Tips for using Amazon

[vong]

So Amazon Australia is launching this Friday and I'm thinking of switching to it from ebay since so many people in the US and Canada seem to prefer it over eBay and if it's better then it'll no doubt be my primary online shopping source.

 

I have used Amazon US a couple of times but have not gotten a grasp of it yet so any tips? I've read that it'll offer Prime as well, what are the benefits and is it worth it?

[Ganz]

Prime is worth it in my opinion.  Not sure if it will include the full Prime experience or not, but Prime offers free 2-day shipping on all Prime eligible items.  Also includes other things like Prime Video (think Netflix).  As far as tips it's just an online store.  If you have Prime, when you do searches search for only Prime items (if buying new).

[Thermosman]

1 minute ago, Ganz said:

Prime is worth it in my opinion.  Not sure if it will include the full Prime experience or not, but Prime offers free 2-day shipping on all Prime eligible items.  Also includes other things like Prime Video (think Netflix).  As far as tips it's just an online store.  If you have Prime, when you do searches search for only Prime items (if buying new).

2 day shipping is not environmentally friendly

 

 

[Oshino Shinobu]

Prime offers Amazon Video (things like The Grand Tour are on there and a new LOTR TV series is coming apparently), Amazon Music (similar to Spotify) and a load of offers like free next day shipping, discounts on things, some items that are only for Prime members or services like Amazon Pantry (a box of food and everyday items you can fill and have shipped to you). 

 

As it's only now just launching, you may want to wait a bit before going for Prime as some of the key features (mostly, free next day delivery) may not be available yet. Australiia is a big place, so it's going to be difficult to do next day delivery across the whole country. I'd assume they're setting up warehouses close to the major cities though.

 

IMO, Prime is worth the money. If you buy about 10 things, you've already paid it off with the free fast shipping. The new series of The Grand Tour is coming out soon as well, so if you like that, it's a good time to get Prime. 

 

2 minutes ago, Ganz said:

Prime is worth it in my opinion.  Not sure if it will include the full Prime experience or not, but Prime offers free 2-day shipping on all Prime eligible items.  Also includes other things like Prime Video (think Netflix).  As far as tips it's just an online store.  If you have Prime, when you do searches search for only Prime items (if buying new).

Is it two days in the US? It's next day here in the UK. I guess that's a benefit of living in a small country.  

[Ganz]

1 minute ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Is it two days in the US? It's next day here in the UK. I guess that's a benefit of living in a small country.  

Depends on where you live in the US. I'm in the middle of no where, so it's 2-day shipping.  Some parts are next day and some (the major cities) have offered on some items same day delivery

[Oshino Shinobu]

2 minutes ago, Ganz said:

Depends on where you live in the US. I'm in the middle of no where, so it's 2-day shipping.  Some parts are next day and some (the major cities) have offered on some items same day delivery

Ah, okay. Yeah, the same day (I think it's <2 hour) shipping is at least available in London here, not where I am unfortunately.

[vong]

17 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Prime offers Amazon Video (things like The Grand Tour are on there and a new LOTR TV series is coming apparently), Amazon Music (similar to Spotify) and a load of offers like free next day shipping, discounts on things, some items that are only for Prime members or services like Amazon Pantry (a box of food and everyday items you can fill and have shipped to you). 

 

As it's only now just launching, you may want to wait a bit before going for Prime as some of the key features (mostly, free next day delivery) may not be available yet. Australiia is a big place, so it's going to be difficult to do next day delivery across the whole country. I'd assume they're setting up warehouses close to the major cities though.

 

IMO, Prime is worth the money. If you buy about 10 things, you've already paid it off with the free fast shipping. The new series of The Grand Tour is coming out soon as well, so if you like that, it's a good time to get Prime.

I don't really watch TV or use online music but free fast shipping amd discounts are good. Shipping is oz is a little expensive so using prime will pay off fast since I regularly buy online. How much is the subscription anyway?

 

Yeah there's only one warehouse right now and it's in the bottom corner of the country... Prime won't be offered right away, I guess they'll introduce it after Amazon settles in more. They're having a test run on Thursday, hope they have a wide range of products.

[Oshino Shinobu]

6 minutes ago, vong said:

I don't really watch TV or use online music but free fast shipping amd discounts are good. Shipping is oz is a little expensive so using prime will pay off fast since I regularly buy online. How much is the subscription anyway?

 

Yeah there's only one warehouse right now and it's in the bottom corner of the country... Prime won't be offered right away, I guess they'll introduce it after Amazon settles in more. They're having a test run on Thursday, hope they have a wide range of products.

Here in the UK it's £79 a year or £7.99 a month I believe. There's also something called Amazon family (or home I think now) where you can have up to 3 or so people on one Prime membership. I think they all have to be at the same address, but it basically means 3 people can get the benefits of Prime from one subscription. 

 

There's no guarantee that it will work the same in Australia as it does in the UK and US, but at least for those (not sure how the rest of Amazon sites like .de .fr .jp etc. work) Prime is worth it. I currently have Amazon student (even though I graduated two years ago, don't tell anyone) because I signed up for it in my last year of my degree, so I've had Prime for the last 3 years at about half price (: Worth looking into if you're a student, though you can't use Prime home with Amazon Student Prime. 

 

I'd suggest letting them settle in a bit and then see how Prime would work for where you are. It fits well here in the UK because you can drive from one end of the country to the other in half a day. Not so easy for an entire continent like Australia

[Cryosec]

17 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Here in the UK it's £79 a year

hooly fuck that's a lot. Here in Italy it's just 20€ (17.70£) a year and we get 1 or 2 day free delivery, same day delivery (for specific areas), prime video and cloud storage (no prime music tho). also, no need to specify an address, I can send packages wherever I need (like if I'm buying something for a friend)

[DildorTheDecent]

24 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Here in the UK it's £79 a year

£39 if you're a student.

[dalekphalm]

1 hour ago, vong said:

So Amazon Australia is launching this Friday and I'm thinking of switching to it from ebay since so many people in the US and Canada seem to prefer it over eBay and if it's better then it'll no doubt be my primary online shopping source.

 

I have used Amazon US a couple of times but have not gotten a grasp of it yet so any tips? I've read that it'll offer Prime as well, what are the benefits and is it worth it?

My biggest tip is to try to only buy items that are "sold and fulfilled" by Amazon.

 

Amazon is an online store (Like Best Buy, NCIX, or NewEgg). But it also has a marketplace for resellers to use (like eBay).

 

Some items are sold directly by Amazon, and others are sold through the marketplace. Generally speaking, dealing with Amazon directly is always easier than having to deal with one of the marketplace sellers.

[Dissitesuxba11s]

41 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Here in the UK it's £79 a year

In the US it's $99 a year and $49 a year for students.

 

In bigger cities, they are now offering Amazon Locker, where they delivery it to a locker and you pick it up at your convenience. I think it's geared towards people in apartments that don't want the package left at the front office.

[dalekphalm]

1 minute ago, Dissitesuxba11s said:

In the US it's $99 a year and $49 a year for students.

 

In bigger cities, they are now offering Amazon Locker, where they delivery it to a locker and you pick it up at your convenience. I think it's geared towards people in apartments that don't want the package left at the front office.

A lot of apartment buildings will not let you leave packages at the front office - when I lived in one, they did not.

 

However, Canada Post installed Secured Lockers in the lobby. They'd leave the necessary locker key in your mailbox, and there would be a key return slot in the locker itself once you had picked up your package.

 

It actually worked really well.

[Dissitesuxba11s]

29 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

A lot of apartment buildings will not let you leave packages at the front office - when I lived in one, they did not.

 

However, Canada Post installed Secured Lockers in the lobby. They'd leave the necessary locker key in your mailbox, and there would be a key return slot in the locker itself once you had picked up your package.

 

It actually worked really well.

Back in college, my apartment had these too but only for packages sent through US Postal Service. Bigger packages, or packages sent through FedEx or UPS were brought to your door, or left at the front office if you weren't there with a note left at your door.

[Oshino Shinobu]

1 hour ago, DildorTheDecent said:

£39 if you're a student.

Yep, I'm on my last year of Amazon student even though I graduated 2 years ago  I got it extended by a month too because they messed up a delivery. 

 

1 hour ago, Dissitesuxba11s said:

In bigger cities, they are now offering Amazon Locker, where they delivery it to a locker and you pick it up at your convenience. I think it's geared towards people in apartments that don't want the package left at the front office.

I believe we have that in the UK as well. I think there's one 10 minutes or so from me, but I tend to just have them leave it in the garage. I could definitely understand using it if you're in an apartment.