Amazon deliveries

[Hotrodder]

The key thing to remember is the savings made depends on how many things you buy over the month or year. Paying X amount each month for Prime membership only makes sense if your volume of orders over the period would come to higher postage charges. The Prime idea was created to entice people to spend more with them and not bother to shop around for a better deal. They are not always the cheapest source of an item. There are some real moments to be had for some things advertised there. I can see some people after battling to find something on their site simply losing the will to live. By this time if they stumble across what they want they are less vigilant about unticking the boxes for Prime "trial offers", etc. and get sucked into that, not noticing until a month or two down the line when they see the membership fee on their bank statement. Yes, I am aware you can unsubscribe whenever you want but don't think for one minute it will be easy, given that they want to keep you on the hook. It would be fairer to make it an "opt in" box ticking exercise rather than an "opt out" one that could be easily missed.

I have just spent a day trying to buy 5 items to repair our two vehicles. Two and a half hours+ fuel wasted trying brick & mortar sources in the nearest medium sized town. Two motor factors (one no longer trading & the other had nothing but batteries, tyres, and basic service items), A Peugeot agency (no spares apart from tyres kept in stock), a couple of Roady type outfits only stocking oil, bulbs, filters, batteries, and accessories.

Returning home I spent the rest of the day online searching mostly French websites trying to pin down the exact items by full specs, OEM part numbers, visual indications, and availability. I can say with hand on heart, Amazon was not even in the running. Ebay.fr pro sellers came up with three items and the last two are (hopefully) coming from specialist motor factors. I say hopefully because one of them has sent by DPD and I know from experience in this area are about as useful as a rubber wheelbrace.
The cheapest parts by far could have been ordered from sellers on ebay.co.uk but Brexit has killed that option stone dead with extortionate import and handling fees added by ebay.

[niemeyjt]

Amazon UK are a total rip-off if ordering from abroad - basically they keep the UK VAT and then add on duties as required by the destination country.

For us in UK, however, Prime pays off. The children don't have it so often ask me to order stuff for them as well - although thinking about it, perhaps as Daddy pays there is an ulterior motive involved.

[Loup-garou]

Speak as you find and I must say I have little problem with the Amazon.fr website. Indeed, if I can't remember the french for what I'm after, and being lazy, I often enter what it is in english and, generally, it comes up. Conversely sometimes, when I think I know the french and enter it, I find myself looking at weird and wonderful stuff.

My only slight niggle is that, using two french addresses, they sometimes deliver too early to an address that I have not yet arrived at - that can be a real imbuggerance!

[DaveW]

At the now €69.99 per year Prime will have to deliver a lot of postage savings. I watch a lot of stuff on Amazon Prime streaming but rumour has it they are going to add a charge for no adverts. That’ll be the killer for me.

[L Austin France]

At the now €69.99 per year Prime will have to deliver a lot of postage savings. I watch a lot of stuff on Amazon Prime streaming but rumour has it they are going to add a charge for no adverts. That’ll be the killer for me.

We've had 24 deliveries so far in 2023 so I reckon we've had our monies worth.
Lot's of 'em have been for little things of small value such as button batteries & SD cards where it's easy to order knowing that carriage won't be out of proportion to the item value & don't cost me a thing in fuel & time driving around to find a shop that sells 'em.
It's sometimes La Poste who deliver but usualy the man & a van.

[niemeyjt]

Yes - Amazon are good for low-value items. I wish they would come here.

Our current big seller, Digitec Galaxus, has a minimum CHF50 (or a surcharge) plus poor customer service compared to Amazon.

[Hotrodder]

The fun has started. First thing this morning I had an email saying that two items were to be delivered today between 8:30 and 1:00. Then a couple of hours later another said they were not coming today and I needed to make alternative arrangements (ie- supply another address, neighbour, different date, or have it left at a pickup point). I thought sod it, we need to go out so I figured I would sort it when we get back. Just getting into the car when a van turns up with two parcels. Stuck them indoors to open later. Got back to find part of the order is missing.
While we were out I got a quote for an exhaust repair. Turns out it is too far gone so the whole lot has to be replaced. I could get the part and do it myself but I'm too old these days to venture under a car on axle stands that could sink into the gravel without warning so had to book it in for the garage to do it. €300. Just my luck it has a catalytic conveter in it. Xmas will be a bit thin this year.
I hate this sh*t.

[niemeyjt]

You should get some dosh for the old cat - they have lots of rare metals in them - which is why the oiks go around knicking them.

[MAD87]

I only received my air fryer yesterday, thanks to the taxi driver taking my cousin back to the airport., La Poste claimed that there was no one at home and so delivered it to the relais at the end of our road (500m away). It's very heavy, bugger them...
As I stopped driving a few months ago and gave my car to one of the sons, I have to rely on the family for 'extras' beyond online shopping.
I need an extra counter before using the oven, so it'll be a while before I can "report" on my experiences.

[Nomoss]

We have made 56 purchases on Amazon France this year, including a few large or expensive items, so I think we are getting value for our Prime subs.

We also received a Ninja air fryer yesterday, but bought it on Leboncoin, for €55 less, including shipping, than it would have cost on Amazon.
I always check LBC for household items, as there always seems to be good selection available, and using the secure payment system gives excellent protection. I think many offers may be unwanted gifts, or maybe the seller\s found them too complicated to use.
The fryer we received looks brand new and works perfectly - we tried it with frozen chips in one drawer and a couple of frozen pies in the other, which served the purpose of using up the pies from The Trading Post, which were a bit disappointing.
I found the possibility to open a drawer to check on progress and add more time as necessary to be very useful, as the times suggested don't correspond with actual amounts of food being cooked.
We still have two more days to test it before we notify it is OK and release the payment.