14 Confusing Things About Shopping on Amazon
Amazon is the first stop for many online shoppers, but that doesn't mean it's always easy to shop there. The megaretailer comes with pitfalls that can try our patience. We've rounded up 14 of the most confusing things about shopping on Amazon. In some cases, we'll even tell you how to avoid them.
SEE ALSO: Amazon Prime Shipping Is the Perk We Love to Hate
Amazon 2-Day Shipping Can Take Longer
It's not hard to find people complaining about how their Amazon Prime 2-day shipping took way longer. However, many shoppers don't realize that the 2-day guarantee doesn't kick in until after the package has shipped. Amazon doesn't guarantee it'll ship your items within two days of purchase — it guarantees your order will get to you within two days of leaving a warehouse. So don't be surprised by Amazon shipping delays.
Amazon Doesn't Guarantee Low Prices
Lots of people are shocked to hear that Amazon doesn't offer price matching. While the site states that it "consistently works toward maintaining competitive prices," this doesn't mean it'll always have the best price. Often, Amazon's real appeal is its convenience.
Not Everything Is Prime Eligible
Eagle-eyed Amazon shoppers recognize that not every item on the site is Prime eligible. Items sold by third parties could be subject to shipping charges. And some third-party items are still eligible for free shipping, even if it isn't via Prime. The best thing you can do when shopping is either filter your search results so only Prime-eligible items show up, or look for the Prime logo next to the price before you put an item in your cart.
While Amazon does sell a large portion of the items on its site, it's still a marketplace populated by third-party sellers. Even if Amazon fulfills an order, another party can be responsible for the sale and item itself. That means Amazon is just the conduit — and any of your purchases can come from a different seller.
Single Products Have Multiple Sellers
Once you find the perfect item on the site, you might think it's just a matter of choosing options like color or size. But some iterations of a product might be cheaper than others. What gives? The unequal prices are due to the fact that different product styles, sizes, or models can be sold by different vendors — all while occupying a single Amazon product page. And different sellers often set different prices.
Sometimes, a third parties lists their items as "fulfilled by Amazon." So what does that mean? Essentially, the seller ships its inventory to Amazon, and it's up to Amazon to ship it to the customer in a timely fashion. This process can help offset costs for everyone involved. Of course, if a third party is selling and shipping your order, it's subject to their practices (rather than Amazon's).
You Can't Trust Every Amazon Review
Fake Amazon reviews are nothing new. Plenty of pieces have pointed out the hilarious reviews that items like the banana slicer or sugar-free gummy bears have amassed. All joking aside, some reviews are simply unhelpful.
It's easy to come across reviews giving one star for reasons that have nothing to do with the product itself. Maybe someone didn't read a book, but had issues with the subject matter. Or perhaps someone wants to complain that the packaging was a mess when it arrived. (This is why Amazon often asks you to leave packaging feedback specifically.) Buyer beware: It pays to actually read the reviews, rather than basing judgement on a product's overall rating.
Seriously, Amazon Smile Doesn't Cost Extra
AmazonSmile lets you shop the site and donate to charity with your purchase. It doesn't cost anything extra, and you can choose which organization your contributions go to. Every item available for purchase at the regular site is available at smile.amazon.com for the same price. When you shop eligible products, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price. It's genuinely just an easy way to do something good.
SEE ALSO: Never Run Out of Toilet Paper Again! How to Use Prime Pantry
Shopping for Household Items Can Be a Challenge
Amazon usually has awesome prices on household items, but the different size and delivery options can be daunting. For example, if you're looking for Colgate Total whitening toothpaste, you can buy a large amount with Prime — say, an order of six 7.8-oz. tubes — which may be more toothpaste than you want. Alternatively, you can buy two 6-oz. tubes as an add-on item... which means your toothpaste won't ship unless your order total is over $25.
Another option? Buy two 6-oz. tubes via Prime Pantry, but then you'll have to pay $5.99 for delivery, since the box is meant to be filled with household and grocery items. In the end, you may just pop over to your local store and grab a tube of toothpaste.
No-Rush Credits Aren't Always Worth It
Amazon's 2-day shipping is an excellent perk, but if you're ordering something you don't need immediately, Amazon may offer a $1 credit for no-rush shipping. On the one hand, receiving a credit simply for opting into a longer shipping time may seem like a no-brainer. But if you aren't going to use that credit, it might not be worth getting.
Unfortunately, the credit isn't universal — you'll receive a credit that can only be used on specific items. The credits can be spent on items from Prime Pantry, Kindle eBooks, Amazon Instant Videos, digital music, Amazon Appstore apps, digital video games, digital software, and more. Additionally, credits often expire after a certain amount of time. Still, if you have environmental concerns, opting for slower shipping times could help you do your part.
It's Hard to Gauge the Environmental Impact
Online shopping in general has led to a host of environmental concerns. In 2016, transportation became the top producer of carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. (Previously, power plants held that "honor.") A lot of the increase seems to be related to "the last mile" of deliveries. Trucks are having to drive further to fulfill orders, going everywhere from malls and stores to residential neighborhoods. That means more time spent on the road, which equates to more harmful emissions.
So what can you do to help? Online shopping isn't inherently bad for the environment; it's about how it's utilized. Vox recommends consolidating your orders, so you have fewer shipments overall. It also suggests avoiding expedited shipping.
Amazon's Return Policy Varies
Not every item sold on Amazon has the same return policy, particularly if it's sold by a third party. Shoppers typically have 30 days to return anything that is new and unopened. However, the time frame is usually extended for the holidays, and only items that are shipped from Amazon are eligible. Third parties that sell and fulfill orders themselves most often offer policies similar to Amazon. But some do vary, so before you purchase from a third party, be sure to check the return policy.
Prime Day Is Both Good and Bad
Ever since Amazon introduced Prime Day, the annual summer celebration touted as having more deals than Black Friday, its been plagued by criticism. Shoppers liken the event to a garage sale, with Amazon trying to clean out its shelves and putting useless items up for grabs.
While Amazon Prime Day does offer plenty of boring items that might not appeal to shoppers, there are some great picks, too. Prime Day often yields serious discounts on Amazon devices, including the different variations of Echos, Kindles, and Fire TVs. It also produces savings on other high-end items, including fitness trackers, laptops, desktops, small kitchen appliances, toys, and more. Prime Day might not be as great as Black Friday, but it's worth keeping an eye on.
If You Have Prime, You Have Prime Now (Maybe)
If you have Amazon Prime, you might think you have Prime Now. And you do... sort of. The service itself is only available in about 30 areas, and you must be a Prime member in one of those cities to use Prime Now. Those lucky enough to have access can receive same-day deliveries of household items, groceries, electronics, gifts, and more. The service allows shoppers to order from local stores and restaurants, as well.
SEE ALSO: What Is Amazon Prime Now?
Amazon Uses Live Chat, but It's Difficult to Find
These days, nobody wants to be stuck on the phone trying to resolve an issue. Many companies offer live chat, which can be a more convenient alternative to sitting on the phone. Amazon is one of these companies, but live chat isn't always easy to find. Start by going to the Contact Us option under the Help topics.
Unfortunately, you can't jump straight into a conversation. You have to choose whether you want help with a relevant order, a device, digital content and services, or Prime (or something else). Once you choose your order, you must choose your issue. After that, you'll have to select issue details, and possibly additional details. A link for solving the issue will usually be provided, but below that you'll find three options for how to contact Amazon. You can choose from email, phone, or chat. Choosing chat will open a separate window and connect you with a representative you can talk to.
Rumors Swirl About Wish List Prices
We've heard anecdotes about shoppers adding an item to their wish list, only to have the price decrease (or increase) within the next couple of days. However, there's no proof to indicate this is true. That would mean Amazon was lowering its price for an individual, which is something Amazon doesn't do in general. For what it's worth, DealNews staff visit Amazon every day from different locations, and we've never experienced this kind of individual pricing.
Even if an item's price doesn't fluctuate just because it's on your wish list, adding an item to your list is a great way to track its price over time. The site regularly notes if a price has increased or decreased since the item was added to the wish list. If you use a tool like CamelCamelCamel, you can also set price targets and be alerted when an item hits your preferred cost.
Readers, what confuses you about Amazon? Let us know in the comments below!
However, I often see price changes on items that I put in my cart and then don't immediately buy. I don't have Prime, so I'll often take a couple days to put together an order. I've been doing this over the past couple days. When I went to my cart just now, one item went from $17.68 to $16.96 and another went from $6.33 to $5.65. Yesterday, the second item had gone up from $5.86.
As far as WalMart pay, I'm asking how much do Amazon warehouse workers make? As far as making the Walton family billionaires how about making the Bezos family billionaires.
While there might be plenty to get bent out of shape about with Walmart's "ethics" - the way they drove the once innovative Rubbermaid into the arms of brand collector Newell by their "biggest customer" strong arming of Rubbermaid prices...
What they pay employees isn't one of them.
Have you personally witnessed the qualifications of many (not all) Walmart store associates? They tend to have minimal customer interaction experience - or general work experience at all.
If Walmart were eliminated, these folks simply would not have jobs.
Pay is and must be driven by supply and demand. Doing anything else hurts the least experienced employees the most.
If you were to wave a magic wand and force Walmart to pay 50% higher wages, what do you think would happen?
Over time minimally qualified existing Walmart employees would be out on the street. Applications to work at Walmart would come from higher qualified employees who were now interested at those higher wages.
I wouldn't buy ANYTHING from Walmart EVER. A smart consumer evaluates sellers NOT just on price but on company ethics. Walmart is among the worst - paying its workers food-stamp level wages and screwing suppliers. All to make MORE billions for the Sam Walton family? No thanks. . . .
This means Amazon dramatically discounts excess inventory to dump it quickly - sometimes down to 50% off.
(Manufacturer-suppliers do the same thing via Amazon when they have excess inventory - when you see a great deal and even tho it is temporarily out of stock, but still orderable, this can be the reason.)
So we have a lot of items we want but are not urgent in our "save for later list". When you go to your cart, the items in that "save for later list" with price changes are shown. You have to jump fast in many cases. It requires regularly going to your cart to catch deals.
And while Camelcamelcamel can help with price history and alerts, it is far, far from perfect.
1) It misses price changes completely because there is no practical way for it to track every product every second of every day.
2) It completely ignores promo-code deals.
That crappy product info leads to two things:
1) More returns than would be necessary if the info were more accurate and complete.
2) Loads of Q&A's, sometimes so many it is impossible to find an answer so the question gets asked many times.
And for sure, customer reviews at Amazon are highly suspect. Amazon reviews have long been a target of shill reviewers. Many product vendors actively use these shill "reviewers" for their products sold at Amazon. This are deliberate efforts to mislead buyers.
Amazon prices fluctuate frequently, but I don't find this misleading.
It's mentioned here that a lot of products get a one-star review when it's nothing to do with the product, but the same can be said for a lot of five-star reviews. I don't trust the reviews at all anymore.
Too many five-star reviews also only have very short one or two-word comments, like "great" or "as expected." So what was great about it, and why five stars because it's "as expected"?
Now I check everything I want to buy through Fakespot. If it rates the reviews a C or lower, I pass on it, regardless of the "deal."
Having said all that though, their customer service is still second to none. I feel very confident when I do make a purchase there. I don't think they've ever let me down when I've had a problem.
The only thing "I find confusing" is why people shop there!
Type CONTACT US right into the Amazon search bar to get to customer service quickly. It will give you a direct link to contact them. Use the drop downs to find the item in question that you are calling about and then use the "call me" function to get them on the phone almost immediately.
If I need to drive to the US post office for pickup, I can drive to my local store and buy the item!
https://www.fakespot.com/
If a seller won't honor it's own own coupon, there's little Amazon will do for you to resolve the issue.
Most of the time Dealnews coupons for Amazon either don't work or indicate that they are expired.
It seems the more frequently you look at an Amazon item in your decision process, the higher the price will be when you look at the item again.
If you're on welfare, you can get a discount for monthly Prime membership. If not, you don't, even if you renew each year as a loyal repeat customer.
The Amazon search engine is inconsistent. Searching for an item will lead to X amount of items, many of which are not even close to your search string. If you sort the items, then go back to the same search, you'll end up with less or different items.
My DVD recorder from them lasted just over 2 yrs. Found the exact same model at a thrift store from the same manufacturing yr. and that one works perfectly still. Another Amaz. one is almost 2 yrs old & will stop working soon.
First laptop from Amaz. lasted only 6 months.Bought a different brand & that one died after only 2 weeks. Ended up buying the 1st model over again & that one is OK.
My brother is on his 3rd TV from Amaz. in prob. 5/6 yrs. Think we have broken electronics from Amaz. in almost every room of the house.
Yes sometimes i got great customer service on amazon back in the days, that is why i have been a loyal prime member for so long but recently i have started to see the terms and conditions slaps more and more so i don't see the value anymore. You are totally left in the "favor/mercy" of the random customer service rep. It would've been fair to reflect proper customer service understanding to the terms from the beginning i believe.
-->When amazon says "free two day shipping" it is two days from the time item is shipped out. Even if item seems like in stock and you have the reasonable expectation that "it may leave tomorrow and you get it on third day latest", an item marked as "available in stock" may leave warehouse in 4 days and you may get it in 6th day. And guess what, you have to swallow it. If the customer rep is on a good mood you may have a partial refund, if not he can use terms and conditions against you and you have to live with it.
-->if you have a yearly prime membership and would like to cancel it at some point due to dissatisfaction, they can say "we don't refund you the proportion of the fee you paid for remaining time you haven't used from that year" and you have to swallow it.