Amazon - do they usually sit on an order for over a week, before shipping?

[FofMM]

Prime Member here and have noticed some recent delays. It seems they are pushing the "2 Day" window to be closer to 3 even on items sold and shipped by Amazon! Have spoken to their customer service...it is not what it used to be...but better still than most. They had been great for years so am hoping it is just a temporary issue.

 

[lesliekatya]

I have prime, and I have shipping delays quite often, but almost always with third party vendors.

 

[loves to dive]

Another prime user, both at work and at home. We get almost weekly deliveries, both places. I've noticed delays in shipping of items that are third party, I ordered something a few weeks ago that didn't ship for a week but it did arrive within the time frame it was supposed to.

 

[ndelaware]

More than likely your item was being transferred from one Amazon warehouse to another before being sent to the shipper.

 

[pryncess527]

I have never had prime.

For years, even with the slowest free shipping option, my items would arrive within 48 hours. I'd even think to myself there is no point in paying for prom if the seven day shipping is going to get it here in two.

Within the last year or two, I have noticed that my packages are also held for several days before shipping. I assumed it's because Amazon can't control how fast it gets to me once it leaves their warehouse and so to drive me towards paying for Prime, they ensure that it doesn't leave their warehouse that quickly. I don't really care how the stuff gets here so that doesn't entice me to pay for Prime, but I did notice the change.

 

[Albort]

YES. They routinely wait on shipping out orders. They WANT you to upgrade and pay for Prime. They WANT you to know that your order would have gone to the head of the line had you paid for Prime.

Ive got prime but my 2 day shipping is always 2 day shipping. A lot of times, they ship things day of or day before. They always wait the extra day... i think they just want you to pay more for faster shipping.

 

[CPanther95]

They just added "Same Day Shipping" for Prime members in my area. We rarely have had issues and order frequently. They definitely aren't as liberal with their shipping terms as they used to be, but I really doubt they'd be sitting on orders so that it takes 10 days instead of 7 just to try and entice you to go Prime.

Their cheapest shipping option where the date is like 5-10 days - or something like that - isn't about them being able to delay shipping. It's usually so they have the option of moving your product from a distant warehouse to a closer distribution center using their normal transportation system - then only paying a 3rd party to deliver for a much shorter run. Or it allows them to ship standard USPS from a distant location where they can't guarantee a deliver date.

 

[si-am]

I've noticed this over the last year. Amazon will sit on my order forever, but then once it ships, it's here the next day. It's definitely been a lot slower overall, though, than it used to be.

 

[powellrj]

Amazon Prime too, and I have even had things delivered on Sundays! I have found Wal-Mart to be one of the worst shippers for me. QVC is another slow shipper and so is Vera Bradley. Bath and Body Works, CJ Banks and JC Penneys are wonderful shippers for me. Many times with these 3, I get my order the next day. Even when I order on a weekend.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I still seem to be getting speedy service. I have ordered something that as "Prime" before and the shipment was delayed several days. However, they said up front, this item will ship in 3-5 days even though it was Prime. It was very clear before I ordered it would require additional time... I don't know why it took longer, but I was made aware of it and allowed for that.

 

[dashofsunshine]

Update - it magically shipped today and should be here tomorrow...a full 3-5 days before the estimated shipping window we have a warehouse here in Nashville, so that accounts for the one day shipping time, I suppose (?) I think they must have been doing some transferring between warehouses, or just didn't have the stuff from the third party seller yet, etc.

Thank y'all for your replies! I enjoyed reading more about how Amazon works, lol. Very interesting!!

 

[AquamarineSteph]

Just adding my two cents. I have had Amazon Prime for years. I have an item I ordered on Saturday, and I went with the free Prime shipping. It'll be here Wednesday. I have another item I ordered today. It'll be here Tuesday.

Now the item coming Wednesday? The website tells me currently that if I order it now, I can have it on Tuesday.

Their shipping is not what it used to be. I've seen the 2-day promise pushed to 3 days in multiple cases, and there is no recourse. It makes me question if I really want to keep Amazon Prime.

 

[smadath]

I order from Amazon all the time, and am not a Prime member. I've noticed a big difference in the last year or two with how quickly items ship/arrive. It's much slower now!

I've complained in the past, and was told (from a CS rep who probably shouldn't have told me) that Free Shipping On Orders Over $35 (at the time) have lowest priority behind Prime and those who pay to ship, which makes sense.

Another issue I had was when they started using FedEx SmartPost, where FedEx drops off to USPS, then the item is delivered by them. The Delivery Estimate Amazon gave was FedEx's, and was the date it was dropped at USPS, since that was their destination. It then took another day or 2 to arrive at the residence. But, I think they've addressed that issue now.

These days, if it's something I need in a few days, I pay for shipping. If it doesn't matter when it arrives, I use Free Shipping.

 

[misse336]

YES. They routinely wait on shipping out orders. They WANT you to upgrade and pay for Prime. They WANT you to know that your order would have gone to the head of the line had you paid for Prime.

If I'm able to buy the same items from Walmart or Drugstore.com instead, I will purchase from them instead. Drugstore.com has ALWAYS shipped within a few hours of ordering to 24 hours. Walmart ships in pieces but also within a day or 2 of ordering, and well before their stated date of shipping out orders.

That being said, recently, my "Fulfilled by Amazon" orders actually shipped faster than regular Amazon orders. I think that is because they really want to promote those types of orders. They have to make both the retailer and the customer happy by shipping quickly.

In your case, it may have turned out that Amazon doesn't really have the item in their warehouse - which is what the "Fullfilled by Amazon" orders mean, instead of being shipped directly by the retailer. So they are having to wait for the item to come in and then ship it out.

I agree that they routinely wait to ship out non-prime orders to entice you to upgrade. We had prime for several years in the past when my dh operated a side business and was making very regular orders. When the price went up so much and his business pretty much ended we dropped prime. Now whenever I order from amazon, prime or 3rd party, the orders sit forever.

So now if I can order the item anywhere else for close to the same price with free shipping I usually do. Target has been my go-to store to order from lately - free shipping and at a much lower minimum than Amazon. They've had most of the same items I've needed that Amazon does, usually for close to the same price or cheaper than Amazon, and they ship in about 1/2 of the time of Amazon has for me lately. Not to mention that I don't have to fill my cart with as much fluff to qualify for free shipping since their minimums for free shipping are lower. Before I dropped Prime and the orders started sitting so long I ordered almost everything from Amazon and admit that I didn't always investigate prices at other retailers as much as I should have. So their probable strategy of sitting on orders lost them a customer in my case instead of causing me to upgrade to prime. I still order from amazon, but a lot less often than in the past and I really think twice about ordering from them and evaluate if I really want/need the item before submitting the order.

 

[nkereina]

I just did a larger order with Amazon a few weeks of about 8 different, very random things. All of them were either sold or fulfilled by Amazon. It took over a week for them to ship and once I received notice they shipped, they were on my doorstep the next day. I wasn't sure if they had actually shipped a few days prior and it took me a few days to get the email or if they upgraded my shipping since it took them a few days to get it out.

 

[aprilchem]

I've never had that issue, but Amazon has same-day delivery where I live because I live close to (like 30 minutes from) a warehouse. Most times if I order by noon I get items on the same day.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

So, for all of you that order from Amazon more than once a year...here are the details:

-I ordered a few things on May 8th (which was a Sunday).
-Product was sold by someone else but "fulfilled by Amazon."
-Selected free shipping, which I believe was quoted as 7-10 days before arrival at my door (but truly? I don't remember)
-For the past week now (so, 5 full business days since I placed the order), it has sat in the "not yet shipped" category; well, two days ago it changed to "preparing to ship," not sure what the difference is.
-It literally says that it isn't going to SHIP out from them until the 18th of May.

So, here's my question...why does it take 10 days to even ship my order out? Is it because I chose free shipping and they want me to wait because I don't pay for Prime for my one order per year? Has this ever happened to anyone else, or am I just unlucky?

It's not like I ordered life saving medication or anything, so I'm just waiting patiently; I know it will get here eventually. I'm more curious than anything as to a) if this is just something that happens now, and b) for people who actually know how Amazon works internally...why it would take so long to get it out the door of the warehouse?

Most things I order online, from anywhere, ship out within a couple of business days. 10 days seems like quite a bit Thanks guys!

I didn't read through everyone's posts, so sorry if I duplicate.

The answer to your question is no, they do not "sit on" your order. I know this for a certain fact because we deal with Amazon in my workplace (they are one of our biggest distributors), and we just had a team fly down to Amazon's HQ for 3 days and tour one of the Amazon facilities, where they were shown, among other things, Amazon's shipping processes. Their goal is to ship within 12 hours of gettting the order, which is amazing. If you order is not shipping quickly it is probably because of one of two things:

1. The item is backordered
2. The item is coming from a 3rd party "marketplace" vendor, meaning Amazon contracts with vendors for the product but does not actually stock the product in their own warehouse - the product is actually shipping directly from the vendor. Amazon can exert pressure on the vendor to ship quickly, but cannot fully control the shipping schedule in that case.

Hope that helps!

ETA: Another fun tidbit about Amazon's process - they base their demand picture on consumer views - so if you look at something on Amazon, it registers as a "possible future sale" in their system. So, if you really want something but aren't going to buy it yet, view it anyway so it loads in as demand and is more likely to be in stock when you are ready!

 

[Lilacs4Me]

YES. They routinely wait on shipping out orders. They WANT you to upgrade and pay for Prime. They WANT you to know that your order would have gone to the head of the line had you paid for Prime.

If I'm able to buy the same items from Walmart or Drugstore.com instead, I will purchase from them instead. Drugstore.com has ALWAYS shipped within a few hours of ordering to 24 hours. Walmart ships in pieces but also within a day or 2 of ordering, and well before their stated date of shipping out orders.

That being said, recently, my "Fulfilled by Amazon" orders actually shipped faster than regular Amazon orders. I think that is because they really want to promote those types of orders. They have to make both the third-party vendor and the customer happy by shipping quickly.

In your case, it may have turned out that Amazon doesn't really have the item in their warehouse - which is what the "Fullfilled by Amazon" orders mean, instead of being shipped directly by the vendor. So they are having to wait for the item to come in and then ship it out.

Most of this ^^ is absolutely untrue.

 

[TheIncredibles!]

Amazon routinely has the buy box for items they don't currently have in stock even though a 3P seller has stock. You are able to order, but a lead time will be listed both on the main screen as well as the order screen which many people completely miss when they check out.

 

[NYDisGuy]

I think they bit off more than they could chew with the same day delivery and even next day. I would think those would have to be prioritized which is pushing off the "normal" shipments, even the prime 2 day. I still think prime is worth it though, especially with the music library they have