<p>This is a combo rant and plea for info. I ordered some books from Amazon (a common thing for me) and chose Super Saver shipping. OK, so I’m getting shipping for “free”, so I don’t expect much, but how do they do things so that it takes so long, how do they do it for free?</p>
<p>Order placed - Aug 2 (takes 3-5 business days to process order, OK, that’s part of free shipping) - estimated delivery dat - Sept 6, all items are in stock.</p>
<p>Carrier notified to pick up package - Aug 8
Pkg picked up - Aug 14 in NJ
Pkg in transit to Atl through Aug 20
Pkg arrived Aug 21.</p>
<p>What are they doing, how are they shipping this???</p>
<p>I’ve noticed it taking longer, and longer to ship, I wish I understood better, then I could make a better decision about paying for shipping or not or going to B&N.</p>
<p>I use Super Saver shipping all the time, and my books usually get here faster than they estimate…as did yours. You’ll notice that there’s a 6-day lag between the time the order was ready and when it was picked up - free shipments probably go to the back of the line. Mine usually arrive via US Mail, so they’re probably sent Book Rate (did yours come that way, or by another carrier, like UPS?) </p>
<p>The only time I don’t use free shipping is around the holidays, when their volume is very high and things get delayed. Overall I’ve been very happy with Amazon.</p>
<p>B&N always ships immediately. And it’s also free if the order is over $25. I’ve ordered books from Amazon & they’ve taken so long that I’ve completely forgotten about them!</p>
<p>I have to agree that the super saver free shipping is a gamble. My understanding is that Amazon has warehouses/distribution centers around the country and you would think that the closer you have one of those to your address, the sooner you would get the items. However, we have one of those in sort-of-nearby Delaware and I have gotten items two weeks after I have placed an order without any mention of backorders or problems.</p>
<p>I had no idea Super Saver was so slow. I have only used it once, to order 30 copies of a book a teacher wanted to use in a class. Delivery was within a week.</p>
<p>No, No, Booklady - my books are in Atlanta - I’m not!
I understand the 4 days between ordering on line and order entry, Amazon tells you that it takes 3-5 business days to process - I don’t understand why it takes the postal service 6 days to pick up the box, and another 6 days just to get from NJ to Atlanta. I’m waiting breathlessly to find out how long it takes to get from Atlanta to the mailbox.</p>
<p>I’ve been doing SuperSaver awhile, and always before - if items were in stock - it took tops, 14-16 days, even at holiday time, I’m 19 days and the box isn’t even in my state.</p>
<p>I think SuperSaver shipping has become slower recently - entirely on the Amazon processing end. I have definitely noticed an increase in the time between placing the order and Amazon shipping the order. Perhaps to get us all to sign up for Amazon Prime?</p>
<p>Maybe they only put the super-saver packages on the trucks if there’s an itty-bitty amount of space left over after everyone else’s packages are loaded. Therefore, your package sits there for days until there is some extra space? It sounds like they might be “piggy backing” the SS packages.</p>
<p>Supersaver is exactly as Doubleplay describes: lower priority, space available shipping. Think of it kind of like flying standby.</p>
<p>I have had Amazon Prime for about a year now and love it. I do notice that it means whenever I buy something I check first to see if I can get it from Amazon… which I’m sure is why Amazon does it.</p>
<p>Yea Super Saver is ridiculous. I put an order today, expected between Sept 4-10th! Oh well, shipping for this would be a tidy sum, so I can compromise.</p>
<p>I do understand that you get what you pay for, but, I truly think that Super Saver has slowed down, particularly since it went from being an occasional promotion to be a regular feature of Amazon, and, like Firefly, I have wondered if that had something to do with Amazon Prime. This is the worst I’ve seen, though.
I refuse to do Amazon Prime - they have to be making a fortune on that.</p>
<p>I posted out of frustration, and also because I thought about kids ordering textbooks - hard to wait 3-4 weeks to get your textbooks, there are other easier websites for those.</p>
<p>I usually order my books through overstock.com these days. They have a large selection of books, and their prices are usually about 5% below Amazon’s. Their shipping rate is usually $2.95 per order, but there are many free shipping weekends (sometimes not including books) and you can usually get a free shipping coupon through Upromise (and 3-6% contribution for college funds). Things come pretty fast.</p>
<p>Super Saver has definitely slowed significantly. In the beginning, it shipped just as quickly as any paid order, and it was just a nice perq and “thank you” for spending over $25. Now, though, I almost always consider it worth the money to pay for shipping, or else go somewhere else to buy it.</p>
<p>I think it’s just an unfortunate consequence of Amazon expanding so far past being a bookstore and more into being a warehouse/outlet shipper.</p>
<p>I hate Super Saver. Last year I ordered books for my youngest for a vacation. they took so long to arrive that I had to go buy her books anyway. So last week when she wanted to order some books I was in no rush so did the Super Saver free shipping. Much to my surprise the books arrived in 3 days. They were not scheduled to arrive till next week. My D was happy. The bad news she reads so quickly that the 4 books are almost finished. Did like the buy 3 get one free.</p>
<p>I’ll let you know how my experience works out. Amazon just shipped my order out by Post Office on 8/21. We’ll see how long it takes to get here.</p>
<p>they really are hit or miss. I’ve had things take two weeks with super saver, and i’ve had things get here in two days. I had two sep. orders from amazon within a week of christmas last year and got them both on time. We just ordered stuff two thursdays ago and it came last tuesday… so that was fast as well.</p>
<p>OK! Books arrived in my hands yesterday - Aug 2 until Aug 21, inclusive. Just for perspective, I ordered a book for a friend on the same day, Aug 2, and it arrived at their house on Aug 4 or 6. That was regular shipping, but they live in Atl, so very possibly the book was warehoused closer to their home.</p>
<p>I will say this, also, although all the items ordered were listed as “in stock”, they aren’t big sellers or particularly new books - that was one reason why I used Amazon, I could get all the ones I wanted at one place.</p>
<p>Oh well, keep this in mind for the holidays or ordering textbooks.</p>
<p>We love Amazon Prime – 2 day shipping on any order for $79/year. I always check the Amazon new and used outside seller prices first however. Their shipping is $3.95/book but is not 2 day. I have not had much luck with books on eBay.</p>