I can't support the Amazon meme. Amazon's handling of shipping fees has been a slow-moving catastrophe, but the catastrophe has finally arrived.
The original system was that you paid separately for goods and for shipping. This meant you ordered whatever level of shipping you wanted.
Then they introduced Amazon Prime, where you paid a subscription fee and all of your orders received two-day shipping.
Then they stopped providing different levels of shipping. Even for non-Prime accounts. It's all best-effort. If you want two-day shipping, Amazon will no longer provide that.
$10.00 + $2.39 shipping meant you could substitute more expensive shipping if you needed it.
$12.39 + free shipping meant you could go screw yourself if you needed faster shipping, or even deterministic shipping.
I can't support the Amazon meme. Amazon's handling of shipping fees has been a slow-moving catastrophe, but the catastrophe has finally arrived.
The original system was that you paid separately for goods and for shipping. This meant you ordered whatever level of shipping you wanted.
Then they introduced Amazon Prime, where you paid a subscription fee and all of your orders received two-day shipping.
Then they stopped providing different levels of shipping. Even for non-Prime accounts. It's all best-effort. If you want two-day shipping, Amazon will no longer provide that.
$10.00 + $2.39 shipping meant you could substitute more expensive shipping if you needed it.
$12.39 + free shipping meant you could go screw yourself if you needed faster shipping, or even deterministic shipping.