OT: How do(es) Amazon (and USPS) do it?

I have just started a (30-day trial) Amazon Prime subscription and ordered some items on Saturday with free 2-day shipping. The package was delivered today (as promised) by USPS. BUT today is a national holiday with no regular postal deliveries, so wouldn't USPS have to have paid someone overtime rates (and perhaps even with payment for some specified minimum number of hours)? AND the delivery was made from a nearby major city rather than from the much smaller city from which our mail is normally delivered.

Is USPS making money on this deal? Does Amazon pay USPS per item, or do they have some kind of blanket deal with USPS?

Perce

Reply to
Percival P. Cassidy
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Had you ordered on Friday, it would have been delivered on Sunday. Yes, the carrier is paid OT and the one I spoke with said it is a good gig. Amazon gives the USPS a lot of money every year but I don't have any idea of rates.

Make sure you take advantage of other Prime benefits like TV and music.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I am not sure how they do it either. My wife orders mundane things like bleach, it gets 2 day delivery and she says it is cheaper than at the store.

Reply to
gfretwell

I've noticed that 90% of our Amazon deliveries (and we get 1 or 2 a week) moved from being by UPS for 2 day and FedEx for 1 day to USPS. Did some checking and it appears that USPS is making an effort to be the last mile ecommerce delivery company of choice and has made some significant reductions in their delivery charges. Hence, Amazon has switched to them in certain geographic cases.

What I found particularly interesting by closely reviewing the tracking history is that Amazon delivers to a post office somewhere in the county, but not necessarily my local delivery office or the regional bulik mail center. USPS then moves it (usually early in the delivery day) to the local office where it gets injected into the regular delivery stream.

As FedEx and UPS don't honor every postal holiday, I expect USPS does a special run for those deliveries.

Agreed - you won't ever see the terms and really don't care. It will be significantly less than what you pay if you have to send the item back though!

Reply to
Arthur Conan Doyle

Percival P. Cassidy posted for all of us...

Thanks for reminding me to cancel, I signed up for a free trial at Christmas and order stuff and a coupon came up for 10% off. Well I checked out and it didn't give me the 10%. I called and got people for Prime and Amazon pointing fingers at each other. Homie don't stand for that nonsense so I canceled the order. Amazon has bunches of fulfillment centers and contracts with carriers and the USPS. I think the system figures out whom the service will be and propels it out the door.

Reply to
Tekkie®

That is not always true. Depending on how the item was fulfilled and depending on how return is handled, you may be able to ship it back for free, including pick up at your home/business.

I ordered a large item last week. Shipping weight was 78 lbs, shipping dimensions were 30.2 x 21.5 x 23 inches. Since I wasn't 100% sure that the item would fit my needs, I called Amazon to find out about return shipping before I ordered.

I was told that the item met the first criteria for free return shipping: the order would be fulfilled by Amazon. The second criteria was the reason for the return. I was told that if there was nothing wrong with the item (basically, if I just didn't want it) and I processed the return request on Amazon, I would have to pay the return shipping costs. However, if I called Amazon Customer Service and told them that "The item did not meet my expectations", they would send me a pre-paid return shipping label and arrange for pick-up if I so desired.

So far, I I'm pretty impressed with the item. I have 27 days left to play with it and as long as it isn't defective (so far, so good) I don't plan to return it.

Here's is the item I'm talking about. It's *sweet*!

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Reply to
DerbyDad03

That's the saw? The review seemed to be either 'love it' or 'it sucks'. I'm glad it's working out for you.

Reply to
rbowman

Amazon isn't the only place where the saw is reviewed. Overall, it gets very good reviews not only on the web but from talented woodworkers whose work I am familiar with.

My favorite Amazon review:

3 Stars "too heavy..hard to set.. laser worthless"

Laser worthless? Maybe that's because the saw doesn't come with a laser.

The saw was actually recommended by a guy who makes his living building custom bedroom sets and built-in office furniture. He is a big Festool fan, but even he didn't spend $1400 on the Kapex miter saw. Holy crap... now that's a nice saw. The main reason for considering the Bosch in the first place is that there are no rails that extend from the back, making it perfect for a small shop like mine. The reviews and recommendations seem to match my experience so far. Once I get started on the bookcases that SWMBO asked for, I'll be able to give it my own first-hand review.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

I went to Amazon to see what you were talking about. So today I get the email from Amazon, 'based on your browsing history you may be interested in these Bosch saws...'

I might be if I had use for one but I've got muscle driven crosscut and rip saws that get me through my carpentry projects these days. If I had something the size of a two car garage I'd probably fill it with all sorts of toys but limited floor space delivers me from temptation.

Reply to
rbowman

Trust me, two car garage is not big enough to have on your "temptation list". Shoot for at least 3! : )

Reply to
Bill

If you were really tempted, you wouldn't let floor space be a problem. ;-)

You couldn't fit 1 car in my shop, yet I have a miter saw, table saw, band saw, drill press and workbench in it. Some hand held power tools live in the shop, others come in and out as needed. Wood goes in, furniture comes out.

This is the latest item that I built. My daughter wanted a "rustic" full size bed built from reclaimed wood. I found a guy on Craigslist that was selling some reclaimed Douglas Fir left over from a post and beam house that he had built. Most of it was already S4S, some of it was planed to size by a friend.

The Naked Bed

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The Dressed Up Bed

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Reply to
DerbyDad03

On Fri, 20 Jan 2017 16:02:50 -0500, Tekkie® wrote in

Good luck with that. Please give us some feedback on how it turns out.

Reply to
CRNG

Well, that was a two car garage for the carpentry projects... Another one for the bike projects, and another for the electronics shop and...

What I really need is one of those deals you see in the movies sometimes. An entire floor of an old factory with the living arrangements off in one corner. And a sturdy elevator if it's not the first floor. I once build a 8' rowing dingy in a second floor apartment. Getting it downstairs was interesting.

Reply to
rbowman

Nice! I always liked Arts & Crafts / Mission style furniture. It's honest and functional.

Reply to
rbowman

Great job! Inspiring! : )

Reply to
Bill

Thanks. Now that you are inspired, I'll expect pictures soon. ;-)

Reply to
DerbyDad03

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