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Businesses

Amazon Doubles Deliveries in 2016 For Third-Party Sellers (reuters.com) 68

Posted by msmash from the booming-progress dept.
Amazon.com shipped 50 percent more items this holiday season than last for third-party vendors and doubled the amount for 2016 overall, the retail giant said on Wednesday. From a report on Reuters: Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, has said the 2016 holiday was its best-ever shopping season. However, high spending on warehouses and video production are expected to drag on profits. More sellers are paying the company to store, pack and ship their goods through the Fulfillment by Amazon service. Amazon more than doubled the items it delivered for other sellers in 2016 from the year prior to exceed two billion, a spokesman said.
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Amazon Doubles Deliveries in 2016 For Third-Party Sellers More

Amazon Doubles Deliveries in 2016 For Third-Party Sellers

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  • I abandoned Amazon for Xmas shopping this year after I got an order (hard drive related) delayed and then outright cancelled last month. I hadn't seen that yet.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Yes, I often stop shopping at the most convenient location after a single issue. I also refuse to drink my coffee is not exactly 125 degrees when it is served. When puppies lose their cuteness I abandon them in the woods.

      I am the most unreasonable man in the world.

      • >> stop shopping at the most convenient location

        In the world of ecommerce, there are a lot of others as convenient as Amazon (and some more) And yes, I get spooked by online shops that can't deliver my order (after promising "in stock" on their site), even if they are the 900-pound gorilla. I think we're all looking for the moment when Amazon jumps the shark and starts becoming Sears.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by mjwx ( 966435 )

          >> stop shopping at the most convenient location

          In the world of ecommerce, there are a lot of others as convenient as Amazon (and some more) And yes, I get spooked by online shops that can't deliver my order (after promising "in stock" on their site), even if they are the 900-pound gorilla. I think we're all looking for the moment when Amazon jumps the shark and starts becoming Sears.

          In regards to third parties, Amazon are not like a retailer and more like a shopping centre. So the correct analogy is becoming like Westfield (buying up all the retail space near their shopping centres then leasing it out for insane rates)

        • I think we're all looking for the moment when Amazon jumps the shark and starts becoming Sears.

          Not me, so no.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Amazon is a cesspool. For many products, you can't tell what you're ordering or what you'll be receiving. Example: I needed to buy a slightly non-standard air filter. Hey, Amazon has it... except they lump together 20 different suppliers. And the item description and pictures says it's OEM it's clear from the comments that most of them are made by a different company (that's fine, but label and price them correctly) or are chinese knockoffs.

      • There's way, way too much fake merchandise on Amazon. I'm at the point where I won't buy anything unless it says it's sold by Amazon.

        At least if it's fulfilled by Amazon you know you should get a hassle free return, but most of that Chinese fake garbage you're going to have to pay to return yourself and it's going to be a hassle. Not worth it.

        • There's way, way too much fake merchandise on Amazon. I'm at the point where I won't buy anything unless it says it's sold by Amazon.

          I know that Amazon are apparently binning different third party suppliers' stock together. That in itself means that goods sold by those companies but "fulfilled by Amazon" are completely untrustworthy, regardless of supplier. The obvious reason being that regardless who you (nominally) buy them from, you'll have no idea which third party the stock *actually* used to fulfil the order belonged to. Given Amazon's growing notoriety for blatant counterfeiting amongst third party suppliers, this obviously makes

      • ,,, it's clear from the comments ...

        So, you read them after the fact ...

      • >Amazon is a cesspool.

        They sent me 5 Insteon switches yesterday when I ordered and paid for 4. A rare screw up in my favour.

         

        • They do that to me all the time but on a grander scale. At least a couple of times a year I receive a case box of something I ordered one of. I just got a case lot of shampoo when I ordered one bottle.

        • You got to keep it with their blessing?

          • I still have it. I don't think they know. Someone picked up five instead of 4 and dropped them in the box.

            • I live in Europe and this is technically embezzlement. If I were you, I'd put a bit of money aside in case they find out afterwards. Otherwise, it's a nice gift :) Note I don't care about the profits of a faceless corp, just a heads up.

              • They can ask for it back. I haven't installed it yet. But if they wait too long they will need to send an electrician to remove it.

    • Talk about throwing the baby out with the bath water...

      Seriously, you clicked a few buttons and because stuff didn't magically show up on your doorstep you get all bent out of shape. Did you ever try to work things out with the seller or even with Amazon themselves or did you just decide to go nuclear immediately?

      Reminds me of the Futurama where Bender and Fry are sitting on the couch watching TV and the automated beer pouring device misses Bender's mouth by an inch. "What is this? The dark ages?!"

      • To be fair, it's his first order.

        Which means he used "free shipping". And given Amazon of late, that really is a mistake.

        If you're not a Prime member, this is how Amazon free shipping works now. You place your order, and select free shipping. Amazon then waits 7-10 days on your order (not Prime). Then they check again to see if your item is in stock, and if they can sell it to you (i.e., it didn't turn prime-only, and the price is what they're willing to sell you). If so, great, it's then packed and shipped to you. If not, then it's aborted and your order is cancelled (potentially).

        Amazon really has become like Costco and is really a member's shopping club. The only difference is they let you browse and potentially may sell non-members stuff.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by mrops ( 927562 )

          I live in Toronto, Canada, their warehouse is in a sister city. I don't think this is how it works out here, maybe amazon.ca has different operating guidelines compared to amazon.com. I always choose free shipping and the order is at my door the very next day. I am not a Prime member.

    • When you sell stuff on Amazon as a third party they have a rule that if you dont ship it within a certain time(15 days if I remember correctly) they cancel the order. Happens regularly at me work when we have something on backorder.

  • Getting sick.. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 04, 2017 @12:51PM (#53604547)

    Getting sick of having to sort through what is and isn't sold by amazon anymore. If I wanted to deal with some shady 3rd party, I'd be going to their store or their website. Also if you enjoy that experience, let me introduce you to Ebay or one of the many other websites that allows you to buy things from people or 'businesses'.

    • Getting sick of having to sort through what is and isn't sold by amazon anymore.

      If you are a prime member you just look for items labeled prime. That means Amazon stocks and ship it. Whether they are the ones actually selling it makes no difference at that point. It might not actually be Amazon owned inventory but it becomes a distinction without a difference.

      If I wanted to deal with some shady 3rd party, I'd be going to their store or their website.

      I've bought plenty of stuff from third parties through Amazon without any problems. On the rare occasions when there has been an issue Amazon has taken care of it no questions asked every single time. Last year I had about 15

      • Re: Non issues (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward

        "If you are a prime member you just look for items labeled prime. That means Amazon stocks and ship it."

        That is not the case. I work for a company that sells through Amazon and we provide Prime Shipping options even though we ship the items from our distribution center. There are strict rules in place in order to remain a part of Prime, but the products do not have to be fulfilled by Amazon.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      Amazon needs filters. I avoid the third parties that are new and have low ratings.

  • No it didn't! (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    A 50 percent increase is not even close to doubling deliveries...

    • A 50 percent increase is not even close to doubling deliveries...

      Hey now, this is no place for maths and reasoning!

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gnick ( 1211984 )

        Apparently, this really isn't the place for maths and reasoning. OP didn't even finish reading the sentence from TFS that he was replying to.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gfxguy ( 98788 )
      50% during the holiday season, double overall for 2016... the "maths" are not that hard.

  • From third-party-sellers begging for reviews.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dmomo ( 256005 )

      And doubles the price increase from those sellers... suspiciously equal to the cost of the "free" shipping you paid for w/ Prime.

  • How does a company born on the internet have such contempt for developers and IT workers?

    • How are you connecting those dots?

      "How can a company that brags about manufacturing all of its stuff in the USA hire a Muslim from Indiana?"

      • Because the internet is an IT/Software thing. Yet they pinch the IT/Software people ... Their AWS dominance only extends this question.

  • Amazon shipped 50% more counterfeit goods this year compared to last year.

  • I try to let amazon know every time I possibly can with feedback. The 3rd party seller "please rate me with a positive review" email spam is awful. I'm about to stop buying online and buying at brick and mortar stores again -- why? because when I buy a stick on deodorant at Target, no one asks me to post a review. If I really really like something (or hate it), I'll find my way online and post a review if I so desire. That is how amazon (3rd party or not) should operate.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by OhPlz ( 168413 )

      You're upset over a single email for a purchase? Brick and mortar takes a lot of time to drive to, park, find the item, stand in line at the checkout, checkout, back to the car, back home. Or you can delete an email.

      WTF.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gfxguy ( 98788 )
        So you're not allowed to be upset about something because something else is worse? It's an unnecessary annoyance. Yes, I get it (#firstworldproblems), but that doesn't mean it's not annoying (and in my experience it's typically not even one email, it's many - even after I've reviewed products).

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by OhPlz ( 168413 )

          Someone saying they're going back to a physical store instead of hitting the delete key a few times seems a bit bizarre to me. It's not because something else is worse, it's saying they're going back to something that's far worse instead of dealing with a rather trivial press of the delete key.

          I'd rather yell at Amazon for abandoning their "frustration free" packaging thing they were trying or that Prime keeps going up in price but it doesn't seem to hit the two day delivery very often anymore.

      • The fucking brick and mortar ask for emails, too.

        I like some of them.

        Kroger attaches coupons for a few of the items I buy and JC Penney, Kohls, Payless, provide point-of-sale scannable discount coupons.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by OhPlz ( 168413 )

          That's an easy one: "no".

          Just like when Best Buy used to want to check your receipt before you leave: "don't touch me".

    • There are these things called e-mail rules, you should try them.

      I have a single rule with 4 content filters in it which knock out nearly all of these types of e-mails.

      Content rules are:

      Unsubscribe
      Click here
      Opt out
      ©

      If any of those text strings appears in the e-mail message body, it is routed to the "Bulk" folder where I can peruse them if I want but will never be notified of their arrival.

      • I have an easier, however similar, system:

        I scroll down through the emails, read the ones I'm interested in, and then do, Edit, Select All, Mark All, As Read.

        I don't even delete messages.

        If I ever need one, I just search for a relevant word or phrase.

    • ask for costumer rate every purchase is a matter of rapidly detect and avoid frauds (for the same costumers)

    • I hate that spam also.

      What I do is simply rate them 1 star and make a note of the seller and never use them again.

      They wanted a rating, they got it!

  • Great, so we can look forward to more great Amazon sellers like this guy [amazon.ca]. Don't worry though, Amazon will refund the money of the dozens of people affected (after an investigation and after your funds have been held up for possibly months depending on when you figure out the seller is fraudulent).

    The best part is where they still need to "investigate" each case even though dozens of people have the same issue, and there's even a fricking Reddit [reddit.com] thread about the scammy seller.

  • Third party sellers don't charge me sales tax.

    And before you mention that I'm starving the state of money, note that I've already paid $1800 in sales tax for 2016 (FL 6%). Pretty sure that's more than average.

  • Amazon is having a serious problem with newly launched sellers who take the money and either ship nothing or ship something insignificant. It can often take a month for things to get worked out and by then the 'seller' is already gone with the money.

    And aside from fake product reviews I've seen sellers with fake seller reviews. Here is my story.

    I see a "new" pc from a seller with lots of great reviews for a decent but not absurdly low price. When I get the machine, the disk drive and some other stuff are

  • Amazon is basically great if you have Prime now and sucks if you don't. Their delivery acumen and warehousing operations are nothing short of amazing in scope. A lot of the time when you pick "free two day prime shipping", they wait an entire day to ship it because it's in the warehouse a state over and they can just slap a USPS First Class mail label on it for cheap and get it to you two business days later (or same but same day for $4/next day shipping). If you don't then Amazon waits forever to pick your

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