does amazon still overcharge for shipping?

[blueagent004]

one thing i've always deeply hated about amazon a decade ago was that they never, ever tell you the cost of shipping until they're actually charging you for it, and they can charge you for any amount at anytime they want, and you don't find out about it until you get your credit card bill. for me, it was literally daylight robbery back then and i will never forget it.

i remember how back in 2003 when i placed an order on amazon using my credit card, they required me to pay for the item first before separately charging me again a few days later for a ridiculous high amount of shipping fee. (the item wasn't purchased from random sellers on amazon, but rather from amazon directly)

so basically, amazon initially charged my credit card for the $80 dollar item without telling me how much shipping it will cost, which made me really nervous. then a mere few days later they charged my credit card again for a huge sum of $120 dollars for shipping and handling. my jaws literally dropped when i saw my credit card bill.... i couldn't believe my eyes, i didn't think that people would be allowed to operate a business like that and still managed to survive for that long.

i mean what kind of an online store would asks you to pay upfront for the full cost of the item without telling you the cost of postage, then only after you paid for the item would you be informed that amazon can, and will charge you again later for any amount that they want in order to ship the item to you. it's absolutely ludicrous. also i wasn't the only one who have a problem with amazon back then, over the years, from time to time, my friends and classmates would mentioned about how they weren't able to see shipping cost before payment on amazon which made them reluctant to order.

nevertheless, after this harrowing, hair-raisingly dreadful experience, it would be my first and last time that i would ever do business with them again. i started to buy from other online stores like ebay, yesasia, or arrow.com and none of them have ever had a problem with showing me the cost of postage prior to checkout. throughout the years, admist all the competition, amazon seems to be the only old dinosaur left in the entirety of the e-commence ecosystem that still operates on this kind of ancient business practice of "give me your credit card now and we will charge you as much as we want later without telling you first!".

i rekon it's a miracle that amazon didn't go bankrupt back when paypal was first integrated into ebay and everyone and their grandma was selling and buying on ebay using a paypal account. as i recall you can only make or accept payment on ebay using a credit card, bank account, wire, or that E-Trasfer thing they had. this was all prior to integrating the paypal checkout system, meanwhile amazon kept sticking with credit card only and offers next to no buyer protection unless you file a chargeback in which case they will ban your account and delivery address for life.

so i'm curious to know, does amazon still overcharge people for shipping like that? or have they changed their ways? i made a new account on amazon just for testing and it seems that they're STILL at their old ways of not showing postage rate during the checkout process, and surprise surprise, they want me to checkout with my credit card first before they will gave postage rate. (i'm using amazon U.S main website by the way) now why? why on earth are they still doing this?

can anyone please tell me why people are still OK with buying from amazon even though they can't see how much they will be charged for postage rate? i really didn't understand this kind of mentality back then, and i still don't to this day.

thanks for letting me know!

 

[dimmidice]

can anyone please tell me why people are still OK with buying from amazon even though they can't see how much they will be charged for postage rate?

Because you can see the delivery charges before paying. I'm thinking either your info is outdated (but why wouldn't you check that before ranting?) or it's only for hong kong?

 

[blueagent004]

Because you can see the delivery charges before paying. I'm thinking either your info is outdated (but why wouldn't you check that before ranting?) or it's only for hong kong?

i DID check on amazon before making this thread, as i said i registered a new account just to see if amazon is still up to their old ways and they still are. let me post a screenshot for you in a sec.

 

[dimmidice]

i DID check on amazon before making this thread, as i said i registered a new account just to see if amazon is still up to their old ways and they still are. let me post a screenshot for you in a sec.

That's probably cause you're in hong kong then. I'm in belgium and any order i place on amazon (be it co.uk .de .fr) all show the shipping fees before confirming the order.

 

[tech3475]

I’ve never known Amazon to not state the shipping fee when ordering as part of the total, at least in the UK.

They did used to omit any import taxes for international purchases (which is common), but they seem to have added that now as part of the total last I looked but untested.

 

[blueagent004]

when i click on checkout at my shopping cart, amazon wants me to enter my credit card info to place an order, they did not show me any postage rate anywhere on the website.

now i could just give them my credit card and see what happens next, but that's exactly what i did back in 2003, and then i was immediately charged the $80 dollars, that's what terrified me so much as a teenager back then, i didn't think i would be charged until they showed me the postage rate, but that's not what happened in 2003; they just charged me right there and then and i was told to wait for them to charge the second payment for international postage once they were able to get the weight/size of my item.

 

[dimmidice]

when i click on checkout at my shopping cart, amazon wants me to enter my credit card info to place an order, they did not show me any postage rate anywhere on the website.

now i could just give them my credit card and see what happens next, but that's exactly what i did back in 2003, and then i was immediately charged the $80 dollars, that's what terrified me so much as a teenager back then, i didn't think i would be charged until they showed me the postage rate, but that's not what happened in 2003. they just charged me right there and then and i was told to wait for them to charge the second payment for international postage once they were able to get the weight/size of my item.

There's like 7 steps in the check out process. Til the final step nothing is ordered. (Not unless you use 1 click order) And yeah you gotta add a payment source before you can order and see the total tally.

Edited out personal info of course. But here you can see the steps. It's not ordered or paid for til you click "buy now".

I don't like how they just deduct the money from my bank account in my case. Without me confirming it. In the US thats apparently commonly done but in EU amazon's the first webstore i've come across that works like that.

 

[blueagent004]

they want my credit card info now, but i'm not going to let them trick me again.

 

[dimmidice]

Fucksake dude, i've told you how it works. You see the shipping fees on the "place order" page.

 

[tech3475]

they want my credit card info now, but i'm not going to let them trick me again.

Read the box to the right of the card payment information, it says "You can review this order before it's final".

 

[blueagent004]

Fucksake dude, i've told you how it works. You see the shipping fees on the "place order" page.

opps, i didn't see that image you posted, sorry about that. you're right it looks like there are more steps after this one. but just to be safe i'm going to call the bank tomorrow and have them temporarily stop all payment on my credit card before i try anything. thanks so much again for your help! i truly appreciate it!