1276 replies to this topic

[:)]

perhaps its the slump of the GBP to the aussie dollar ? maybe this whole thing was a test to. to gauge interest/receptiveness of the aussie market. As we know there has been mention of amazon.com.au maybe will come. but yeah I wont be buying without free shipping. that and no vat would bring competitive to prices here. but i'll give our local guys here a run for a while. JB and co can have my cash for now

[napalm68]

I'm so glad I ordered those books last week. Book postage is ridiculous there.


But it makes Zavvi more appealing for orders now. The free shipping changed my buying habits. I bought more, impulse bought more, and wasn't so worried about making up a big order to even the postage costs out (like I do with Amazon US still). And I bought a lot from them that I'd typically have bought elsewhere. Like for books they won't even rank a second or third glance anymore - prior to free shipping Amazon UK never ONCE turned up on my radar for book purchasing. Previously I got all my books from Bookdepository, betterworkld books, but with the free shipping (as the other two stores already have) Amazon UK was more competitive (not always). Now, I can't even bother looking at them, and will just get them from Book depository or betterworld books, or even fishpond.

Edited by napalm68, 22 January 2012 - 07:50 AM.

[Chopsus]

:), on 22 January 2012 - 07:11 AM, said:

perhaps its the slump of the GBP to the aussie dollar ? maybe this whole thing was a test to. to gauge interest/receptiveness of the aussie market. As we know there has been mention of amazon.com.au maybe will come. but yeah I wont be buying without free shipping. that and no vat would bring competitive to prices here. but i'll give our local guys here a run for a while. JB and co can have my cash for now

Keep in mind that if we see an Amazon.com.au it WILL be adding 10% GST to everything ..... I wonder if it still would not compete with the prices plus postage from the UK and US.... And we all know delivery via Aus Post will likely take longer.

Edited by Chopsus, 22 January 2012 - 08:19 AM.

[Quark]

FYI Amazon acquired Bookdepository last year.  Let's see if their free shipping remains in the longer term.

[Quark]

Chopsus, on 22 January 2012 - 08:18 AM, said:

Keep in mind that if we see an Amazon.com.au it WILL be adding 10% GST to everything ..... I wonder if it still would not compete with the prices plus postage from the UK and US.... And we all know delivery via Aus Post will likely take longer.

Chopsus, some media reports have suggested that the AU Amazon site will offshore their warehouse (and presumably the legal entity you purchase from), so may still avoid GST.  Seem to recall that Amazon UK does something similar with the Guernsey arrangements.

[DigitalObserver]

Chopsus, on 22 January 2012 - 08:18 AM, said:

Keep in mind that if we see an Amazon.com.au it WILL be adding 10% GST to everything ..... I wonder if it still would not compete with the prices plus postage from the UK and US.... And we all know delivery via Aus Post will likely take longer.

Chopsus, not sure how you figure that for Australia Post. The end delivery from Amazon UK is by Aus Post in any case. EzyHD experience reported by Keith who must pump out 1,000's of HDMI caples a week is always very positive. Personally I find almost always that on line purchases delivered by AUS Post are efficient. My EzyHD and Selby experiences have always been +++ especially the prompt delivery. YMMV.

[Chopsus]

<Yawn>

1. If you have ever tracked a package from Amazon you would have noted that the longest part of the journey (comparatively) is always from clearing customs to delivery.

2. Foxy uses Express Post and Courier, and as such Australia Post have to do the job properly given it is gauranteed.  Try standard post or thrid party (like OS providers rely on) and you will quickly discover how slack Aus Post are when there is no stick to make them do the job properly.

Quark, on 22 January 2012 - 08:25 AM, said:

Chopsus, some media reports have suggested that the AU Amazon site will offshore their warehouse (and presumably the legal entity you purchase from), so may still avoid GST.  Seem to recall that Amazon UK does something similar with the Guernsey arrangements.

Let's hope so ... but if this happens it will only galvanise the Harvey Normans of the world to winge harder, possibly encouraging the the Govt. to do something.

Personally I really suspect what we have now is as good as it will get .... let local interests, distributors, wholesalers etc get involved and the prices will quickly end up on parity with local B&M stores.

Edited by Chopsus, 22 January 2012 - 09:37 AM.

[kurgan]

napalm68, on 22 January 2012 - 06:47 AM, said:

I mean they didn't send any emails out. And obviously it caught everyone unawares as I wasn't seeing any noise online saying "oh the free UK shipping is stopping, hurry up and get your orders in!!!". No, it just stopped, and maybe some overobservant poindexters who always read fine print noticed (and didn't bother frigging mentioning online like here or other forums), but I didn't, and I doubt many others did either.

Sorry but what a load of...

To say you didn't know it was ending is rather an extravagent claim as you have been haunting forums such as this (or DVD Plaza) for many many years, probably even longer than me.  

And there are several comments on this forum (and whirlpool) talking about the impending end of the free shipping. That and the fact that it was extended on no less than 3 occasions should have made you accutely aware that it would most likely end at some point.

Just my 2 cents worth...

Edited by kurgan, 22 January 2012 - 09:41 AM.

[jsmith]

napalm68, on 22 January 2012 - 07:49 AM, said:

But it makes Zavvi more appealing for orders now. The free shipping changed my buying habits. ...or even fishpond.

I just looked at Savvi and most blu's were more than Amazon UK to begin with, so a few quid shipping won't bother me if the price is the lowest I've seen for a given title.

Fishpond's prices are insane, surely a joke?

napalm68, on 22 January 2012 - 06:47 AM, said:

I mean they didn't send any emails out. And obviously it caught everyone unawares as I wasn't seeing any noise online saying "oh the free UK shipping is stopping, hurry up and get your orders in!!!". No, it just stopped, and maybe some overobservant poindexters who always read fine print noticed (and didn't bother frigging mentioning online like here or other forums), but I didn't, and I doubt many others did either.

No they didn't send out emails, why would they?

The end date has always been on the very easy to find international shipping page, really not the domain of "overobservant poindexters" I would have thought... and what do you mean "didn't bother mentioning"? I've listed my many posts about this below...

JSmith

napalm68, on 21 January 2012 - 07:20 PM, said:

Ah god what a travesty! It has disappeared today Absolutely no notice as well. What a joke

I sure hope it returns

jsmith, on 18 January 2012 - 10:02 PM, said:

I just did a test order and yes it did come up with the free shipping option... still, this page has changed to say the offer has ended. I hope they decide to continue it, surely they'd lose a fair bit of business if not.

JSmith

jsmith, on 17 January 2012 - 09:33 AM, said:

Odd, Amazon UK's site still says the offer expires on the 15/1/2012 yet the free shipping banners come up still when you have an Aussie IP... seems like it may well be extended again.

JSmith

jsmith, on 16 January 2012 - 12:36 PM, said:

I hope so, yes it is very handy.

It has gone past midnight in the UK, the website still says expires on the 15th yet free shipping still seems to apply to orders. Just to be safe I put an order through last night...

JSmith

jsmith, on 14 January 2012 - 07:01 PM, said:

So, I wonder if the free shipping to Australia and NZ will be extended again tomorrow?   

JSmith

[Zero Signal]

napalm68, on 22 January 2012 - 06:47 AM, said:

I mean they didn't send any emails out. And obviously it caught everyone unawares as I wasn't seeing any noise online saying "oh the free UK shipping is stopping, hurry up and get your orders in!!!". No, it just stopped, and maybe some overobservant poindexters who always read fine print noticed (and didn't bother frigging mentioning online like here or other forums), but I didn't, and I doubt many others did either.

Actually I did mention on page 56 that the end date was brought forward to 15/01/2012. I really don't know what kind of notice you expect them to give you. You hardly need to be an overobservant poindexter to click on one banner on the front page of the website to know when the end date was.

[:)]

Chopsus, on 22 January 2012 - 08:18 AM, said:

Keep in mind that if we see an Amazon.com.au it WILL be adding 10% GST to everything ..... I wonder if it still would not compete with the prices plus postage from the UK and US.... And we all know delivery via Aus Post will likely take longer.

ofcourse chops. no question. but for moment I will stick to jb and others for purchase since if have to pay shipping from uk I dont think worth the hassle. if they do kick of and amazon au store be interesting what pricing we end up with. and I do hope it would then be free shipping !

no offence to the auspost supporters but in my experience as ridiculous as it is its often quicker to get something posted from over seas than interstate !. sorry but thats just been my experience.

[kulfi]

It remains to be seen if we get Amazon.com.AU very soon. If that doesn't happen and Europe keeps sliding deeper into the mire, it's odds-on that the free shipping will make a comeback.

[Mjr69]

I placed a sizable order last night with AmazonUK then stopped at the last second because of the postage cost.
I have done this (not gone through with the sale) in the past and have been quizzed via email as to why - when usually I have simply bought elsewhere etc. If they contact me again and observe many past and potential customers also aren't hitting the Purchase button - it may make them hopefully reflect. I know of five new customers I have introduced from my work who won't be so quick to part with their money until the free post is restored...

[dansanhdieu]

napalm68, on 22 January 2012 - 07:49 AM, said:

Previously I got all my books from Bookdepository, betterworkld books, but with the free shipping (as the other two stores already have) Amazon UK was more competitive (not always). Now, I can't even bother looking at them, and will just get them from Book depository or betterworld books, or even fishpond.

I am looking at a few book in depository website . their price pretty good compare to our local Dymocks or Borders . How long it normally take for you to received the book . same time as Blu-ray Disc from UK like 10-14 Days ?

[Rusty1989]

dansanhdieu, on 24 January 2012 - 11:44 PM, said:

I am looking at a few book in depository website . their price pretty good compare to our local Dymocks or Borders . How long it normally take for you to received the book . same time as Blu-ray Disc from UK like 10-14 Days ?

From my experiences with the Book Depository, yes.

[napalm68]

dansanhdieu, on 24 January 2012 - 11:44 PM, said:

I am looking at a few book in depository website . their price pretty good compare to our local Dymocks or Borders . How long it normally take for you to received the book . same time as Blu-ray Disc from UK like 10-14 Days ?

Yeah, Bookdepository is about the same speed as Amazon UK when Amazon UK aren't sending via Germany...  Betterworld books on the other hand can be slow, especially if you get from their marketplace - I believe BWB use a forwarding scheme, where the seller sends the books to BWB and they post them overseas. Fishpond (yes, I do buy books from them when they are the best price, and got at least 8 last year) are about the same - they just get their books sent from overseas direct.

Also, there is a great Aussie site for comparing book prices, to Australia
http://booko.com.au/

Edited by napalm68, 25 January 2012 - 07:33 AM.

[3daysofrain]

Has anyone noticed a lot of inconsistancy with postage times lately? I order a lot from the US and generally it was always up to around 15 days. Lately i have some things turn up with 8 days, and I'm currently waiting on something that's been 24 days! All from the same place. I don't get what could cause such a huge variance.

[napalm68]

3daysofrain, on 26 January 2012 - 08:36 PM, said:

Has anyone noticed a lot of inconsistancy with postage times lately? I order a lot from the US and generally it was always up to around 15 days. Lately i have some things turn up with 8 days, and I'm currently waiting on something that's been 24 days! All from the same place. I don't get what could cause such a huge variance.

Yeah, I've always had pretty spotty delivery times for US and UK (UK when they used Deustch Post especially)

[Venus]

I finally got an email about my original HP order that went missing. It was returned as "undeliverable" even though the replacement set made it to the (same) correct address. At least it wasn't stolen as I suspected...

[James Belsey]

kulfi, on 22 January 2012 - 03:26 PM, said:

It remains to be seen if we get Amazon.com.AU very soon. If that doesn't happen and Europe keeps sliding deeper into the mire, it's odds-on that the free shipping will make a comeback.

As much as I'd like to see the free shipping come back, presumably they stopped it because they weren't making money from it. If the increase in number of orders (and associated revenue/profit) was less than the additional costs associated with the free shipping, then it really doesn't make sense for them to offer it any further.

On the flip side though, now they've offered it for a while, I'm now much less inclined to purchase from Amazon UK as the overall price now seems much higher due to the shipping cost. They may now be seeing a lower level of ordering from Australia than before the promotion started, in which case, they could look to address this.

We'll just have to wait and see...

Edited by James Belsey, 06 February 2012 - 04:19 PM.

[bernievink]

James Belsey, on 06 February 2012 - 04:15 PM, said:

On the flip side though, now they've offered it for a while, I'm now much less inclined to purchase from Amazon UK as the overall price now seems much higher due to the shipping cost. We'll just have to wait and see...

I am much less tempted to spend the extra to reach the 25 Pound per order now,
so I am actually not spending as much as I used to, because I am not adding titles I don't really want or will watch only once.
therefore removing free postage is a saving for me.

[napalm68]

Yeah, sad. They are no longer competitive at all for books against Bookdepository, BetterworldBooks, or Fishpond (yes, I've bought a lot of books form Fishpond since Amazon stopped free shipping, and they were definitely cheaper).

Blu Rays though - they still have some pretty good prices, but I've not ordered anything since - and not that I'm waiting for free shipping to return, just not so competitive. Now rather than just plain impulse buying I order more like Amazon US where I place larger orders to offset postage costs. Although unlike Amazon US they don't generally split the shipments for no extra cost. And a lot of the ones I look out they end up cheaper amazon US with the shipping, in a larger order.

[groovem]

There is starting to be a problem with Amazon UK in that some titles now say that they cannot be shipped to Australia (or more accurately it says that 'We are not able to dispatch this item to your default delivery address'). A couple of titles I tried to order came up with this message - they were Cleopatra and Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.

It says on the website that it is due to these titles being supplied by a company called Indigostarfish.com, who are based in Jersey. They state as an explaination that they only ship to the UK.

For all we know that company may take over all supplies for Amazon UK, and then they will never ship to Australia again!

[David Williams]

There have always been 3rd party vendors on Amazon who won't ship here.

[athlon]

groovem, on 27 February 2012 - 05:17 PM, said:

There is starting to be a problem with Amazon UK in that some titles now say that they cannot be shipped to Australia (or more accurately it says that 'We are not able to dispatch this item to your default delivery address').

Looks like its just an error, as you still can order the titles that have that msg. I just did a dummy order with Cleopatra and I can still go all the way through checkout and finalise the order if I wanted too.