It can be 1 or 2 day shipping. That's normally what I get at my house in Ohio. But it can also be a lot faster.
I took a trip to Tampa not so long ago for a few days to hang out with an old friend who I don't see very often, and also to help him with a long list of technical stuff around his house. I flew down in cattle class with no luggage, which meant that I didn't get to bring anything in terms of tools or materials. That left me a bit out-of-sorts -- I'm used to having a work truck with me that is full of the tools and stuff that I find useful.
And we got into all kinds of projects. We got a lot actually-finished, and we had a great time doing that stuff together.
But there was a recurring theme: We'd need to buy some widget or other to move forward. So I'd fire up my pocket supercomputer and start looking to see if Home Depot or Best Buy or Wal-Mart or whoever had it locally, and then start to figure out some ideal factor of best price and travel time.
Because that's just what I know how to do. In my life, when I want to get things done today and doing that requires more widgets, then I have to get in the car and drive to the store to get them -- ideally, with a good plan in place first.
And he wasn't having any of that. Over and over again, he'd shut me down and say "No, look. Just order it on Amazon. They'll probably bring it over today."
And over and over again, I'd look on Amazon and: Sure enough. They brought it over today. Sometimes, with 3 different deliveries in a single day as projects progressed and our need for widgets changed shape. Sometimes, late at night.
I don't think we drove anywhere at all while I was down there except to tool around the neighborhood to find some yard sales one morning, and another trip to pick up more liquor and some Chilean sea bass from Costco.
I didn't address that specifically, but the prices were OK. They were within a sensible range of what local shops were charging for the same/similar widgets.
Sometimes Amazon was a bit more expensive (and they brought it over today). Sometimes, it was even a bit cheaper (and they still brought it over today).
The price was fine. It certainly wasn't 2x or 3x. It was always an OK price.
(Remember: Over and over again, I kept checking local stores. I didn't make that part of the story up. I didn't make any other part up, either.)
correct, amazon's policies made it impossible for local stores to offer a deal, making sure you pay the 2-3x inflated sum no matter where you go, instead of what the real cost would be if fair competition were allowed
I'm not sure if your point is that Amazon's price is too high (as you previously stated), or if your point is that Amazon's price is too low (as you've now stated).
But I am sure that I cannot accept both of these things being true at the same time.
I took a trip to Tampa not so long ago for a few days to hang out with an old friend who I don't see very often, and also to help him with a long list of technical stuff around his house. I flew down in cattle class with no luggage, which meant that I didn't get to bring anything in terms of tools or materials. That left me a bit out-of-sorts -- I'm used to having a work truck with me that is full of the tools and stuff that I find useful.
And we got into all kinds of projects. We got a lot actually-finished, and we had a great time doing that stuff together.
But there was a recurring theme: We'd need to buy some widget or other to move forward. So I'd fire up my pocket supercomputer and start looking to see if Home Depot or Best Buy or Wal-Mart or whoever had it locally, and then start to figure out some ideal factor of best price and travel time.
Because that's just what I know how to do. In my life, when I want to get things done today and doing that requires more widgets, then I have to get in the car and drive to the store to get them -- ideally, with a good plan in place first.
And he wasn't having any of that. Over and over again, he'd shut me down and say "No, look. Just order it on Amazon. They'll probably bring it over today."
And over and over again, I'd look on Amazon and: Sure enough. They brought it over today. Sometimes, with 3 different deliveries in a single day as projects progressed and our need for widgets changed shape. Sometimes, late at night.
I don't think we drove anywhere at all while I was down there except to tool around the neighborhood to find some yard sales one morning, and another trip to pick up more liquor and some Chilean sea bass from Costco.