Amazon gives non-Prime members free shipping at $35 or more of eligible items. Instead of simply letting users get the product with free shipping, they’ve added a discount that prices it exactly one cent below the $35 limit, while only subsidizing the price with $3.38, which is about half of what they’ll then charge you for shipping.

    • Ledivin@lemmy.worldEnglish
      103·
      4 days ago

      It’s literally not even hard, but yes you have to put some effort into it, and of course it isn’t convenient. You’ll probably save money, though - Amazon hasn’t had the best prices on 95% of items for many years now.

      If you aren’t OK with being slightly inconvenienced, you can always keep supporting Nazis 🤷‍♂️

          • desktop_user@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
            0·
            3 days ago

            USPS charges a not insignificant amount for shipping heavy items to Alaska (excluding media mail that frequently takes months and few retailers ever use). If physical stores sold anything at a reasreasonable price (aside from off season fishing /hunting /cold equipment) fewer people would use Amazon.

    • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      44·
      4 days ago

      there are a lot of companies that sell things direct to consumer, using the exact same shipping infrastructure that amazon would otherwise be using, if it doesnt already.

      If you live rurally, go campaign for funding the USPS more, trump fucked that one, you can thank him for that.

        • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          2·
          3 days ago

          thats the thing though, at that point the USPS is already going to be a problem, in literally every form of online order you make.

          Amazon even uses USPS in some places from what i can remember, they mostly use their in house shit when it’s financially competitive.

          And yes, the USPS is fundamental infrastructure, it is critically important to the functionality of the US as a whole. It’s the sole reason mail based communication even works. Without the USPS the federal government and most state governments lose a lot of power.

            • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
              1·
              3 days ago

              yeah, if you’re buying from a single retailer. There are a lot of places that sell products online, and they’re all very accessible. The only thing stopping you from using them is literally your own laziness.

              Physical retailers is more of a limit, since there are only ever so many. But that’s part of the utility of something like the postal system.

                • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
                  1·
                  2 days ago

                  who are these amazing ethical retailers with a wide selection of available products that can be delivered virtually anywhere in the US in less than a week at a reasonable price?

                  > why does this large conglomerate mega corp not have any ethical small business competition

                  you need to reality check yourself, and either pay more for shipping, or just accept that sometimes things arrive a little bit slower than convenient. If you have amazon prime you already know about this.

                  IDK why people expect services that are entirely separate and different to be the exact same, it’s like they’ve never gone outside before.

                  As for your ethical reflection into my purchases, i do not care, as i am anti humanist. I simply do not have a leg in the race, whether i die or not is irrelevant. As for my phone, i didn’t pay any money for it, it was free. And my computer, or computers, are built by me, from hardware that i bought, with my own money.

                  With the exception of my thinkpad collection (entirely secondhand) most of that hardware has been purchased new, as that is generally how people buy computer hardware.

                  Also to be fully transparent, i don’t believe i ever stated that i am an ethical consumer (i am in some aspects, i just don’t buy very many things, especially useless things, i’m a utilitarian) but for the things i do buy, i don’t spend much time thinking about it for the aforementioned reasons.

                • Ledivin@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  1·
                  2 days ago

                  It’s not lazy. You just have no perspective.

                  Nah, fuck that, you’re just lazy and entitled. Obviously sometimes things come up, but why does everything have to ship in less than a week? Amazon doesn’t even have the best price on 95% of shit anymore, and hasn’t for years - ditching Amazon has saved me money on nearly every single item, I just have to wait slightly longer for them.

                  You can support nazis if you want - it’s not illegal, despite every rational perspective in the world. But don’t blame your support on bullshit like “I can’t think ahead more than two days.”