When you look at the description of the item on Amazon, there is usually that disclaimer about actual packaging. 
I believe that Amazon provides its vendors with an inventory management interface (for Amazonâs own benefit) that is actually quite good. I have no idea what kinds of interfaces Jet is using.
http://content26.com/blog/amazon-vendor-central-v-seller-central/
I donât buy add-ons either. In fact, its one of the things that really annoys me about Amazon, and why I want Jet to succeed. If I want to buy something, I donât want to be forced into buying a bunch of other stuff I donât want/need. And when I have paid $99 membership for prime, I want to be able to buy what I want/need. It wasnât a $2 item that cost more to ship. It was something I was buying (I forget what) that cost just under $10. And I couldnât. It was an add on. Sorry, I donât want to spend $35 and be forced to buy stuff I donât want/need in order to get the one Item I do want/need.
I donât âimpulse shopâ on these sites either, but I had been told by another ccâer that jet had some really competitive pricing on some items, so I looked around a bit, I had a credit on the account to use, and they were doing a free shipping promo so again i wouldnt be pushed into buying $35 worth of stuff I didnt need. I am frugal and enjoy a bargain. This one has just been a hassle.
That explains it @raclut, thanks. I am not a bulk shopper. I dropped my Costco membership because I donât want a yearâs supply of razor blades or 2 gallons of salsa at one time. I also found that I would put things in my cart that I didnât go in to purchase because they seemed like a great deal. The marketing strategy is to encourage you to buy a 4 pack when you only wanted 1. I would rather just buy one. I have started to go the old-world route of stopping at the market every day other day on my way home to see whatâs for dinner tonight. I build the menu around what fresh produce I have or what fish or meat looks good that day. I keep less random stuff on hand and focus on what we will actually eat short term. I am loving this even more now that we are new empty nesters and I am not trying to keep a teenage boy in food.
This. Yes, I did neglect to mention that there are some (not all) items that are called âsmart itemsâ , and when you buy them, your price on your overall order goes down, sometimes by a lot, sometimes by not so much. The walnuts were a âsmart itemâ and would have discounted the order by a whopping⊠wait for it⊠39 cents. But had I bought other smart items, the price would continue to drop. On my very first order, I believe the price dropped by about $12 (this is from memory) on what had been a $35 order. So no, I donât impulse buy, but I do bargain hunt. Its a hobby. There are far worse hobbies.
I am not an impulse buyer either rather a frugal one. I stick to a monthly budget. I also live in a condo so I donât have much space to store things like I would in a house. (so there is only so much I can order and have space to keep it in the condo)I have certain things on a list that I am specifically looking for. I was comparing it to Costco for example purposes but we are a family of two and even I wonât buy a years worth of stuff on jet. We are not buying jumbo sizes of ketchup or salsa here. I calculate the unit price and it has come out cheaper at Jet otherwise I wouldnât bother to order online. When I am making a purchase it could be 6 bars of soap or 6 razor blades which is cheaper than 4 at the store. I am glad I donât have a Costco membership because I know walking around I would impulse buy. I am not even a regular shopper on Amazon. Jet is not really making any profit on me. Rather I am saving a lot of money using their services. Iâve even got family members who have tried the trial membership on Jet. They were Amazon prime users. They like the savings that they have been getting without having to make the $35 minimum purchase. Like Iâve said before I have ordered items totaling $15 and didnât have the need to make it $35 to get free shipping. Whenever possible I use promo codes on my purchases which are available online. So far I have seen a benefit of using it otherwise I wouldnât bother.
I donât impulse buy on the online sites, but its tough not to do it at Costco, thats for sure.
Slight digression, but a leap forom the living in a condo note: I was just reading an article about living in tinyhouses. Takes a special person/couple/family? to live in a few hundred square feet (other than having to trying to afford a studio in NYC or something). And definitely no room for stockpiling from Costco!
Jet seems to fill the niche for buyers like raclut and should have marketed itself as such, not as âbeware, Amazonâ. For me⊠Costco is the closest grocery store. I dive in for fruit and bread and donât look elsewhere. If you go to Costco often enough, you would become immune to impulse shopping. 
Where are you guys getting that one needs to order $35 on Amazon for free shipping? That is not my experience at all. (or is that Jet?)
Iâm not trying to be obtuse here. Iâm wondering if itâs just vastly different buying patters or what that make one more optimal than the other for any given person. That seems like it might be in and in that case it isnât a head to head competition of some kind because they arenât really offering the same thing.
Is the free shipping on Amazon only for prime members? (otherwise the $35 minimum)
@bunsenburner I have a lot of friends who are very happy at Costco. They save on meat, fruit, bread, and the bakery aisle. I heard that they also save on gas for the car and on prescriptions. I wish there was one close by but the closest one is about 40 minutes away and it is a madhouse. (like going to a blackfriday sale) Also Costco items are too large for our family of two. I would have to buy with a friend and split the item amongst us. I have seen the crazy crowds for the free samples when I went with a friend once. I get coupons for free trial at BJâs but that is also just as far.
I wish we had large farmers markets here year round. When I say buy in bulk I mean medium size bulk not like supersize at Costco.
As far as living in a condo (998 sq ft) is concerned we live in a prime area 6 miles from DC where house prices are outrageous.
I like the convenience it offers but it forces me to constantly clean up and I tend to like open space and not have stuff in every corner.
saintfan,
I have Amazon prime ($99 membership fee) , so have no minimum purchase on Amazon, except if there is an item I want that turns out to be an âadd-onâ, the only way to be able to buy it is to buy $25 worth of stuff. That is annoying and I wonât do it. Have not, and do not ever plan to have to buy more than I want in order to buy an âadd-onâ.
On jet, there is no membership fee, but normally (except now, with the temporary free shipping promo) in order to avoid the $5.99 s&h you have to spend $35. That said, they have been having many promos ($10 off, $15 off new accounts, and now free s&h with no minimum). Raclut does a much better job at finding great deals with jet, and has had only one snafu, at its inception (and they worked with her to rectify their error). They have tried to accommodate me with credits and refunds, but its been a rough go with these last few orders.
Jet claims to give a quick response to emails, but after almost 4 hrs and no response, I called to see if there was an update on my order. Long story short, the rep was able to reach the outside vendor just at the close of day who said they were behind in updating their shipping logs, and it was likely my item had been shipped. The rep was asked to email the vendor with the order number in order to check the status of the order (and i asked her to cc me as well) but we got no response, and of course the vendor is closed on the weekend. Sigh. So I wait.
Whatâs the s&h on amazon without prime?
Annnndddd⊠The outside vendor for my jet order has no history of the order being placed. Lovely. Just lovely.
The S & H varies if you donât use PRIME. You can search by PRIME items (which I always do) or NEXT DAY PRIME which I almost never do. When you search by PRIME only and select and item it will sometimes tell you that the item may be available at a lower price from non-PRIME sellers and will link those offerings. You can then decide what is the better deal for you. Our D often finds that for used textbooks it is cheaper to take the non-prime option and pay $3.99 for shipping. For Sâs textbooks I found them on PRIME substantially less than at the book store and other textbook sites and ended up ordering on PRIME for the predictable, trackable shipping. D has found that some used textbook orders from outside sources can take several weeks to arrive which is not helpful if you need it for a class and the book is posted late in the game. I am OK with paying substantially less than the bookstore but a couple bucks more than the cheapest seller to get the book drop shipped to the kid in 2 days.
Am aware of all that, saintfan. Was just asking in general, for those who DO NOT have prime, what the standard s&h is.
I got two boxes delivered today by Jet that were ordered on Thursday. Everything came just fine.
Well, Jet doesnât offer free delivery to HI, so we wonât be using it. 
Thatâs one of the things I like about Amazon, IF you meet their price points with or without Prime, you can get the delivery as advertised, not, âWhoops, youâre in HI, so no delivery for you!â
I wonât even tell you guys the latest status, but when one of their reps calls another of their reps an idiot, you can guess. I have actually been in communication with the vendor. Theyâve been easier to deal with. Package is on its way but I am not convinced I will be billed correctly.
Well, eureka, the package arrived today. Now will wait and see what happens with the vbilling. Anyone ant to wager on this?
Just got an email from Jet informing that Jet membership is now free for everyone. The rest like free shipping on orders over $35 still there.
Yep, I got the email too.