Amazon. com Help: U. S. Shipping Rates & Times

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Amazon. com Help: U. S. Shipping Rates & Times

Don’t let your boss or government block you from your favorite sites. When you connect to a website through our web proxy, you aren't actually connecting to the website you're viewing.

Anonymous Browsing

Instead of connecting directly to a website, let us connect to the website and send it back to you, and no one will know where you’ve been.

Security, identity fraud

Hide your IP online, unblock any banned sites such as facebook and twitter, protect your online privacy.

Why ProxyPy?

Popular Sites Supported

We support access to all popular large sites, such as facebook/google.

MORE SPEED, MORE SECURITY

Our servers are more secure and efficient with the ProxyPy v3.0 engine

Large number of available servers

We have the United States, Europe, Asia Pacific and other real servers.

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Thursday, September 1, 2011

How to Find Amazon Merchants that Ship Items to Your Country and Internationally

Amazon is a global marketplace where sellers and buyers from around the world can sale and buy goods. The company being based on the U. S. can ship to buyers in the United States freely often providing with free shipping through the Super Saver Shipping and Amazon Prime programs. Amazon have marketplaces in a couple of other countries as well – Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and United Kingdom, at the time of this writing. Buyers from these countries can buy from their respective Amazon marketplaces and avail offers such as free shipping.

International Shipping

When items need to be shipped outside the territory where Amazon operates, various restrictions dictated by international laws come into play, due to which Amazon cannot ship all products to all countries.

Books, DVDs, music and VHS videos can be shipped to almost all destination outside the U. S. without restrictions. Only some products such as clothing, consumer electronics, health and personal care, home and garden, industrial and scientific, jewelry, pet supplies, shoes, software, toys, video games, watches etc. can be shipped to some international destinations.

Amazon can ship only to the following countries:

Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom.

However, there are some merchants on Amazon, that can ship all products to all countries.

Locating Merchants at Amazon Marketplace

Products sold on Amazon fall under two categories – 1) products sold by Amazon. com, the company, and 2) products sold by Amazon merchants.

Amazon merchants are independent sellers that sell their products through Amazon, just like sellers on eBay. These merchants have their own shipping rates, methods, and terms, and some of them ships to all over the world, including countries that Amazon doesn’t officially ship to. It’s because of these merchants that Amazon is such a great place to buy, and often at bargain prices.

When you click on a product listed for sale on Amazon you arrive at the product page. Here is the product page for Nikon’s new release D5100.

This product is sold by Amazon. com (highlighted in the screenshot). Now, I know Amazon doesn’t ship cameras to India. So I click on “23 new” to find merchants that sell the same camera, and to see if anyone of them ships to my country.

Here is the partial list of merchants that currently stocks and sells the item. Now I can tell at a glance who ships the products internationally and who does not.

How? From the link “International & domestic shipping rates”. Merchants which ships only within the U. S. will have “Domestic shipping rates” shown. To find whether a merchant will ship to your country, click on the International & domestic shipping rates link, scroll to the bottom of the page and locate your country in the list. You can also find out how much it will cost you in terms of shipping from this page.

Another way to determine this is to add the item to your cart and proceed to checkout. Then enter the destination address. If the item cannot be shipped to the address you entered you will receive a message such as "We're sorry. This item can't be shipped to your selected destination". If no such message is displayed, the item can be shipped to your country.

Automate it Using Browser Extension

An easier way would be to use a Firefox and Chrome extension called Does Amazon Ship to.

Does Amazon Ship to. adds a button to the product page that lets you quickly find all merchants that ships that product to your country. On the product page, click on the button titled “Check if this item could be shipped to your country” and choose your country from the list.

This opens a list that displays all merchants that stocks the product, their price and an icon indicating whether the merchant ships the product to the country you have chosen. A green icon means the product can be shipped to your country and a red icon means no. This saves you from manually opening each merchant’s shipping rates page.

Also, after you select your country the selection is saved so you don’t have to chose your country every time you use the button. Does Amazon Ship to. is an excellent add-on for those international buyers who frequently shop at Amazon.

One caveat: Does Amazon Ship to. requires Adobe Flash plug-in to work.

Locating Products Sold by Amazon. com That Ship Internationally

While buying goods from merchants is entirely safe as buying directly from Amazon. com, if for some reason you want to buy only stuff sold by Amazon. com, then you can use Amazon Global.

Amazon Global takes the guesswork and heavy lifting out of international shipping.

By shopping through Amazon Global, you'll be able to take advantage of duty and tax estimation during checkout, as well as customs clearance by the courier on your behalf. Whether you're sending gifts overseas or shipping to your own international address, Amazon Global will help get your items delivered without surprise duty charges or hassles.

Only products sold by Amazon. com falls under Amazon Global. Products sold by merchants doesn’t come under it.

Pro Tip: Interested in saving a few bucks? Search for ‘Amazon coupons’ on Google/Bing to locate active coupons that will knock off a few dollars from your order. Also search for ‘Amazon deals’ to know about discounts and special offers.

How Does Shipping on Amazon Work?

So how does Amazon get the stuff that you order from either one Amazon’s own product depots, or the (ware)house of a third-party seller, to your doorstep? More importantly, how fast can it do that, and how much does it cost you above and beyond what you paid for your merchandise in the first place? Read on and find out.

Shipping Services that Amazon Uses

Amazon usually uses the largest and most trusted courier services for its deliveries, including UPS, FedEx, and the U. S. Postal Service. However, it has also begun using other local and regional couriers to ship its goods, including:

APEX / ECMS Express ABF Freight System Inc. DHL Express i-parcel LaserShip Menlo Worldwide / UPS Supply Chain Solutions MSI OnTrac Parcel Pool

If you buy items from a third-party seller on Amazon, they may choose their own shipping options, as well.

Amazon Shipping Times

The time it takes to be shipped something you purchased on Amazon depends on whether you’re buying directly from Amazon or from a third party, what speed of shipping you choose, and where you live.

Direct from Amazon — Inside U. S.

Shipping to a location in the continental U. S. usually takes 4 or 5 business days with standard shipping, 2 business days with priority shipping, and 1 business day with express shipping.

Shipping to Alaska, Hawaii, or Puerto Rico usually takes 3 to 7 business days with standard shipping, 2 to 5 business days with expedited shipping, and 1 to 4 business days with priority shipping.

Shipping to any other U. S. territory (e. g. Virgin Islands, Marshall Islands, American Samoa) usually takes 3 to 5 business days with standard shipping, or 1 to 4 business days with priority shipping.

Direct from Amazon — Outside U. S.

Shipping times to areas outside the U. S. vary by region and the shipping speed that you choose. For lists of these times, see this help section on Amazon global shipping times.

From a Third-Party Seller

NOTE: These times may vary by up to 2 days, as this is usually the time frame within which third-party sellers will ship their items after you have ordered them. They may also vary based on the individual seller’s policies, so be sure to read those in the seller’s profile.

Shipping to a location in North America usually takes 4 to 21 business days (but usually not more than 14) with standard shipping, 2 to 6 business days with expedited shipping, 2 business days with priority shipping, and 1 business day with express shipping.

Shipping to a location abroad usually takes 3 to 6 weeks with standard shipping (but may take 8 to 12 weeks if there are delays in clearing customs), and 3 to 7 business days with expedited shipping.

How much is shipping on Amazon?

In general, you can find shipping costs for an order on Amazon when you go to review it, underneath the Place Your Order button.

Beyond that, your shipping costs are affected by whether you’re inside or outside the U. S., the shipping speed that you choose, as well as whether you’re ordering merchandise directly from Amazon or from a third-party seller.

Inside U. S. Shipping Rates — Direct from Amazon

Amazon keeps relatively tight-lipped about how much it costs to ship items to people in the U. S. directly from Amazon, perhaps because of the amount of competition between courier services in America. As such, it does not explicitly list its shipping rates within the U. S., except to say that they are affected by the shipping speed that you select, as well as how large or heavy the items that you’re purchasing are. They also may be affected by how expensive the items you purchase are; if they’re expensive enough, you may be able to get Amazon to waive the shipping costs.

The shipping costs associated with third-party sellers below may give you a general guideline for these costs.

Outside U. S. Shipping Rates — Direct from Amazon

Shipping costs to areas outside the U. S. from Amazon vary not only by region, but by the type(s) of goods being shipped and the shipping speed chosen. For lists of these costs, see this help section on Amazon’s global shipping rates.

Inside U. S. Shipping Rates — From Third-Party Seller

Shipping to locations within the United States using standard shipping usually costs between $4 and $4.50 per item. Certain bulky items may cost an additional 50₵ per pound of weight.

Shipping to locations within the United States using expedited shipping usually costs between $6.20 and $7 per item. Certain bulky items may cost an additional $1 per pound of weight.

Priority shipping within the United States costs about $15 per item, and is restricted to certain non-bulky items such as books, CDs, vinyl records, VHS tapes, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs.

Express shipping within the United States costs about $20 per item, and is restricted to certain non-bulky items such as books, CDs, vinyl records, VHS tapes, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs.

Outside U. S. Shipping Rates — Third-Party Seller

Shipping to locations outside the U. S. using standard shipping usually costs about $15 per item. The only exception is books; they usually cost $17 per item weighing less than 1 lb., and $25 per item weighing more than 1 lb.

Shipping to locations outside the U. S. using expedited shipping usually costs about $46.50 per item, regardless of its type or weight.

So, to answer the two most frequently asked questions about shipping on Amazon:

How much is one-day shipping on Amazon?

Assuming that you live either in a U. S. territory or at least a country in North America, and have chosen either priority or express shipping (which are the two conditions necessary to potentially have an item shipped within one day), shipping will probably cost you between $15 and $20 per item.

How much is 2-day shipping on Amazon?

Again, assuming that you live somewhere in the U. S. (including overseas territories like Hawaii or the Virgin Islands) or North America in general, and are using either expedited or priority shipping (which are the two conditions that will likely get an order to you within two days), shipping will cost you between $6 and $15 per item.

And that’s everything you need to know about Amazon shipping. If you want some more information, check out our other articles on how to track your Amazon order and how to get free shipping.