Amazon Marketplace Caution

[Lindley]

On a whim, I decided I want to get the old game MDK2. I wasn't sure if I could get it running under Boot Camp/XP, but a seller on Amazon was offering it for a couple of dollars, so I figured it was worth the risk.

I decided that while I was at it, I may as well see if any other old games were cheaply available from the same seller that I hadn't played yet. There were; I ended up getting Far Cry, Prey, Act of War: Direct Action, and F.E.A.R. from them as well. (F.E.A.R. was about $20; the rest were under $5.)

I figured that since I was buying all these games from the same seller, they'd just charge me shipping once and send them all together. Turns out....that's not how it works.

I was all set to blame the seller and give them negative feedback for shipping each item individually and charging shipping on all of them; but then I looked more carefully.

Amazon's own policy states:

Your shipping fees when buying items at Amazon Marketplace are fixed according to the type of product you purchase.

Rates are based on shipping a single item. Purchasing multiple items results in multiple shipping charges--there are no "per shipment" and "per item" charges, as there are when you buy directly from Amazon.com.

So I've ended up paying about $20 shipping rather than the $4 I was expecting. Not a huge deal, but something which ought to be highlighted more than it is.

 

[crookeddy]

On a whim, I decided I want to get the old game MDK2. I wasn't sure if I could get it running under Boot Camp/XP, but a seller on Amazon was offering it for a couple of dollars, so I figured it was worth the risk.

I decided that while I was at it, I may as well see if any other old games were cheaply available from the same seller that I hadn't played yet. There were; I ended up getting Far Cry, Prey, Act of War: Direct Action, and F.E.A.R. from them as well. (F.E.A.R. was about $20; the rest were under $5.)

I figured that since I was buying all these games from the same seller, they'd just charge me shipping once and send them all together. Turns out....that's not how it works.

I was all set to blame the seller and give them negative feedback for shipping each item individually and charging shipping on all of them; but then I looked more carefully.

Amazon's own policy states:

Your shipping fees when buying items at Amazon Marketplace are fixed according to the type of product you purchase.

Rates are based on shipping a single item. Purchasing multiple items results in multiple shipping charges--there are no "per shipment" and "per item" charges, as there are when you buy directly from Amazon.com.

So I've ended up paying about $20 shipping rather than the $4 I was expecting. Not a huge deal, but something which ought to be highlighted more than it is.

I kind of assume that this is what would happen... Always assume you will be charged more. If there is some reason you'd be charged less, they'd tell you and use it as a selling point.

 

[RJDiogenes]

It's kind of silly. Now they're getting bad word of mouth. All they had to do was pack the stuff together and reduce the shipping charges appropriately and they would have had a happy customer.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

That's why I stick to using ebay.

 

[Lindley]

It's kind of silly. Now they're getting bad word of mouth. All they had to do was pack the stuff together and reduce the shipping charges appropriately and they would have had a happy customer.

Well, I'm not sure they can is the thing. Amazon's policy might forbid it, judging by the above.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Maybe, I don't know. I think the sellers ship everything themselves, right? I don't know why Amazon would interfere.

 

[Starbreaker]

I sell books on Amazon Marketplace. They give you money to ship each individual item... pretty stupid that there's no way to get around it.

 

[pookha]

a lot of used book sellers who deal with amzon price stuff at a penny because they know amazon will charge 3.99 shipping for every book..with a few exceptions.
with no discounts for quanity.

i have started buying from thriftbooks..
which has free shipping and gives a discount on books coming from the same location.

 

[Holdfast]

I dislike the fact that Amazon is busy trying to become eBay while eBay is striving to become Amazon. It really erodes the competitive advantage they each hold on their main turf. I almost wish they'd fucking cartel together and carve up the internet sales between them, if it meant Amazon was where I'd go for fixed price direct sales from Amazon themselves, and eBay for auctions or fixed price sales from anyone else...

... Almost. But not quite.

 

[Lindley]

Update: All the games I ordered arrived from the seller in a single box after all. Which means the "multiple shipment" notification I got through Amazon was just a bookkeeping thing.

Given that all the prices were really low to begin with, I'm willing to just consider that all Marketplace prices are a few dollars more than marked and leave it at that.

 

[CaptainStoner]

Update: All the games I ordered arrived from the seller in a single box after all. Which means the "multiple shipment" notification I got through Amazon was just a bookkeeping thing.

Given that all the prices were really low to begin with, I'm willing to just consider that all Marketplace prices are a few dollars more than marked and leave it at that.

Perhaps so, but it's still bad, disingenuous business practice.

 

[Count Zero]

I wouldn't call it disingenious because they clearly state that, and even if you didn't read their policy, the costs will show up before one finalises the transaction. Also, the list of items also shows the shipping fees.
I suppose it's kind of stupid. I only buy single items there so I never had the problem.