How to ensure Amazon group shipments
Amazon group shipments is an excellent way to save money when online shopping in Jamaica. Amazon’s preferred setting is to group items into as few shipments as possible, but when that doesn’t happen mailbox shoppers in Jamaica end up having to pay for two or three additional shipments into Jamaica from just one order.
U.S. Mailbox fees
If you order gets spit into multiple shipments, the shipping fees to your Miami mailbox won’t change, the duties charged won’t change and the charge per pound by your local mailbox operator won’t change. However, most mailbox operators charge a minimum shipping charge when bringing in items on your behalf. This means that a grouped shipment may cost you say $3,000 but when sent by Amazon as 3 separate shipments could balloon to $5,000.
How Amazon combined shipments work
Currently when you shop online Amazon may or may not send the items in separate shipments. Amazon explains how combined shipments are determined. One of the key factors is the warehouse facility from which the items are being shipped. If your items are similar in nature and therefore stored in the same fulfilment facilities, then you are far more likely to have those items grouped together into one shipment.
Another major factor is the delivery date of the items. Even if you are an Amazon Prime member some of the items in your cart will have varying delivery dates. This is because different items have varying times when they are even available for shipping. Some items might not be in stock until a few days, some inventory might be in the middle being processed. Whatever the reason, not all items are readily available to be shipped.
Lastly and most importantly, the items must be fulfilled and shipped by Amazon. Naturally, if the item is being fulfilled and shipped by the seller themselves them grouping that item with others in your order would not be an option.
Why not group all shipments
You might ask, “Well why can’t I just ask Amazon to always group my orders?” Well think about it, Amazon processes millions of orders per day fulfilled from facilities all across America. To try and always group shipments together from items not in the same facility or with the same availability/delivery date, would be extremely costly and impractical for Amazon to attempt. Especially since this multiple shipments problem is not a major one for its core customer, the American shopper. It is more a problem for us, the Jamaican shopper.
Conclusion
So when ordering on Amazon how can you increase the likelihood of them grouping your shipments?
When placing orders try to:
- Buy items of similar categories.
- With similar delivery arrival dates.
- Fulfilled and shipped by Amazon.
It may seem like a lot of work to save a couple thousand dollars, but it really isn’t. For the most part picking similar items, fulfilled by Amazon, will make your shipment likely to be combined.
So when next you shop at Amazon, remember that picking similar items can save mailbox shipping costs.