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Does the watched order ship slower?
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Administrator  Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: California
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I almost always use the free shipping on Amazon. Patience can save a lot of money in a year.
Sometimes an order ships right away, other times it goes nearly a week. I find myself checking the order status, and wondering if they delay shipments that are checked more frequently. It is a solid indicator of impatience - this customer might upgrade shipping.
Logic suggests observer bias - you check more when it waits longer. But those orders I don't check do seem to ship faster. I'm tempted to sift my order emails, note the delays, and try to remember which ones I watched.
Has anyone noticed a pattern? Not just on Amazon.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Paranoia - a sign that you've got too much time too check your shipping order! 
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Mac Pro Dual 3.0 Dual-Core
MacBook Pro
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Moderator  Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: inside 128, north of 90
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No, the only pattern is it gets worse the closer to Christmas!
I finally gave in and got Amazon Prime last year to go with the husband's kindle... Last week I ordered a DVD at 10pm using regular Prime free shipping, and it was delivered the next afternoon. Not sure where the closest warehouse to me is, but I was pretty amazed.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: San Diego
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My understanding is that the speed of super saver shipping is based on Amazon's volume when the order is placed. You trade shipping fees for being lowest priority on order fulfillment. So if they have a lot of paid shipping orders, you are going to wait.
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Your Anus
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I'm pretty sure they intentionally throttle the free shipping items.
I don't have a big problem with this, since it's free.
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My sig is 1 pixel too big.
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: 46 & 2
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Originally Posted by iMOTOR 
My understanding is that the speed of super saver shipping is based on Amazon's volume when the order is placed. You trade shipping fees for being lowest priority on order fulfillment. So if they have a lot of paid shipping orders, you are going to wait.
This. A senior manager with Amazon told me the same thing, almost exactly word for word.
I agree with andi too, Prime is unreal. I'm preaching to the choir, but if you make purchases online with any regularity it's worth every penny.
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"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
- Thomas Paine
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Administrator Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: California
Status:
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I don't dispute how the free shipping works. What I'm wondering is if they fiddle the priority a little if the customer logs in to check shipping status. A customer who doesn't look will never upgrade to paid shipping. But a customer who looks may become impatient and pay.
It could work something like this: Start all free ship orders at mid-low queue priority, L3.
- If customer never looks, it stays at L3.
- If customer looks once per day, downgrade priority to L2.
- If customer looks frequently, downgrade priority to lowest: L1.
In all cases, order ships when it gets through the queue. This method would cause a percentage of impatient customers to pay shipping after all, improving the store's bottom line.
This would be a bit hard to catch, since results are unpredictable on any one order. You'd have to catch it using averages, or different customers running the same order on the same day. One watches their order, one doesn't.
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Dec 1999
Status:
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Originally Posted by ort888
I'm pretty sure they intentionally throttle the free shipping items.
I don't have a big problem with this, since it's free.
Yes. Free shipping is held for an extra few days before it ships.
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"…I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than
you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods,
you will understand why I dismiss yours." - Stephen F. Roberts
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Games Meister  Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
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I remember the good old days when free shipping wasn't slow. That was ridonkulous.
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Isle of Manhattan
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I dunno. I bought a bunch of stuff off of Amazon and I swear it was shipping as I watched it.
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"Faster, faster! 'Till the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." - HST
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: San Diego
Status:
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Originally Posted by reader50
I don't dispute how the free shipping works. What I'm wondering is if they fiddle the priority a little if the customer logs in to check shipping status.
I have had two super saver orders arrive the next day (on one order I did go back to check the status.) I have also had super saver orders take seven days to ship without ever checking status.
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