathered wildlife too–when I opened it there were 4-5 roly polies inside.

There’s no easy way to tell Amazon the package was missing. Very frustrating. These late night deliveries are not a good thing. I’ve had something arrive around 10pm on a very rainy night (was high quality cardstock for a project). Always left right on the steps. With the rain here, this stuff would be sopping wet and ruined in the morning…

Just needed to vent. I like Amazon, but their customer service is like a maze of twisty passages with a lot of dead ends.

But Amazon is one of the very few “tech” companies that take phone calls with a human being. Try that with Google, say your gmail account was hacked or something. I don’t even know where to look for a phone number to call. But then I heard millennials don’t call people, ever. So maybe I am just too old.

Open complain. Tell them you want to cancel prime since you are not satisfied with service. They will give you 3-6 months prime for free. Happened to me twice already

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Saudi Arabia already increased production and didn’t follow the OPEC production agreement. Oil is down, since we were discussing it. US inventories are up. There’s just too much production capacity.

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Let them deplete their reserves. We need to do something to go for renewable energy. Let’s leave oil aside by now, let’s keep ours in case any future need, it shouldn’t be our priority to deplete ours now.

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Yet, gas in the Fab 7x7 is still over 3 bucks for reg… (yes, switchover to summer blend and perhaps refinery issues…blah blah blah)

After my 7 Amazon boxes got stolen on one day (I was not aware of delivery since most of them were subscribe&save items. I still don’t understand why they sent so many boxes instead of one big box as usual.), we set up security camera(Nest), tried to use amazon locker and got my packages delivered to my office.

  1. Security camera: It has been working great. No more theft so far. However, I eliminated most of week day delivery. Thus, effectiveness of security camera is not very clear. Anyway, I am happy with Nest (their event detection algorithm is quite smart.)
  2. Amazon locker: I found it useless. The locker is too small and Amazon often shows that “this item is not eligible for amazon locker”.
  3. Delivering items to my office: Well, I do this from time to time but feel uncomfortable about using company resource (delivery person) for personal stuff.
  4. Ordering everything once a week only on Wednesday night with 2-day shipping: This has been the solution for me. In most cases, if I order on Wednesday night, I got them on Saturday. However, subscribe&save delivery date is still an issue. They let me choose delivery date but they still delivered on other date.
    I wish Amazon provides “Saturday delivery only” option for people like me.
    I am willing to pay extra charge if it is within reasonable range.
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Nest Camera is an excellent one, quality, algorithm and ease of work. Google the great !

I never order anything on Amazon. .Overpriced, subject to theft, hard to return…Can’t physically inspect or try on before ordering. .Impluse buying too easy…I just don’t get the whole program…

OverPriced: NO, they are able to beat walmart price too !

Subject to theft: It is possible (and happening) when dispatched, but I never had any theft for the last four years.

Hard to return: NO, easy to return than any store returns. For prime, return postage paid by amazon free as long as it is not your fault. You need to choose right reason to return. My returns are very less unless it if not working or defective as I always prefer amazon next to costco.

That’s really a dropcam. Nest bought dropcam.

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I agree that many regular items are not priced as low as in a box store, but at least you can find it quickly if the item exists at all. (Although the Kleenax and Toilet Paper we get through subscribe-and-save were cheaper than Lucky’s).

For example, we bought Hello Kitty stickers for potty training my daughter. $5/pack. I later saw them at the grocery store for $2. That said, if you said to me “where are you going to go to find Hello Kitty stickers?” The last place I’d have thought to find them was this particular grocery store, and I’d probably have visited 5 other stores to no avail. So for $3, I’m more than happy to have it found quickly and sent to my house.

I think the balance is in buying either items that are cheaper than your regular store, or items where you have no idea where to find them, even if there is a mark-up.

For example, tell me where to find Fazermints in the Bay Area. Are they even as cheap as I can get on Amazon? Do I have to drive an hour to Oakland to get them? It’s easier for me to just buy them on Amazon.

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Even the IRS is no match for Amazing Amazon!!!

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Shouldn’t the stock be going through the roof now?