Economics of home delivery

   / Economics of home delivery #1  

Frankenkubota

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Location
Carthage NC...Deep in the woods
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Kubota MX 5800, SkidPro 4 in 1, Ratchet rake, SkidPro pallet forks
Not a tractor issue except if you have your oil and filters and parts delivered etc.

I'm not sure what to think.

I've been single for almost 20 years and do ALL the domestics, including keeping the shelves full. of whatever, food, anti freeze, dog food etc etc tc.

I used to have a piece of paper on the counter and when I thought of something, I would write it down and pick it up on my regular weekly shopping trip.

Last nite I thought, I need a good dust pan. Went to e bay and in 5 minutes I bought 2 for $10, free delivery.

When I lived in suburbia, i laughed at the army wife down the road, sometimes she would have 3-5 deliveries in a day.

The other day I had 4 deliveries of individual items, in 1 day!

Something about the economics of home delivery don't make sense, I still have to make my weekly shopping trip.

It's obviously convenient, that don't make it efficient, usually the opposite.

I did read a while ago the roads around many Amazons warehouses are getting really beat up due to increased traffic.

Anybody know anything about this subject?
 
   / Economics of home delivery #2  
No insight from me on this but I wish USPS, UPS, FedEx, and any other delivery service would cooperate and form a joint rural deliver system. One truck per day brings all your stuff. From an environmental and expense standpoint, the situation you describe here would make a pretty good cartoon, in fast motion.
 
   / Economics of home delivery #3  
Not a tractor issue except if you have your oil and filters and parts delivered etc.

I'm not sure what to think.

I've been single for almost 20 years and do ALL the domestics, including keeping the shelves full. of whatever, food, anti freeze, dog food etc etc tc.

I used to have a piece of paper on the counter and when I thought of something, I would write it down and pick it up on my regular weekly shopping trip.

Last nite I thought, I need a good dust pan. Went to e bay and in 5 minutes I bought 2 for $10, free delivery.

When I lived in suburbia, i laughed at the army wife down the road, sometimes she would have 3-5 deliveries in a day.

The other day I had 4 deliveries of individual items, in 1 day!

Something about the economics of home delivery don't make sense, I still have to make my weekly shopping trip.

It's obviously convenient, that don't make it efficient, usually the opposite.

I did read a while ago the roads around many Amazons warehouses are getting really beat up due to increased traffic.

Anybody know anything about this subject?

I am not a big Amazon fan!

I occasionally do buy things on Amazon, but the $35 min. order Amazon "free shipping" is Slo..ooo...oooo!
Often the same items are actually less expensive on E-Bay, and they are almost always received more promptly.
Amazon uses the "Prime" hook, to make folks think they are getting a special deal.

$120 per year for "free 2 day shipping" (sometimes), yet often higher item prices than elsewhere.
Blanket Amazon buyers are like lemmings!
 
   / Economics of home delivery #4  
We're buying lots more stuff online this year. Actually, anything I want I have to look it up online and post a picture by email to my wife so she can find it in the store if we go out and get it. She doesn't want me going into the stores because I'm more at risk.
 
   / Economics of home delivery #5  
No insight from me on this but I wish USPS, UPS, FedEx, and any other delivery service would cooperate and form a joint rural deliver system. One truck per day brings all your stuff. From an environmental and expense standpoint, the situation you describe here would make a pretty good cartoon, in fast motion.

The 3 services you named are in bed with each other. Often the postman delivers the last leg of the trip as UPS and FedEx recognized the economies of using a carrier who was making the same trip daily. Like lunch, there is no "free" delivery. I resent having to subsidize the instant, 1-day, or 2-day gratification syndrome to which the deliverers are pandering.
 
   / Economics of home delivery #6  
Anyway it's looked at many items are overpriced for what they are ....and the simple fact that online-only stores/market places are profitable is a fair indicator of just how much mark-up on price physical retailers are adding due to the need to support the overhead costs of multiple physical stores and paying employees at the store (many of which are just there to perform physical tasks which require zero knowledge of the products being sold).

What I always find interesting is when it's cheaper to buy something from a retailer than it is from the manufacturer themselves. ...only thing I can figure in those cases is the manufacturers don't want to deal with the (potential) hassles of direct-to-consumer sales......
 
   / Economics of home delivery #7  
Amazon Prime membership may be an extravagance for some, but for those of use who have businesses and get some of their material online, it is a win win.
Many the items needed are often not available locally or even regionally at any price, especially for them living rurally, so access is one win.
Another is the free delivery which over the course of a year is far in excess of $120.
Plus my children and us for that matter use it for personal shopping which just adds to the benefit.
Then there is the unlimited music and video which we have been using much more this year.
 
   / Economics of home delivery #8  
I am a member of Amazon Prime but I don't buy everything online from there. It's just another shopping selection for me with faster shipping and streaming TV. I assume people with a Costco membership don't buy everything there. That would be a 40 mile drive for me.
 
   / Economics of home delivery #9  
The thing that seems inefficient is that Amazon is building distribution centers like crazy. It would seem efficient to have a distribution center serve a geographic area. Instead each center focuses on a set product group like lawn and garden.

In my experience, Amazon has many amazing deals. Just last week, the evaporator fan motor in our refrigerator started going out. The motor was $100 plus shipping through Whirlpool’s part site, $95 plus shipping from another source and $20 with free prime shipping from Amazon.
 
   / Economics of home delivery #10  
We do order from Amazon and many times delivered by their own delivery. I find it Amazing that the local distribution centers can take a 3 or 4 item order and bring it on as many vehicles. Though I just went out to get my pieces that we ordered from Kohler directly and FEX brought 1 box today, show the rest will come tomorrow, which won't because we don't get Saturday deliveries. Left the same facility at the same time. I guess these delivery companies are so flooded, they can't manage?
 
 
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