AMAZON and 'Fulfilled by AMAZON' - How can you buy?

Drphods on 28/06/2013 - 10:54

Hi Guys, I have tried to buy stuff through my AMAZON account and sometimes it has worked, but other times I get an error which says "We're sorry.

"There is a slight problem with your order. (See below.)
This item can't be shipped to your selected destination. You may either change the shipping address or delete the item from your order."

In one case I tried to buy 5 items, 3 were okay, but I was getting the error message in respect to 2 o f the items.

My question is, has anyone found out how to get around this problem? I have looked into getting a 'package forwarding service' located in the USA, but that adds so much to the cost as to make it no longer worthwhile, over buying items locally.

One last question, does it matter if the item is sold by AMAZON, or just 'Fulfilled by AMAZON" which I understand to mean, some other merchant is selling the item via AMZAON's site. I recently tried to buy a decent pair of headphones and tried to purchase a pair of closed back Audio-Technica ATH-A900X, for $151 delivered, which is a bargain, but I'm stuck until I can solve this problem.

Thanks in advance.

Electrical & Electronics

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Amazon US

Comments

  • dirtybird on 28/06/2013 - 11:27

    Its always a bit hit and miss with what they will send and what they wont.
    You cant really get around it as such unless you use a forwarder.

    Fullfillment by Amazon is explained here http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=2…
    From the packages I have received in the past Fullfillment means my items come in Amazon packaging so to me it looks exactly like a Sold by Amazon parcel.
    The supplier just uses Amazon as a Pick and Pack service.
    When I get stuff on Amazon that is "sold by Acme&Co" its just a regular parcel service.

    I use myusa.com (amex) as a forwarder, they are not cheap but they are damn fast.
    From my last two deliveries it looks like I get better value sending a 7kg parcel over a 3kg parcel.

    Here are some mail forwarders you might want to check out.
    http://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/list_of_mail_forwarders

    You could always ask you mates if there is anything they need as well and split the costs of the forwarding.

  • mskeggs on 28/06/2013 - 14:23
    +1

    In my experience, the "fulfilled by" rarely ships to Aus, or if they do the shipping rates are absurd.
    I suspect that psrt of setting up the fulfillment arrangement involves the seller specifying international package rates, so many sellers don't bother because it is hard, and those that do quote expensive USPS parcel rates.
    The stuff actually sold and shipped by Amazon itself is more likely to have shipping to Au, and they generally determine shipping on whole categories. So, for example, if they allow shipping on camera lenses they will ship all their lenes to Au.
    The net result is I only bother with stuff actually sold/shipped by Amazon directly.

    • Thaal Sinestro on 01/07/2013 - 01:26

      Your terms need a little clarification. "Fulfilled by Amazon" means a merchant sends their goods to Amazon's warehouses and Amazon handles the shipping charging the same prices as items sold directly by Amazon LLC. However, a company that has Amazon handle shipping can decide whether or not to allow their products to be shipped overseas, and the bulk don't allow overseas shipments. Amazon Marketplace is for products sold and shipped by non-Amazon companies. They all charge different shipping rates but are almost always very expensive compared to Amazon's shipping. Amazon is about $2.50 US per pound whereas shipping from USPS may work out at $10 per pound.

      Other than books, CDs and movies, I have discovered that Amazon ships the majority of toy merchandise overseas (board games, action figures, etc but excluding small and cheap toys). And occasionally you find items on Amazon sold by non-US sellers and available for shipping to Australia as well, such as Japanese made products.

      If you are new to shipping providers and want to place a small order, I would recommend PriceUSA. There is no subscription fee, and you don't get worthless copy and pasted answers to your questions. For combining multiple orders at your own leisure, or for heavy/bulky items (over 7 pounds), shipito has the cheapest shipping rates (make sure you use their California warehouse though) and gives you a considerable amount of control. They charge $10 per month for your personal storage space (items held for up to 90 days) + $2.50 per item combined + discounted shipping (TNT is good, and FedEx Economy only takes 4-5 days to arrive despite being Economy). The only drawback to California is the ~8% sale tax charged by Amazon, but you can avoid this if you instead purchase the item from a firm that offers fulfillment through Amazon. Oh, and non-flat rate USPS Priority Rate shipping from the east coast can be $10 or more to Cali.

  • Monad on 28/06/2013 - 14:56

    Amazon has a search facility for international shipping (link below), type in what you want and all items eligible for same will come up. Some of those items can be from Amazon, or a third party seller. From my experience, the products sold by Amazon tend to have much cheaper shipping than those sold by other sellers and any prices quoted as free shipping on the product page apply only to the USA. To find out shipping, add an item to the cart and it'll calculate based on your shipping address.

    Lastly, the free international shipping (see link below) on orders of $125 or over appear only to be for India and Singapore. Bugger it!

    http://www.amazon.com/International-Shipping-Direct/b?ie=UTF…

  • Drphods on 29/06/2013 - 19:56

    Thanks for the comments.

  • philart on 07/07/2013 - 16:17

    It'd be very convenient if Amazon had an Asian or Australian despatch centre, Singapore could be a good location.

    • Drphods on 08/07/2013 - 16:33

      Agreed. Doing business with AMAZON is not easy. They are missing out on a lot of trade!

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