Comments on: $8.00 for shipping or.... $0.87 for some batteries

$8.00 for shipping or.... $0.87 for some batteries

XQUZYPHYR — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:14:57 -0800

Straight from the Department of Things Everybody But Me Probably Knew About Two Years Ago, it was only yesterday that I discovered the mind-boggling usefulness of the Amazon Filler Item Finder, which allows you to enter the exact price of the item you need to pad your order up to $25.00 for free shipping. Happy postage-free holidays. The categories for the finder are customizable as well, so you can somewhat search only for items that might be practical as filler items. I stumbled across this last night after I was 84 cents short and wondering "god, is there a way to find out what items on Amazon are available for a dollar?" and if I'm the last person on earth to have know this site existed, please at the very least enjoy this rare moment of my amazed joy... like a child seeing snowfall for the first time.

By: absalom

absalom — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:16:29 -0800

I must have missed the memo, same as you. And here I've been scouring my wish list for 2.00 biographies and other bric-a-brac.

By: chillmost

chillmost — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:18:07 -0800

Hey it works on various international versions too! Cool! You are a beautiful sparkly snowflake....

By: Wolfdog

Wolfdog — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:18:10 -0800

That's brilliant. I usually just pad mine with another CD from Naxos, though, even if that's not optimal.

By: munchingzombie

munchingzombie — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:19:28 -0800

well, looks like you weren't the only one. Thanks for making my horrible holiday shopping a little easier.

By: amro

amro — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:22:02 -0800

Cool!

By: SemioticRobotic

SemioticRobotic — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:23:57 -0800

Filler Item Finder, where have you been all my life?

By: caddis

caddis — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:24:47 -0800

What a great way to take an extra eight bucks from you to save you four on shipping. Amazon is brilliant.

By: jquinby

jquinby — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:26:49 -0800

Nice, thanks!

By: pointystick

pointystick — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:28:07 -0800

Thank you! I had no idea either. Definitely will share this link around!

By: DU

DU — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:30:26 -0800

Neat idea, though my usual M.O. is to just let the order sit there for a day or two because I know I'll remember something I need to add and then not only do I get the free shipping but I also get all the stuff I really needed including a period at the end of this very long sentence.

By: XQUZYPHYR

XQUZYPHYR — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:31:10 -0800

What a great way to take an extra eight bucks from you to save you four on shipping. Amazon is brilliant. Book shipping in the U.S. is a $3.00 base fee plus a dollar for each item. I was ordering three books, meaning I would have had to pay six bucks to ship a $24.16 order. Instead, thanks to this site I added an 87-cent pack of AAA batteries to my order, which I've got maybe a 50% chance of using, and my shipping was free. So I don't really see where Amazon made out on this deal.

By: Dreama

Dreama — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:31:59 -0800

Also useful for using up a gift certificate. Hey, lookit, a lamp dimmer, cool!

By: Pants!

Pants! — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:33:48 -0800

I use Amazon Prime. I get free two day shipping (and I don't have to group my items together) for an annual membership that costs me $79 bucks a year. I can order those 89 cent batteries if I need them and get free shipping. I originally did this to save money, but now I just buy everything on Amazon. No taxes, no shipping. Good for me, good for them. Three cheers for free enterprise.

By: misha

misha — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:34:19 -0800

Fabulous! Helps with fulfilling those Christmas Wish List gifts, too. Thank you.

By: shothotbot

shothotbot — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:35:31 -0800

my favorite amazon hack is an alternative searching interface.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:43:16 -0800

Plus Amazon Prime can be shared with members of your family, and they don't have to share your address. (Well, they're supposed to share the same address, but Amazon doesn't seem to care.)

By: DU

DU — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:44:27 -0800

Whoa, that searching interface is great. I hate hate hate Amazon's ridiculous results and UI (actually, the main thing I hate is the hidden state machine that gives me different results every time I search).

By: jeffxl

jeffxl — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:45:15 -0800

That is seriously awesome.

By: anser

anser — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:45:27 -0800

If you use the filler service more than a couple of times a month, Prime is better. I agree with Pants, the ability to order a $2 computer part without worrying about shipping is fantastic.

By: anser

anser — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:48:16 -0800

I hit Post too quick - on the other hand, the brilliant thing about Filler is the quasi random way it shuffles Amazon's catalog - just pick a number (regardless of whether you need it for shipping) and browse away. I wish they'd remove the $15 limit though - I'd love to try this at the $300 level!

By: drhydro

drhydro — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:54:37 -0800

ummm- what's that alternative search interface again? that link is sumpin my puter barfs on..... "mab.xul"???

By: XQUZYPHYR

XQUZYPHYR — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:56:53 -0800

Also useful for using up a gift certificate. Why would you need to "use up" a gift certificate for Amazon.com? I thought it gets uploaded to your account and stays there forever. I get Amazon.com gift certificates at CoinStar to avoid the nonsense transaction fees and all I do with them is load them into an account balance. I use Amazon Prime. I get free two day shipping (and I don't have to group my items together) for an annual membership that costs me $79 bucks a year. I can order those 89 cent batteries if I need them and get free shipping ... but now I just buy everything on Amazon. No taxes, no shipping. That's all well and good, but if we both paid the same price for batteries, you still paid about eighty bucks more than I did for shipping. I don't understand how you can say "no shipping" when you most definitely paid $79 for shipping- you just paid in advance.

By: shothotbot

shothotbot — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 08:00:07 -0800

sorry drhydro, I think it might be Mozilla only. xul. its super cool though. super cool.

By: lukemeister

lukemeister — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 08:00:43 -0800

drhydro, For me, it took a while to load, but mab.xul is my new best friend. Ironically, I was thinking last night of posting to Ask MeFi, because I was looking for something like this.

By: lukemeister

lukemeister — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 08:06:53 -0800

I'm using Firefox. I just tried IE, and it didn't know what do do with the xul file.

By: lukemeister

lukemeister — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 08:07:18 -0800

what *to* do. I'm in deep do-do now.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 08:22:04 -0800

My problem with the free shipping isn't spending $1.23 on a filler item. It's spending $10 on a filler item, because I want a $15 book. So I either buy something I kinda want, which is Amazon's whole point, or just wait to buy it. I'm not spending $4 on shipping, and I'm not buying it at B&N for full list.

By: Rhomboid

Rhomboid — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 08:22:35 -0800

In addition to the filler finder and XUL interface, don't miss the Super Saver Shipping Search and Amazon Light. Note that all of these tools make money on commission when you add stuff to your cart through their results.

By: luser

luser — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 08:24:56 -0800

the ability to order a $2 computer part without worrying about shipping is fantastic. If you're talking about Prime here, it's been my experience that very few small randomy things like that are eligible for Prime -- they're mostly sold by amazon storefronts, who charge their own shipping. In fact, I'm finding that very little of what I've ordered this year was eligible for prime. And they just auto-renewed my $79 membership for another year, grrr.

By: limon

limon — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 08:44:25 -0800

One upon a time this would have been called out as a PepsiBlue post.

By: inigo2

inigo2 — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 08:47:53 -0800

And the best thing about Amazon is the way they invented that awesome thing that nobody else would've thought of and isn't obvious in the slightest, and let you buy things with just one click! Isn't that amazing?!!?

By: smackfu

smackfu — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 09:01:08 -0800

In fact, I'm finding that very little of what I've ordered this year was eligible for prime. Well, the same stuff isn't eligible for the $25 free shipping either, so it's a bit of a wash.

By: Pants!

Pants! — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 09:01:42 -0800

That's all well and good, but if we both paid the same price for batteries, you still paid about eighty bucks more than I did for shipping. I don't understand how you can say "no shipping" when you most definitely paid $79 for shipping- you just paid in advance. Because I order many, many things from Amazon. Several times a month. Plus, I get the two-day shipping.

By: Nelson

Nelson — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 09:05:10 -0800

I'm with Pants!. I'm in Amazon Prime and I buy almost every consumer item I can think of from them. It's fantastic, if frighteningly consumeristic. One click makes it particularly painless.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 09:13:23 -0800

I like Prime, too. I buy enough from Amazon each year that it saves me money on shipping, plus it's two-day delivery. (Sometimes one day: I ordered some books yesterday and they got here today.)

By: Pants!

Pants! — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 09:38:04 -0800

I buy it with Amazon Prime Cat food, or books for my mime Earrings and pans Drill bits and fans I use it all of the thyme

By: onalark

onalark — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 10:59:48 -0800

So I don't really see where Amazon made out on this deal. Amazon's Super Saver Shipping allows them to moderate their shipping chain when it's being swamped. Normally when you order something from Amazon it is shipped within 24 hours. With Super Saver shipping it can take as long as a week, especially in December. This is in ADDITION to their savings for slower shipping. They save a lot of money by not having to deliver everything 'instantly' and they pass you some of the discount.

By: cmgonzalez

cmgonzalez — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 11:41:12 -0800

Nice find. Thanks.

By: unknowncommand

unknowncommand — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 12:49:04 -0800

This rules.

By: mattoxic

mattoxic — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:03:06 -0800

Give Amazon a go, and I'm sure you'll agree that their product range and customer service can't be beat. Thanks Amazon, your fee shipping has saved my marriage!

By: Dreama

Dreama — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:21:28 -0800

Why would you need to "use up" a gift certificate for Amazon.com? You don't ever have to, but sometimes you want to! Mmm, stuff.

By: phearlez

phearlez — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 14:07:42 -0800

One upon a time this would have been called out as a PepsiBlue post. Probably a time that isn't holiday season shopping but before the free shipping deadline has passed. Cool find, XQU. Thanks.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:02:08 -0800

I've also got amazon prime. I actually ordered a $1.5 mini-tripod off of there and had it shipped for free in two days :) Inside this big amazon box, with that plastic-bag padding they use was this tiny plastic bag with a little tab for hanging it on a rack in a store. It looked like something you'd buy at a dollar store.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:20:06 -0800

The one thing I don't like about Prime is that 1-day shipping is $3.99 extra... per item. That seems a little pointless. It's not like shipping two books overnight is that much more than shipping one.

By: sim.possible

sim.possible — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 16:21:48 -0800

This is bizarre, I can't figure out half of these items actually do. Like what is a Wilton Comfort Santa Grip useful for?!

By: XQUZYPHYR

XQUZYPHYR — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 16:22:26 -0800

One upon a time this would have been called out as a PepsiBlue post. A completely ad-free site asking selling no product providing a useful tool for people to spend less money somewhere? I would recommend paying for express shipping of the stick from out your butt.

By: pupdog

pupdog — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 16:46:44 -0800

sim.possible, it's a cookie cutter. It's useful for making cookies.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 17:15:21 -0800

Like what is a Wilton Comfort Santa Grip useful for?! Looks like a cookie cutter.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 18:02:49 -0800

Thanks, this is a neat little post - would have been very useful a couple of times earlier this year. Plus, this made me laugh: One upon a time this would have been called out as a PepsiBlue post. I call bullshit on that. From the very beginning of the site, Matt's not only been ok with but encouraged the posting of cool new apps and products to the front page. Hell, pick any month in the 1999 archive and just count how many product-related posts there are. If you're gonna pull "once upon a time" rose-colored glasses stuff, at least try to be accurate.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 18:14:41 -0800

my favorite amazon hack is an alternative searching interface. See also: Amazon Lite was created by our very own kokogiak (who, if I'm not mistaken, used to work at Amazon.)

By: cali

cali — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 21:25:46 -0800

This is useful, though maybe not quite as useful as my favorite Amazon hack that lets me set a price and be told when it hits (like Half.com does). I know the guys who made this, though I'm not one of them. And yes, they're getting the affiliate fees.

By: Chunder

Chunder — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 04:25:25 -0800

If you're gonna pull "once upon a time" rose-colored glasses stuff, at least try to be accurate. But... surely that's a major contradiction?!

By: frogger12

frogger12 — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:38:59 -0800

i like batteries

By: oaf

oaf — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:04:24 -0800