Economics of home delivery

[Macinnis]

2 quick comments, the roofers are here and it's raining, again!

Efficient delivery, or inefficient delivery is a component of their cost to sell.

I have pages of notes trying to deal with Amazon customer. service. I'm in a loop and the only human you can talk to is a third party customer service person, non amazon employees!

Amazon is doing quite well financially...regardless of how inefficient you feel their delivery systems are.

If you have spent 6 months trying to get a refund...you probably are not going to get one at this point. In the future, try using their software to get a return/refund, again, it’s super easy.

 

[Tinhack]

US consumers use over 90 million tons of paper each year - a lot of it cardboard from guess where. Is this good use of a resource?

How much is "a lot"? No facts, no point. I bet we use more paper in the bathroom. Is that a good use of a resource?

Factories ship goods in cardboard boxes. Many food products come in cardboard boxes. You sound like someone who lives at the dinner table and someone else provides for you.

Next you'll be complaining about killing animals not knowing where meat comes from. :licking:

 

[Frankenkubota]

Amazon is doing quite well financially...regardless of how inefficient you feel their delivery systems are.

If you have spent 6 months trying to get a refund...you probably are not going to get one at this point. In the future, try using their software to get a return/refund, again, it’s super easy.

I'll tell you what, i've tried and tried to use their system, and i've heard all the stories about how wonderful they are. i will give you all my notes etc and if you get my refund, you can keep the $200.

As far as delivery, I'm not talking about convenience, I know how wonderful it is and i use it! i'm talking about efficiency. And I did say, i don't know because, I really don't know about the economics.

On the surface it seems off the charts a waste of resources but......i don't know.

Seems this place is full of folks with experience in many fields, i just thought someone might understand the economics better than I.

I certainly understand convenience and what people are willing to sacrifice for it, basic economics.

 

[Hay Dude]

How much is "a lot"? No facts, no point. I bet we use more paper in the bathroom. Is that a good use of a resource?

Factories ship goods in cardboard boxes. Many food products come in cardboard boxes. You sound like someone who lives at the dinner table and someone else provides for you.

Next you'll be complaining about killing animals not knowing where meat comes from. :licking:

Huh? I mean what are replacing TP with? A rag? shirt sleeves? :laughing:
One is a little more of a necessity than the other, right?

Meats meat and a mans gotta eat!

 

[Frankenkubota]

t

Huh? I mean what are replacing TP with? A rag? shirt sleeves? :laughing:
One is a little more of a necessity than the other, right?

Meats meat and a mans gotta eat!

Paper was so valuable in ancient Rome they used a communal sponge at the coliseum. That's a pleasant thought.

 

[fried1765]

I seldom buy anything off any internet web site. Only if I can not buy it locally. I will do research on a product on the internet sites. This means - probably - two or three visits per year from one of the three delivery companies for something that is not local. I can truthfully say - I've never made a major purchase off any internet site.

We certainly differ greatly in this regard.
I purchase many items using the internet.
A nationwide electronic modern day huge +++++ upgrade to the Sears catalog of my childhood.

What comes to mind: 3 used cars (CL), 2 used tractors (CL), used golf cart (CL), new hand & electric tools, dog food, car parts, tractor implements, tractor parts, malted waffle mix, grass seed, fluorescent fixture LED bulbs (50), etc., etc.
If I need/want it, I look first on the internet.
Why? Price, plus product comparison/reviews, and delivery to my door.

At 80 (on Monday)....why not?
I apply the KISS principle.
I live 30 miles from the nearest medium size shopping center, and I may go there each week.

 

[Hay Dude]

t



Paper was so valuable in ancient Rome they used a communal sponge at the coliseum. That's a pleasant thought.

Eeewwwwwww
:yuck: :vomit:

 

[oosik]

Good Lord Frankenkubota. Even the thought of your own personnel reusable sponge is bad enough. But a communal reusable sponge - - beyond gross.

 

[Frankenkubota]

t

Good Lord Frankenkubota. Even the thought of your own personnel reusable sponge is bad enough. But a communal reusable sponge - - beyond gross.

When in Rome........ Besides that, the holes for your deposit were no more than 6-12 inches apart, shoulder to shoulder so to speak with no dividers Not much social distancing right there! No men's/ladies room either.

Maybe that is the reason for the TP hoarding, it's deep in our Latin DNA? Fear the sponge!

 

[shooterdon]

I use Amazon a lot. I find their prices competitive and if not, I order from eBay or another on-line retailer.

Just stupid for me to drive 50+ miles round trip to get to town. I figure a round trip on the truck costs at least $10 and over two hours of time.

 

[fried1765]

I use Amazon a lot. I find their prices competitive and if not, I order from eBay or another on-line retailer.

Just stupid for me to drive 50+ miles round trip to get to town. I figure a round trip on the truck costs at least $10 and over two hours of time.

BINGO !!!!

 

[LD48750]

Huh? I mean what are replacing TP with? A rag? shirt sleeves? :laughing:
One is a little more of a necessity than the other, right?

Meats meat and a mans gotta eat!

You may not believe this but MY children grew up using cloth diapers that we WASHED and re used.

I really don't understand why the tree huggers of today don't stop the use of plastic diapers that end up in land fills for thousands of years.

 

[fried1765]

You may not believe this but MY children grew up using cloth diapers that we WASHED and re used.

I really don't understand why the tree huggers of today don't stop the use of plastic diapers that end up in land fills for thousands of years.

Because they simply cannot make make the connection!
I also hang clothes out to dry!
Who would ever think of that?

 

[Hay Dude]

You may not believe this but MY children grew up using cloth diapers that we WASHED and re used.

I really don't understand why the tree huggers of today don't stop the use of plastic diapers that end up in land fills for thousands of years.

Totally believe. My parents did same.
Tree huggers for the most part are just virtue signalers

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Rec'd the rubber commode tank flapper yesterday from Amazon seller which I ordered 2 days before. Price cheaper than Lowe's even with veterans 10% discount. Broke the handle that lifts flapper while installing the flapper. Back to computer. Ordered new handle online for pick up at Lowe's cheaper at Lowe's than Amazon and their sellers. Wife will pick up today or tomorrow at Lowe's. Rec'd new Chromebox computer yesterday that cost $100 from Newegg and delivered by US Postal service girl/rural route delivery 3 miles from city limits. Ordered 25' HDMI cable just a few minutes ago from Amazon for $8 with 20% warehouse overstock discount and has blemishes on the cable so almost half price before the 20% discount. Over $20 at Lowe's.
Someone mentioned the gas consumption cost of UPS versus their run costs to local store. That UPS truck is delivering a couple hundred items so their cost is considerably less than a single person trip to the local store. It pays or Amazon and UPS/Fedex would not be in business and making big money and paying big salaries.
I don't like competing with all the other idiots on the highway anymore and the waste of time and the sullen store employees. I like the research with other buyers experiences and the best price of a specific product but still do some local shopping but very little. Brave new world and I'm adapting to it. Not saying I like it better but adapting.
Will continue buying toilet paper and pass on the hand/arm/sponge/Sears catalog/corncob program.
The refund online with Amazon is awesome. I bought a $20 item that was supposed to keep my crazy loveable dog from barking with high frequency pitch he could hear to distract him but didn't work. Put it back in the small box and the box in the plastic envelope it came in and informed Amazon it didn't work and have UPS pick it up which they did the next day and my account was refunded within the hour of pickup. I wasn't even home, left it on the front porch. Refund policy unbeatable.
The 2 day delivery is 2 day delivery on most items on Prime. Amazon sells other vendors items, they will let you sell your "stuff" on Amazon. If the customer picks your item vs Amazons then the 2 day delivery does not apply because you may not ship as quick and that is shown when you order an item. I ordered an item that I was in a hurry for and didn't pay attention to the expected delivery day before ordering, all my fault because it was there. I considered going locally and paying higher price for the 3 1/2 inch deck screws but didn't and 3 days later the screws were delivered a week before the projected day because the private seller shipped them out immediately. I've not rec'd the Prime Amazon 2 day delivery items within the 2 days a couple times over the years and knew it was the delivery people that messed up the delivery time but contacted Amazon and asked them to extend my Prime account for one month free and they have done it both times I asked.
The UPS driver is also a local farmer that lives a couple miles from me but they have split his area again so will be getting a different driver, maybe she will be good looking.

 

[Frankenkubota]

Because they simply cannot make make the connection!
I also hang clothes out to dry!
Who would ever think of that?

We also used cloth diapers. I read years ago disposable diapers are either #1 or #2 in terms of volume in land fills. Construction waste is right up there with, believe it or not, those little plastic single serving coffee containers.

 

[wngsprd]

I think your original question had to do with the economics of home delivery. When one delivery truck comes out our way, it is likely stopping at dozens of houses along the way, keeping that many people from each making individual trips...and sometimes having to make second trips because the store did not have an item they needed. That part sounds pretty efficient.

I wish we still had many small retailers around, like the 2 country stores down the road where you could find just about anything...but the shopping malls and increased mobility put them out of business well before the internet was born. We still frequent local businesses but see value in internet shopping. All of our boxes get recycled...we break them down and take them to a container at the "dump"...a county employee told me recently that cardboard was the only thing getting recycled that made money for the county.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

We use online buying for everything but groceries. In the summer of 19 we decided to remodel all of the bathrooms and master bath; 5 toilets, six vanities, ceramic floor and wall tile, light fixtures, a soaking tub for wifey, and probably about 15K worth of Kohler plumbing fixtures. Ordered everything online with zero issues or damage. No way I could have sourced all of that locally without covering hundreds of miles to put it all together and still would have heard, "we'll have to order that"... Build.com. Wayfair, and Amazon are the best.

 

[Hay Dude]

Several have mentioned that delivery trucks save fuel over buyers going to store. Not always. I have seen neighbors get several deliveries per day of small items on their porches from people ordering one item at a time. Extremely wasteful. Also have talked to delivery drivers who are carrying only a small handful of items on their trucks sometimes and they could be several miles from distribution centers. They tell me they have customers on their route who will place several orders from amazon in one day from several different warehouses. The delivery trucks also get poor fuel economy compared to a car and they idle a lot. They are also harder on roads because they are heavier.
Its not as green to have everything shipped as you think. Especially 1 item at a time like some of our wasteful comrades like to do.
I never hit the road for a store bought item without a free call ahead and confirming its in stock beforehand.

 

[buck12]

Several have mentioned that delivery trucks save fuel over buyers going to store. Not always. I have seen neighbors get several deliveries per day of small items on their porches from people ordering one item at a time. Extremely wasteful. Also have talked to delivery drivers who are carrying only a small handful of items on their trucks sometimes and they could be several miles from distribution centers. They tell me they have customers on their route who will place several orders from amazon in one day from several different warehouses. The delivery trucks also get poor fuel economy compared to a car and they idle a lot. They are also harder on roads because they are heavier.
Its not as green to have everything shipped as you think. Especially 1 item at a time like some of our wasteful comrades like to do.
I never hit the road for a store bought item without a free call ahead and confirming its in stock beforehand.

A customer may order ten items at one time but the items are often shipped in ten different packages and quite possibly from ten different warehouses. That’s just the system.