Octopus Overlords

I probably order less stuff from Amazon than a lot of people here on OO, and it's usually not urgent, so I don't pay much attention if a delivery is delayed a day or two. Overall, I seem to get the deliveries faster than promised, not later, so yeah, I'm sure living in a city with an Amazon warehouse helps. I do price research on big ticket items, but I usually have enough credit on Amazon, where it doesn't make sense to shop somewhere else for smaller items, even the Amazon price isn't the lowest.

Blackhawk wrote: Sat Jun 12, 2021 1:25 pm So, apparently the secret to Amazon is to live in a large city.

Blackhawk wrote: Sat Jun 12, 2021 1:25 pm So, apparently the secret to Amazon is to live in a large city.

I effectively do in the sense that NY/NJ is just a huge city. Even then our density is apparently just too much for them. Today they will blow another delivery date - an order just sitting at the flex warehouse. This isn't time sensitive but I do rate the orders now just to give the algo a kick.

LawBeefaroni wrote: Sat Jun 12, 2021 12:39 pm Pretty much everything I order is 2 days or faster. Lots of same day.

If that changes, Prime loses a lot of value for me.

This is my problem. I was getting same day pre-pandemic and it went to shit ever since despite them opening warehouses left and right throughout the state. I went from same day to most things 2 days but we really mean 3-4. FWIW Amazon's customer satisfaction rankings have started to really tank so I hope they fix these problems.

Blackhawk wrote: Sat Jun 12, 2021 1:25 pm So, apparently the secret to Amazon is to live in a large city.

Technically, I suspect the secret is to live near a distribution centre, but for practical purposes that's probably synonymous with living in a large city.

I placed an order yesterday and selected the slow shipping option to get the $1 digital credit. It shipped today and is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow.

LawBeefaroni wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 10:43 am I placed an order yesterday and selected the slow shipping option to get the $1 digital credit. It shipped today and is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow.

Yeah that is how it used to be here pre-pandemic. My wife's subscribe & save just failed to be delivered on time. That's a new one for us. I mean guess it just snuck up on them.

Today (and tomorrow) is Prime Day.

If you have the Prime Credit Card you get 6% instead of the usual 3% from Amazon purchases if you buy stuff during prime day(s).

And there are a ton of "prime only" discounts. I needed to replace my microwave which is horrible inside, and it's been around so long the little spinner at the bottom had worn a GROOVE into the paint. I swear it's 10 years old. Found an "almost" identical model (this one has a dial instead of buttons for timer) for $129 (prime price). Today is a good day to buy it.

I am not really interested in the latest huge TV or AirPod Pro or stuff like that. I have what I needed.

Grabbed an Xbox Series X storage drive. No sale price, but the 6 percent back is nice. Plus, I apparently had 10 bucks in my account from an earlier purchase last week. Some kickback, I guess.

Max Peck wrote: Sat Jun 12, 2021 4:50 pm

Blackhawk wrote: Sat Jun 12, 2021 1:25 pm So, apparently the secret to Amazon is to live in a large city.

Technically, I suspect the secret is to live near a distribution centre, but for practical purposes that's probably synonymous with living in a large city.

I live less than 2 miles from a distribution center. I've gotten some things literally hours after I've ordered them. It's nice.

Kasey Chang wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 12:31 pm Today (and tomorrow) is Prime Day.

If you have the Prime Credit Card you get 6% instead of the usual 3% from Amazon purchases if you buy stuff during prime day(s).

The Prime card is normally 5% from Amazon/Whole Foods.

I grabbed an eero Wi-Fi mesh extender set for $181 which was a great deal.

I picked up a set of drill bits and some acrylic. I don't expect that I'll be getting a lot.

Bought a few things I had sitting in my cart. Also did the $40 gift card thing for $10 credit. I will inevitably spend $50 at Amazon.

YellowKing wrote:I grabbed an eero Wi-Fi mesh extender set for $181 which was a great deal.

They are really good. You'll like them.

How do I jump to a page in the prime deal view? I was on page 37 of 167? My brother called asking what i was getting and I reset the book mark page.

UsulofDoom wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 5:35 pm How do I jump to a page in the prime deal view? I was on page 37 of 167? My brother called asking what i was getting and I reset the book mark page.

Ctrl-H for your history?

Had a pretty good Prime Day. Did the buy $40 in gift credit, get $10 extra in a couple of days deal.

Bought a new Fire HD 10 at a very, very good price by combing some deals. (I intend to eBay it, brand new and unopened, in a few weeks when it's no longer on sale and potentially out of stock, heh).

Bought a camera + accessories that I've had my eye on for a while at a good price.

Ordered some conduction headphones to try.

There isn't really anything that I've been "needing". And I just can't motivate to browse.

The gift card deal is all I think I'll get. A few things I bought recently are on sale today, but it aint worth the hassle of returning them to save a few bucks.

I bought some cat treats and a new harness. With the extra 1% back, I saved 38 cents. Just couldn't think of anything else I need.

I am going to make a couple of business purchases tomorrow, but those go on my Amex so there's no benefit from Prime Day.

Kraken wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 6:33 pm I bought some cat treats and a new harness.

You and your cat got something then? Sweet!

Kraken wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 6:33 pm I bought some cat treats and a new harness. With the extra 1% back, I saved 38 cents. Just couldn't think of anything else I need.

I am going to make a couple of business purchases tomorrow, but those go on my Amex so there's no benefit from Prime Day.

Don't you get Amex points? Amazon can tap those, every month some small order is completely covered by paying with Amex points during Amazon checkout.

Jeff V wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 7:38 pm

Kraken wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 6:33 pm I bought some cat treats and a new harness. With the extra 1% back, I saved 38 cents. Just couldn't think of anything else I need.

I am going to make a couple of business purchases tomorrow, but those go on my Amex so there's no benefit from Prime Day.

Don't you get Amex points? Amazon can tap those, every month some small order is completely covered by paying with Amex points during Amazon checkout.

I have a business Amex with cash back.

Jeff V wrote:

Kraken wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 6:33 pm I bought some cat treats and a new harness. With the extra 1% back, I saved 38 cents. Just couldn't think of anything else I need.

I am going to make a couple of business purchases tomorrow, but those go on my Amex so there's no benefit from Prime Day.

Don't you get Amex points? Amazon can tap those, every month some small order is completely covered by paying with Amex points during Amazon checkout.

Amazon is one of the worst places to spend Amex points. Their conversion is "one point=0.7 cents," while most other stores are a full penny per point. You sacrifice 30% of your point value compared to spending elsewhere.

Thanks, I didn't realize that.

I thought the conversion rate seemed off, so that's why I've avoided using my Amex points to purchase anything. Glad I did! Thanks for the info!

My credit card is giving me Amazon Prime for free again this year, so I guess I'll keep on being a member.

TheMix wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 5:50 pm Ordered some conduction headphones to try.

So did I. YouthWhipser. And it's STILL too small. *sigh*. Too bad, it really is a good clone of Aftershox OpenMove for less than half the price. Not too impressed with the microphone though. Recording on PC through Audacity makes the sound hollow and slightly static-y.

I did order an air circulator, a lamp for my room (the crappy one I bought is flaking out), and the microwave I mentioned before.

I need to try a set someday. They'd be handy while driving or working out.

Apparently my wife went a little Prime Day crazy unbeknownst to me. I've got everything from comforters to cat trees on their way.

YellowKing wrote: Thu Jun 24, 2021 11:44 am cat trees

How do you know when they're ripe?

ImLawBoy wrote: Thu Jun 24, 2021 11:53 am

YellowKing wrote: Thu Jun 24, 2021 11:44 am cat trees

How do you know when they're ripe?

No kidding. They downright refuse to come off the limb. Not like an apple where you just twist or let them fall.

Blackhawk wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 11:13 am I need to try a set someday. They'd be handy while driving or working out.

I'll sell you mine for 35. Barely used.

I'd love to give it a whirl, but I can't afford to spend right now, especially on something that may not work for me. But thank you.

LordMortis wrote: Thu Jun 24, 2021 2:36 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: Thu Jun 24, 2021 11:53 am

YellowKing wrote: Thu Jun 24, 2021 11:44 am cat trees

How do you know when they're ripe?

No kidding. They downright refuse to come off the limb. Not like an apple where you just twist or let them fall.

The best way to get a cat off a tree is to say "ohhh, don't they look so adorable!", and get your camera to take a picture

We order a lot of stuff from amazon. Like, a lot of stuff. And have been doing for many years. Prime also has the shows, so its a good deal for us.
When me and the Mrs were both non-walking due to injury at the beginning of 2020, prime was delivering nearly everything, although we used something local for grocery.
I did work for amazon, back in the day, I mean, way back, when I started there, they only sold books.

Not Prime, but out of nowhere my Amazon account switched to Spanish as the default language. I couldn't find the settings because they were in Spanish. So I pulled up Amazon.uk so I could read the menus - no help. Finally I resorted to clicking on every button until I hit the American flag. There were choices for English and Spanish, and somehow Spanish had been selected.

I have had that happen lately on a few different sites. Never before this year, and now probably three or four times. Usually it comes from clicking a link to the site from someone whose default language was set differently, after which it stick. The only thing I've found that consistently works is to log out and delete all of the cookies, close the page, then reopen it and log back in.

Amazon has apparently been going ban-happy on companies abusing its policies - false reviews, bribing for reviews, etc. That's good.

Unfortunately, it resulted in the removal of the company that I've used for wireless earbuds for years (MPow.) Now I need to either pay shipping, or find a new brand with comparable quality at a comparable price.

Thin, delicate acrylic case. How to package that. I know! Thin paper bag.

The item was virtually guaranteed to arrive broken. And sure enough, it did.

And since the packaging is dictated by their computers, if I reorder, the replacement will also be packaged in the same thin, plastic bag. This was supposed to be a gift.