It's been years since I ordered anything on Amazon US (made an account for some PS3 games a long time ago). I always ordered on my local Amazon store, so the France one for a long time, and the Japan one for the last 2 years.

But I wanted to buy some products unavailable in Japan, so I used Amazon.com to order. The products were in stock, the transport was not supposed to be very long (like 1 week), and not that expensive either, so no problem, right? I ordered, and then waited for my shipping confirmation email to track the package. And I waited. And I waited... 

It's been one week now, and 2 of the 3 orders I made are still in preparation for shipment. One order was not fulfilled by Amazon themselves, and the package was sent the next day by the third party seller, and is at the Japanese customs right now. Everything is fine with this one. But the Amazon orders? Just garbage level of service. And it's even more shocking when I compared with the other Amazon websites I'm used to. The Japanese website ships orders in usually one day, or less. I started to pay for Prime, and I can even get my orders in 24 hours even though I live in the middle on nowhere. For the French website, it was usually shipped in one or 2 days. I lived in Paris with Prime for a while, and I could order stuff in the morning and get it with an evening delivery.

But Amazon US? One week of handling, and not shipped yet. And from what I've read on internet, it seems to be perfectly usual. It's rumored to be made on purpose to push people to pay for Prime. But even for Prime, they apparently guarantee a 2 days delivery "after shipping", not from the time of the order. In France or Japan, it's 2 days after ordering. Big difference, especially if they take one week to ship.

So, since a lot of users here live in the US, I would like to know if this kind of one-week handling time is usual? Is it always that bad? If it is, how does Amazon stay popular in the US? I mean, most websites I use offer a 2 business days shipping. Being fast is a major selling point of web stores. Is there really no alternatives available, that people keep ordering in those bad conditions?

I'm pretty sure that next time I want to order something from the US, I'll find other websites. Really disappointed in Amazon US, if this is something usual they should ask their colleagues how to work properly. And I don't believe in stuff like "US is bigger" (the issue is just the handling time), or "more orders to handle". All countries had a huge increase in online orders in the last decade, no reasons for other countries to handle it fine but not the US. I don't get it.

No. It's usually pretty awesome. I buy stuff all the time and I don't pay for any faster shipping. My orders still arrive days in advance and I track them all the way. Often they ship the same day unless it's a weekend.

Only twice did I have any issue. I ordered some Green Lantern gloves or something that never arrived. I ordered an original Gameboy and instead received an old book. Both times were from some shady company. When I Googled the address, it was some old abandoned house.

Even then, I still got the Gameboy after contacting Amazon with a complaint.

I have Prime and I pretty much get nearly everything on time or a day earlier than promised.  Usually, I get surprised to find a "2-day shipping" item sitting on my steps the day after I ordered. Even when I didn't have Prime, I had little problem.  I've had delays due to natural disasters, which are understandable, or supplier issues.  

And I don't believe in stuff like "US is bigger"

... I'm pretty sure the US is bigger, actually.

I meant that I don't believe it's a good reason/excuse for a slow preparation.

And yeah, the package might arrive on time compared to what is written now on the delivery date. But it's not the same date as what was written before the order. It was written something like "Get it next week if you order now", and after I ordered, the tracking page changed it to "It will arrive in 4 weeks". Could be 2 weeks of preparation time, and then the transport. So sure, compared to what is written now on the tracking page, they won't be late. Still garbage level of service for those 2 orders. One of those 2 orders is just 1 product, currently in stock. Absolutely no reason whatsoever for a one week delay.

I sent a message to Amazon a couple of days ago to ask about it, still no answer (even though they say "we'll contact you back in 12 hours"...).

I pretty much always get my items before the estimated date, but I am shipping within the US.

You know when you get to the delivery options and you picked the cheapest option furthest away from priority shipping? That's why it's slow

Was the product actually in stock? Otherwise I dunno why you would have problems. I bought a tea that was shipped from china to my home that took only 6 days to get here.

What I've learned: check the seller's reputation, reviews, and how long they've been on Amazon.

And anyone who's been there for a while tends to bend over backwards for a good review. Bad reviews cost them money.

Yep, it was in stock. I even changed some products I wanted to get only "In stock" ones. It's still in stock by the way, for both orders. The only one not supposed to be in stock (I was supposed to wait a few more days for this one) is the one already in Japan. Dont know why.

The seller are Amazon themselves for one order, a mix of Amazon themselves and "shipped by Amazon" for the other (the sellers themselves are big sellers with thousands of reviews, between 97 and 100% positives). The only order shipped by another seller is the only one already shipped.

There should be no relation, the speed of the package doesn't change the speed of the preparation. Just the speed of the carrier. All the estimated dates on the delivery options were almost the same, just a couple of days faster for maybe 40 dollars more of shipping. Not worth it, and wouldn't change the preparation issue.

EDIT: Just checked, I don't even have a choice for the speed of delivery on the bigger order, only on the small one.

I hate it so much, that when I saw the title of this new topic, I jumped on it to say loud :

AMAZON IS A SHIT SHIT SHIIIIIIIIIT !

I can't find anything but ultra negative to say about it...Sellers FUCK the buyer in a stellar way, I can attest it : I have made my highest benefits on AMAZON. With a friend we sold like son of bitch video games...

If you have a pro interface, it is ok, but if you don't, man....I have pity for you if you are just getting started with it. Just get away from it and use EBAY please.

As seller or buyer, just run away AMAZON and let it die.