(7/11) Amazon Prime Day Reminder

[GlockSpock]

Just a reminder.

It's been lackluster a few times in the past but I'm always optimistic of finding something good. Let me know if you guys find anything!

Amazon Prime Day

Edited July 11, 2017 by CZ9MM

[Erik88]

It's been an epic fail every year that I have looked. After comparing prices I've found myself using Amazon less and eBay more.

[bersaguy]

I actually try not to use either Amazon or EBay unless I am just forced to in order to get someting not available any place else. I made a purchase yesterday on Amazon and it said I qualified for free shipping and when I got the total it had shipping charges and taxes added to it. I let it go but that will be it for me and Amazon................

Edited July 10, 2017 by bersaguy

[btq96r]

Amazon is collecting state sales taxes for Tennessee now...has been for a bit.

As to the shipping cost...maybe that had to do with being a prime member or not. I know free shipping for qualified items is automatic since I have a prime account.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk. OhShoot very much likes to know when we're using Tapatalk.

[GlockSpock]

10 minutes ago, bersaguy said:

I actually try not to use either Amazon or EBay unless I am just forced to in order to get someting not available any place else. I made a purchase yesterday on Amazon and it said I qualified for free shipping and when I got the total it had shipping charges and taxes added to it. I let it go but that will be it for me and Amazon................

I obviously do not know your exact specifics but if it said something along the lines of "Free Supersaver Shipping" then you have to have an order minimum to get the free shipping. If something is "Shipped and Sold" by Amazon.com then they have to add taxes to it. Oftentimes, if it is shipped and sold by a third party (Amazon merely collects payment and then a third party vendor ships the item), taxes can be avoided as long as that retailer is out of state and does not physically operate in Tennessee.

It is also possible that it had free shipping from one vendor but you essentially purchased it from a different vendor.

 

Personally, the other day I ran a report and I have spent $20,000+ since 2007 on Amazon.com. Some of that was returned but most of it wasn't. I have only truly had a few issues with Amazon and ultimately Amazon has 100% taken care of me each time. I probably have $500-$1000 worth of "product" that Amazon has just refunded me for and told me to keep it since circumstances did not warrant shipping the item back (broken, not as expected, too heavy for return, etc).

 

I personally love having Prime. It gives "Free" shipping on lots of items, usually deliverable in 2-3 business days (sometimes even Sunday). I budget $9.04 each month of the year into an "Amazon Prime" category so that at the end of my membership I have exactly enough to pay for it. Between the MP3 and Amazon Instant Video Library, you truly don't even have to buy many items to make the membership worth it. If you have the Amazon Chase Credit Card, you get 5% cashback on all Amazon purchases. $2,000 worth of purchases a year and Prime is "free" if you make them with that credit card. Also, anytime a Prime shipment is "late", then if you contact Amazon they will typically add another month of Prime to your membership.

Amazon doesn't always have the best price, but it is always the first place I check.

[bersaguy]

2 hours ago, CZ9MM said:

I obviously do not know your exact specifics but if it said something along the lines of "Free Supersaver Shipping" then you have to have an order minimum to get the free shipping. If something is "Shipped and Sold" by Amazon.com then they have to add taxes to it. Oftentimes, if it is shipped and sold by a third party (Amazon merely collects payment and then a third party vendor ships the item), taxes can be avoided as long as that retailer is out of state and does not physically operate in Tennessee.

It is also possible that it had free shipping from one vendor but you essentially purchased it from a different vendor.

 

Personally, the other day I ran a report and I have spent $20,000+ since 2007 on Amazon.com. Some of that was returned but most of it wasn't. I have only truly had a few issues with Amazon and ultimately Amazon has 100% taken care of me each time. I probably have $500-$1000 worth of "product" that Amazon has just refunded me for and told me to keep it since circumstances did not warrant shipping the item back (broken, not as expected, too heavy for return, etc).

 

I personally love having Prime. It gives "Free" shipping on lots of items, usually deliverable in 2-3 business days (sometimes even Sunday). I budget $9.04 each month of the year into an "Amazon Prime" category so that at the end of my membership I have exactly enough to pay for it. Between the MP3 and Amazon Instant Video Library, you truly don't even have to buy many items to make the membership worth it. If you have the Amazon Chase Credit Card, you get 5% cashback on all Amazon purchases. $2,000 worth of purchases a year and Prime is "free" if you make them with that credit card. Also, anytime a Prime shipment is "late", then if you contact Amazon they will typically add another month of Prime to your membership.

Amazon doesn't always have the best price, but it is always the first place I check.

All I know is when I placed the order it said on this product any amount over $25.00 will have free shipping. I bought 49.00 worth of the product and went to checkout and when I completed the transaction my bill said $49.00 + $10.34 shipping and $3.38 Tax and it said shipping was free and it is coming from California and won't be here till Friday. I have made several purchases from Jet .com and never had any problems with them on their shipping directions and was never charged for shipping or Taxes. The only reason I went to Amazon was because Jet was out of what i wanted. Next time I will just wait till Jet gets my products back in stock...............JMHO

[GlockSpock]

It's live.

[quedz]

bersaguy, I have noticed that at times you have to manually change your shipping preference to free at checkout.

[Oh Shoot]

2 hours ago, hughd said:

bersaguy, I have noticed that at times you have to manually change your shipping preference to free at checkout.

I do believe I've had to every time.

- OS

[GlockSpock]

I'm not sure I'll end up liking them, but I picked up the following:

Timbuk2 Commute (Average price, available for the same cost from Timbuk2's website, but gives 20% cashback via Amazon Prime Card)

Timbuk2 Snoop (Basically normal pricing, but does offer extra 30% off at checkout making it a slightly good good deal)

I figure that those should offer interesting capability to be used as a laptop or camera bag, hopefully both. The Snoop fits inside the Commute so I'll have to see exactly what is compatible when being used together. I've never had anything Timbuk2, but they are generally well reviewed. Of course, I purchased both of those without fear because I should just be able to slap a free label on them and return them if I don't want them.

There are a decent amount of items eligible for the 20% cashback, seen here. Eligible for either the Amazon Prime Card or the Amazon Store Card.

[GlockSpock]

I also just found that if you purchased a $25 gift card today, you'll be issued a $5.00 promotional credit within two days. That's pretty good. I just purchased one and am now seeing if I can "cancel" the above mentioned "Snoop" in order to repurchase it again with the gift card balance.

EDIT: It appears you have to "Click to Qualify" here before purchasing the $25.00 gift card. When I did it, I chose the E-Gift option and within minutes it was emailed to me. Then I can redeem it on my own account.

Edited July 11, 2017 by CZ9MM

[Sam1]

23 hours ago, btq96r said:

Amazon is collecting state sales taxes for Tennessee now...has been for a bit.

As to the shipping cost...maybe that had to do with being a prime member or not. I know free shipping for qualified items is automatic since I have a prime account.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk. OhShoot very much likes to know when we're using Tapatalk.
 

They only collect tax if it ships from a seller in TN, and sometimes if it ships from the fulfillment center.

[bersaguy]

Well, I went on line this morning and went to live chat on Amazon and got connected to a very nice person named John. After giving him my purchase information it took him about 3 minutes to come back and tell me they will be refunding my shipping costs and sales tax as I was not supposed to be charged either. My purchase was in fact list on free shipping program and was not being sold from inside Tennessee so sales tax did not apply either. I might have to take another look at them in the future for future purchases..............

[GlockSpock]

Well, I went on line this morning and went to live chat on Amazon and got connected to a very nice person named John. After giving him my purchase information it took him about 3 minutes to come back and tell me they will be refunding my shipping costs and sales tax as I was not supposed to be charged either. My purchase was in fact list on free shipping program and was not being sold from inside Tennessee so sales tax did not apply either. I might have to take another look at them in the future for future purchases..............

Put simply, I have never found a company with a customer focus as big as theirs. It used to be even better but there are several things they have tightened down on a bit recently.

My advice, spend an extra moment at checkout next time.

[i1afli]

On July 10, 2017 at 0:48 PM, bersaguy said:

 I made a purchase yesterday on Amazon and it said I qualified for free shipping and when I got the total it had shipping charges and taxes added to it.

This has happened to me a couple of times...item was advertised as having free shipping but at checkout there was absolutely no way to purchase it without paying shipping, no matter which shipping option I selected. I went ahead and bought the items and then sent Amazon customer service an email (or maybe it was chat) and they immediately refunded the shipping both times. Never been disappointed. 

[Ski]

10 hours ago, CZ9MM said:

I also just found that if you purchased a $25 gift card today, you'll be issued a $5.00 promotional credit within two days. That's pretty good. I just purchased one and am now seeing if I can "cancel" the above mentioned "Snoop" in order to repurchase it again with the gift card balance.

EDIT: It appears you have to "Click to Qualify" here before purchasing the $25.00 gift card. When I did it, I chose the E-Gift option and within minutes it was emailed to me. Then I can redeem it on my own account.

Thanks for the info!

[btq96r]

9 hours ago, Sam1 said:

They only collect tax if it ships from a seller in TN, and sometimes if it ships from the fulfillment center.

I think I always have the fulfillment center items charged sales tax, but I'd have to go through a lot of order invoices to be sure.  Very rarely do I not get hit for sales tax on Amazon.

Not mad, it is what it is, so I just factor into my decision to buy online versus at a store.  Not having to get out and deal with a store usually wins out easily.

[analog_kidd]

Well, I experienced a lot of disappointment on Prime Day. There were two different items I wanted, and I wanted them in quantity of two or three. Amazon would only let me buy one each at the sale price. Any more than that had to be bought at full price. I'm sure they did that to make sure there was plenty to go around, but there were cheaper options available in different brands for the additional, full priced items, so it didn't make sense for me to buy the sale item. 

In another case, I was watching a CamelBack daypack. I got an alert the deal was starting in ten minutes. I sat down at my PC and killed time on TGO for 11 minutes, went back to Amazon and the deal had sold out. 

Prime Day is great if you love Chinese knock-offs of weird stuff. Mostly it feels like Amazon is having a yard sale of the crap that does not sell. I had my wish list full of quality, name brand items that I added over the last week or so. Not a single one showed up in the sale.

I did pick up one of their 8" tablets for $50. For that price, the thing is a steal. I already have one of their 8" and a couple of their 7" tablets. Used to be able to root the 7" ones and load stock Android on them. They have all their tablets locked down now, so that can't be done anymore. Still, for $50 you get a solid tablet that is great for web browsing and email checking, and can even stream video well enough.

[Ronald_55]

I did not find any deals that even appealed to me. Seemed like too much hype for so little.

[MasterG_SP01]

I did not find any deals that even appealed to me. Seemed like too much hype for so little.

Exactly. I use the heck out of Amazon, but this was a huge nothing burger.

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

[mikegideon]

I ordered an Echo at half price. 

[Murgatroy]

My wife won't let me have an Echo. I did order a high end gaming mouse at about half price. I never would have bought something like that otherwise.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

[mikegideon]

13 minutes ago, Murgatroy said:

My wife won't let me have an Echo. I did order a high end gaming mouse at about half price. I never would have bought something like that otherwise.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
 

LOL. Doesn't want you talking to other women? I plan to use mine for honey do lists, since I can't get my girl to write anything down.

[analog_kidd]

We have an Echo in the kitchen, and it is very handy. IT's how we make shopping lists now. We just say add XYZ to shopping list. When my wife does the shopping, everything we both need is right there on her phone in the Alexa app. We also find it very useful for setting cooking timers, or asking the occasional random question. Plus, we play music from it all the time, and it sounds really good. There's probably a million things we could use it for that we aren't. They are always adding new features, and it's hard to keep up.

My wife didn't want one either. She is creeped out by it listening all the time, and she thinks that "they" could be recording us. Ours was a Christmas gift from my son, so we had to set it up. Once she got used to having it around, she uses it all the time.

[Bob T]

We have an Echo in the kitchen, plus a Dot in both the bedroom and garage. Ordered a Tap for our sun room on Prime day. We love them.

Nothing like laying in bed, getting the weather report and telling Alexa to turn on the coffee maker. I picked up some smart light bulbs and light switches, so pretty soon we will be able to control the lights with her.