Amazon purchase... Aaauugghhh!

[tmm99]

I had to look. Here is mine. I'm totally OK with my Amazon spending. (I pulled this info using Mint(export "Amazon" transactions) and then Excel-Pivot..) It's so much nicer to be able to shop from home and get the products in 2 days (for most items). They make it so easy to return items too, which I sometimes do. If I end up buying some cr*p that I don't use or I don't like, I just return to Amazon for free. No harm done. I returned close to half a dozen items to Amazon last year.

2012 $3,690
2013 $3,852
2014 $2,320
2015 $1,408
2016 $2,306
2017 $3,265

This sounds kind of crazy, but I ordered an item from amazon.com using the global International shipping option to Canada. I just returned the item about 10 days ago, and yesterday, I received a refund, and the refund includes the shipping fee they charged me to send the item to Canada, as well as the shipping fee I paid to send the item back. And the import deposit fee. I know the shipping is free for domestic deliveries, but for international deliveries too? WOW.

 

[ERD50]

Does Amazon add this up for us? If so I forgot how to find it... Thanks in advance.

I had 40 orders in 2017, but don't have a total cost yet.

I just did it (and I've done it in previous years), and then I couldn't figure out what I did! OK, I re-created it.

It's a little odd, you have to follow a path that isn't obvious.

Go to "YOUR ACCOUNT", but DO NOT click on "YOUR ORDERS"!!!

Instead, scroll down to "Ordering and shopping preferences", and click on "Download order reports". From there you can select a time frame and it generates a report to download. Not obvious at all, IMO.


-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

Well, I started a CC thread and the Amazon Prime CC is a nice suggested option.
That got me thinking ... we are an Amazon Prime member and I checked my 2017 spending on Amazon ... ~ $5500 spent last year !!!!

Yuck, I almost threw up. Many items were nromal consumables but, there was also a lot of cr@p and sh@t that we bought.
That was a real eye opener.

Amazon makes it so easy to buy stuff that it can get out of hand.

How bad are we? Has anyone else done this lately?
This needs to be throttled down before I can retire.

I simply cannot get my head around this mind-set. So you are buying stuff that you don't really want/need? Huh?

I just looked, spent ~ $1400 with Amazon this year, but if it was $14,000 - so what? I would not have bought it if I did not consider that each purchase was something of value to me.

It's like the thread about how much you spent on the holidays/ I spend what I spend. Each purchase is considered if it is "worth it" to us. I wouldn't spend any less or any more.

-ERD50

 

[calmloki]

Interesting. Think of myself as pretty immune to the blandishments of stores. Do love a deal though, so come 2016 year end I bought $1500 in gift card to take advantage of the Discover card's 5% rebate during that period. Figured we would work against that $1500 through the year. Our number of orders, starting in 2013 though 2017, was 14, 38, 42, 40, 56. Looks like that $1500 pre-spent money felt like free money when it came to purchase time.

I do tend to look at prices on Amazon and then check other online sites - not infrequently a better deal is out there.

 

[Ready]

I just did it (and I've done it in previous years), and then I couldn't figure out what I did! OK, I re-created it.

It's a little odd, you have to follow a path that isn't obvious.

Go to "YOUR ACCOUNT", but DO NOT click on "YOUR ORDERS"!!!

Instead, scroll down to "Ordering and shopping preferences", and click on "Download order reports". From there you can select a time frame and it generates a report to download. Not obvious at all, IMO.


-ERD50

Thanks - I had no idea that option existed.

So I placed 112 orders totaling $3500. Seems about what I would have expected. I don't think I'm a big impulse buyer on Amazon. I just buy from them what I otherwise would buy from local stores. Mostly groceries and consumables.

 

[CaptTom]

I can't find the Orders History link on my Orders page. I did find a help article that linked to it, but I can't seem to navigate there myself. [Edit, just read the post above. Duh!]

Anyway, I'm at under $2,500, but DW is probably at least on par with that. She has a separate account.

I'm sure it's saved me a ton of money, fuel and aggravation. Far more than the Prime membership fee.

The 5% off using the Amazon store card is just gravy.

 

[phil1ben]

Bought the stock 2 years ago and don't think about purchases. It is not too late........Don't know if this is a stock theory but it has worked for me for 30 years. Every time I get annoyed about the amount I am spending on something or if the waitlist/line/backorder is too long, I buy the stock if it is a public company. Just a few examples:

Amazon - as above
Disney many years ago - when we were taking kids there (who are now 25).
Comcast - Ridiculous cable bills 15 years ago.
Zoetis - Dogs prescriptions costing more than my own.
JNJ- Band- Aids
Thor Industries - backlog for an Airstream a few years ago. Still have not pulled the trigger but the stock has paid for one.
Ryanair - Line at the Ryanair counter when I was traveling in Europe.
Chubb - My homeowners insurance was very high.
Camping World - Line at the checkout counter.
Verizon - Many years ago when I was annoyed at the increase in my cellular bills.

So much better to get even........

 

[RetiredGypsy]

On Amazon, you can create an order history report, and see exactly how much you've spent over whatever period of time for the last decade.

You can download it as a spreadsheet, and then grab a stiff drink. Or maybe that's just me?

Since 2007, I've spent $20,000 on Amazon, $5,200 of that from 2017 alone. Not counting somewhere between $400-500 in credit card rewards paid back in 2017.

 

[cbo111]

Yesterday at 10:00am I ordered turbotax CD. On checkout, the prompt said "order in the next 90 minutes and receive it today for free." Yikes, how do they do that? I felt kinda guilty since I really didn't need it same day. So I opted for the, also free, 2-day ship option.
I also see on Costco.com that they offer same-day delivery of grocery items in certain areas of the country.

 

[Carpediem]

They make it so easy to return items too, which I sometimes do. If I end up buying some cr*p that I don't use or I don't like, I just return to Amazon for free.

Wait a sec....return for free? How? I just returned 2 different items and they deducted the shipping costs from my refunds.

 

[Dawg52]

A little over $1k. Thought it would have been more.

 

[Jerry1]

I need to send more. 50ish orders just over $2,000. I will agree though that since I got Prime, I know my purchases are up. It is just a bit too convenient.

For those that have their card, is there a point (in dollars spent at Amazon) that their card is a better deal than some others? I need to get a new card but was leaning to the Citi double cash back card (2% on everything) because I don't travel enough to make the travel cards worth it. The other options being considered are the Amazon card and the Costco card.

 

[REWahoo]

Wait a sec....return for free? How? I just returned 2 different items and they deducted the shipping costs from my refunds.

Sounds like you purchased the items through Amazon from a third party seller. Those guys usually charge delivery for returns unless defective.

 

[Carpediem]

Sounds like you purchased the items through Amazon from a third party seller. Those guys usually charge delivery for returns unless defective.

Yep, you're right.

"Sold by SUBRTEX HOUSEHOLD and Fulfilled by Amazon."

 

[tmm99]

Wait a sec....return for free? How? I just returned 2 different items and they deducted the shipping costs from my refunds.

Oh, I usually don't pay the shipping fee anyway (Prime Member) but as for the global shipping, I'm not a prime member in the US anymore, so I don't think that was the reason I got a full refund. They paid the shipping over here and the shipping back even. And that was a "fulfilled by Amazon" deal. It could have been the seller that was nice to me, I don't know.

Even if you're not a Prime member, if you return an item because of a defect, or something else that's wrong with it, I don't think they make you pay for their shipping charges coming to you or going back to them, although now, Amazon is full of 3rd parties, and it may be different with pure 3rd party sellers (not the "fulfilled by Amazon" folks).

I've returned a seat cushion which became flat after sitting on it for a couple of weeks (Fulfilled by Amazon), the ring stone color was pinkish instead of red as advertised (International but fulfilled by Amazon), a steam cleaner steam was too weak to clean anything (Fulfilled by Amazon), an elbow pad that was supposedly sized small was so big that it slid off my arm (Fulfilled by Amazon). The shipping back has always been free for me, even when I wasn't a Prime member.

I requested and got a refund for a couple of Kindle books also, just like regular books.

 

[tmm99]

By the way, talking about Amazon, did you know you can check historical prices of items sold on Amazon? I just got this website information from a friend recently.

https://camelcamelcamel.com/

All you have to do is to type in the URL of an item on Amazon and it will give you historical price change info in a graph format. It doesn't seem to register short spurs of low prices, but I just love looking at graphs like this!

Here is the graph for Instant Pot DUO 6QTS everyone was going after during Black Friday and Xmas...

https://camelcamelcamel.com/Instant-Pot-Multi-Use-Programmable-Packaging/product/B00FLYWNYQ

Please ignore this post if you already knew about camel camel camel...

 

[REWahoo]

By the way, talking about Amazon, did you know you can check historical prices of items sold on Amazon? I just got this website information from a friend recently.

https://camelcamelcamel.com/

You can also use the website to send you alert when the price drops below whatever amount you specify.

 

[bingybear]

just over $1800. Not bad considering the majority was car repair parts/supplies, dehumidifier, 2 new cell phones, 2 weekend back packs, 8TB backup drive, and Xmas gifts.
Items like toner and car supplies will repeat, others not so much.

 

[tmm99]

You can also use the website to send you alert when the price drops below whatever amount you specify.

I SO did not know that. I got to check it out!! Thank you!!

 

[albireo13]

I went through last year's order history and manually added it up. A PITA but, worth it for the insight it reveals.

Some stuff is normal things I'd buy at stores ... health stuff, vitamins, cleaning supplies, gift cards, etc. I would say 1/2 of it are things that are not necessities.
Christmas and birthday gift cards and purchases fueled the conflagration. Having 5 kids sometimes leads to more spending.

 

[albireo13]

Given all this, using an Amazon CC is starting to make sense. the 5% benefit will give me anothe +$250.

 

[Aerides]

Most of my amazon shopping is simply transferred from what would have been target, office depot, grocery/pet food, christmas gifts. It's really just a consolidation of what used to go elsewhere. I use the 5% card, got about $80 in GC's as bonuses for getting the card too.

The convenience of Prime does invite over-shopping, but that is one reason to remember the liberal return policy.

When making a discretionary purchase though it always makes sense to shop around. Amazon is often NOT the lowest price, even with free shipping factored in.

 

[NavAir]

$3460. About 9% was gift cards, etc. Not too bad. Almost $1K was a telescope for our condo. I'll have to watch this closely in the future.

 

[HI Bill]

1999: 2 orders
2007: 34
2008: 44
2015, before Prime: 69
2017: with Prime: 88 (ouch)

Average spending per month over the past 6 years has varied from $300-$800, but this includes clothes, work shoes, household, and hobby expenses. In high-spending years, it usually includes high-$ lenses or camera bodies.

 

[easysurfer]

Anything I've spent on Amazon, I've needed.

Um....really ... .