When Amazon.com says "2 in stock"...

Can they really be believed?

Late last week I ordered an HLD-5 accessory grip for my E620 because they were the only ones I could find showing to be in-stock. They showed two were in stock....and still show that today a few days after I ordered mine. No shipment yet, no charge against my card yet and the shipment date shows it'll be coming my way....between August 25 and September 2.

Seems like a cheap way to get orders on the books when you really are not in stock to me. I think I'll cancel my order and wait for someone I can trust (B&H) who actually is in-stock when they say they are in-stock.

Gregm61 said:

Can they really be believed?

Late last week I ordered an HLD-5 accessory grip for my E620 because they were the only ones I could find showing to be in-stock. They showed two were in stock....and still show that today a few days after I ordered mine. No shipment yet, no charge against my card yet and the shipment date shows it'll be coming my way....between August 25 and September 2.

Seems like a cheap way to get orders on the books when you really are not in stock to me. I think I'll cancel my order and wait for someone I can trust (B&H) who actually is in-stock when they say they are in-stock.

Click to expand...

Well, you likely ordered it Thursday or Friday. 48 hours processing time is not unheard of - at times common for Amazon. It takes an additional 1-3 days for it to show up on your CC statement.

Perhaps you should wait until you find an answer before jumping to conclusions? I know you really want the HLD-5, but you're still not certain what's going on.

--
Tim
'I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list.'
E3/E410/7-14/12-60/150/50-200/25/25/EC-14
http://www.flickr.com/photos/timskis6/

If you took advantage of their free shipping on orders over $25, I think the order goes to the back of the line and only gets processed when orders with paid shipping have all been handled, taking sometimes up to a week or so. After that you get your order shipped by USPS, apparently with some type of cost saving rate tied to slow delivery which, again, can take a week or so. That seems to sum up my experience with Amazon the last six months or so.

Good Shooting,

English Bob

The page still shows 2 in stock BUT it does not ship from Amazon!
it "Ships from All About Electronics"
The Amazon listing says 2-5 weeks, they do not say In Stock

I have found that Amazons third party vendors do not always update their inventory frequently enough to reflect current inventory.

I've been watching Amazon's HLD-5 stock for the past few weeks, and they've been showing "2-5 weeks" availability all that time. If you bought one in the past week or so, it was from an "Amazon Marketplace" seller.

Amazon Marketplace sellers are not Amazon. They are independent sellers hitching a ride on Amazon's ordering system. There are a lot of affiliates on Amazon that are huge companies (Adorama, 17th St Photo, etc.), but also a lot of them are just of individuals. You or I could sell on Amazon and become "Marketplace sellers." In this way, Amazon has a bit of EBay in it.

For the most part my experience with independent sellers on Amazon has been good (they rely on positive feedback just like on EBay), but once in awhile you will find a seller who just doesn't seem to care. I asked one such seller a question about his product and never heard back from him/her. After a week, I gave up on the item. It was not a big online store - it was an individual with 12 sales total.

DavidH202 said:

The page still shows 2 in stock BUT it does not ship from Amazon!
it "Ships from All About Electronics"

The Amazon listing says 2-5 weeks, they do not say In Stock

I have found that Amazons third party vendors do not always update their inventory frequently enough to reflect current inventory.

Click to expand...

I noticed the ad from All about Electronics, which had their HLD-5's listed for $330.53!

E_ B said:

If you took advantage of their free shipping on orders over $25, I think the order goes to the back of the line and only gets processed when orders with paid shipping have all been handled, taking sometimes up to a week or so. After that you get your order shipped by USPS, apparently with some type of cost saving rate tied to slow delivery which, again, can take a week or so. That seems to sum up my experience with Amazon the last six months or so.

Click to expand...

I actually paid $10 extra for 2 day shipping.

This is why I rarely buy from third party vendors on Amazon. I have never had this issue when buying an item sold by Amazon.com itself. The "in stock" indication in that case has always proven to be accurate for me. I can say the same about B&H, but every other seller that I have dealt with seems to play a bit faster and looser with the "in stock" designation in order to get orders on the books. That's why I prefer to buy from B&H and Amazon, which have wonderfully easy return policies as well. Amazon is particularly user-friendly with the pre-paid shipping label option. If I can't get what I need from B&H or Amazon and must buy from someone else, I generally pay for expedited shipping, and if they can't provide proof that the item shipped within a couple of days, I cancel the order. It's hard to see how any company that cares at all about its Better Business Bureau rating would try to justify charging someone $15-20 for express shipping, yet still not be able to ship the item 3 days after the order was placed. Good luck.

Then everything seems to take a little longer (one of the annoying aspects of using Amazon). They are otherwise (at least in terms of the end consumer), just about the most straight forward and honourable to deal with "large" corporations out there... Give them a ring (if you can find their well hidden customer services number) - they are usually helpful when forced to speak to the little people.

--
Regards
J



http://www.flickr.com/photos/jason_hindle

Gear in profile

2 day shipping after they get it in stock which will "usually be 2-5 weeks", as indicated.

Gregm61 said:

I noticed the ad from All about Electronics, which had their HLD-5's listed for $330.53!

Click to expand...

That would be 2 in stock x 165.00 =330.00.

I don't know whats up with that price. but I've noticed a number of listings on Amazon from third party vendors with obviously wrong pricing.

They recently had the E-3 with the 12-60 SWD for 4,000.00 and some odd dollars which is also double the going price.(DUH)

As I said earlier, vendors do not refresh their inventory listings frequently enough to reflect what Amazon is currently listing as a quantity "In Stock".

You are also placed in a que for the item and if someone else has ordered ahead of you it may in fact no longer be "In Stock".

Amazon can be hit and miss when they list something as low in stock. In my experience it can mean they have it and you'll get it, or they don't actually have it, and you have to wait, sometimes a long time. You think they would be able to tell how much they have quite precisely, but it does seem like they play it loose on the "low stock" items in order to secure a few more sales (though perhaps it is just sloppiness). And I'm talking about Amazon direct, not the partners.

--
John Krumm
Juneau, AK

I called Arlington Camera this morning. They are supposed to have one within the week, so my names' on that one, which I can drive over and pickup and Amazon, for now, is off my short list of online sellers. Even paying sales tax, this one will be less expensive than the one through Amazon.

B&H is hard to beat for online service. When it is in-stock, it goes out the day you order it, and when it's not in stock, they tell you that...clearly.

I've never had that experience, and I've ordered many times from Amazon direct when the stock information said "order soon, only 1 left" or "order soon, 2 left." Never a problem for me.