Amazon no longer shipping non-essential items until April 21st

[Brian Elfert]

Amazon is no longer shipping any "non-essential" items until April 21st at earliest. I don't quite understand this as none of the essential items are in stock. They don't have any TP, hand sanitizer, or disinfecting wipes in stock and no backorders that I can see.

There is some question if they will refund all Prime subscriptions in part or completely because of this. What good is a Prime subscription if items takes four weeks to get? My father would like an HDMI to DVI adapter to make his work at home easier, but good luck finding one right now.

[Mike Henderson]

Where did you hear that. Here's the Snopes take (https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/amazon-suspending-deliveries-covid/).

Mike

[Lee DeRaud]

Got a source for that? What I read is that Amazon is not (1) allowing any non-essential items to be shipped into its warehouses from its suppliers (to free up space so they can load up on the essential stuff) and (2) suspending shipping of non-essentials to France and Italy.
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-amazon-suspends-all-non-essential-shipments-to-warehouses-2020-3
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-amazon-shipping-ex/exclusive-amazon-com-to-stop-shipping-non-essentials-to-consumers-in-italy-and-france-idUSKBN2180YZ

[Myk Rian]

You can get those adapters on ebay, cheaper, and quicker. Just shop for a US dealer.

[Lee DeRaud]

You can get those adapters on ebay, cheaper, and quicker. Just shop for a US dealer.Or Staples, Best Buy...
Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if my local Home Depot has them in stock: they have almost a whole aisle of home electronics widgets.

[Brian Tymchak]

My father would like an HDMI to DVI adapter to make his work at home easier, but good luck finding one right now.

I would bet the shortage of adapters is caused by the mass movement of workers from the office to the home over the last 4 weeks. BTW, Walmart has them in their online store.

[Brian Elfert]

See https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/3/22/21190372/amazon-prime-delivery-delays-april-21-coronavirus-covid-19 for a story on this. Also, take a look at just about any Prime item at Amazon and you'll see they are all set for delivery on April 21st.

[Mike Henderson]

I went through some items on my wish list. Seems that books are April 21 but other things are about a week out instead of two days.

I ordered two items on Saturday. One is coming today and the other on Friday. Both are 5" sanding disks. Don't know why one is faster than the other.

Mike

[Brian Elfert]

I would bet the shortage of adapters is caused by the mass movement of workers from the office to the home over the last 4 weeks. BTW, Walmart has them in their online store.

I should have said good luck finding them in a hurry without high shipping charges. Best Buy either doesn't carry them in store or is out of stock. Amazon is not an option right now. I realize we are spoiled by fast shipping from Amazon, but you can't find this item at local stores.

[David L Morse]

Amazon is no longer shipping any "non-essential" items until April 21st at earliest. I don't quite understand this as none of the essential items are in stock. They don't have any TP, hand sanitizer, or disinfecting wipes in stock and no backorders that I can see.

There is some question if they will refund all Prime subscriptions in part or completely because of this. What good is a Prime subscription if items takes four weeks to get? My father would like an HDMI to DVI adapter to make his work at home easier, but good luck finding one right now.

Did you try Walmart (https://www.walmart.com/ip/EpicDealz-2-Pack-HDMI-Female-to-DVI-D-Male-Adapter-Black/171462326)?

[Mark Daily]

I have been receiving items from Amazon for the past week and have items coming Thursday and Friday.

[Tom M King]

I have 11 items in transit, including a couple that I ordered this morning. emails say that everything has been shipped.

edited to add: I just checked, and delivery dates are a little slower than usual. One item does say April 21, but it's just a spare mower spindle anyway-just installed the last spare yesterday.

[John Makar]

I ordered stuff Saturday, got one today, another has shipped and due Weds, and another Thurs or Fri. It does show I get things on my Amazon Day, not my two day Prime.

[John Makar]

Just checked. Don't know if coffee is essential (yeah, I know), but I can get some Thursday, also a LED light.

[Erik Loza]

I just logged in. The interface is different (shows only entertainment) but if you search for something, it behaves like normal and lead times look reasonable.

Erik

[Lee DeRaud]

See https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/3/22/21190372/amazon-prime-delivery-delays-april-21-coronavirus-covid-19 for a story on this. Also, take a look at just about any Prime item at Amazon and you'll see they are all set for delivery on April 21st.I ordered an item last Thursday that showed a delivery date of April 21...it arrived yesterday. I think they've shifted everything to a "under-promise, over-deliver" model.

[John K Jordan]

I noticed some Amazon orders taking a couple of extra days. I have an order of plastic squeeze bottles coming today, ordered late last week. The bottles could be considered essential to some. Maybe Amazon found out I was making hand sanitizer and needed more bottles to give away.

I wondered if the delay in deliveries is because of ground shipping vs air, or perhaps fewer staff within Amazon and in the delivery chain. Regardless of the reason, it's pretty low on my radar.

JKJ

[William Chain]

Everyone is home and shopping from home. They’re overwhelmed. At least it’s moving. We’re all spoiled by two-day everything.

[Lee Schierer]

Amazon is no longer shipping any "non-essential" items until April 21st at earliest. I don't quite understand this as none of the essential items are in stock. They don't have any TP, hand sanitizer, or disinfecting wipes in stock and no backorders that I can see.

There is some question if they will refund all Prime subscriptions in part or completely because of this. What good is a Prime subscription if items takes four weeks to get? My father would like an HDMI to DVI adapter to make his work at home easier, but good luck finding one right now.

That seems strange when the announced just last week they were hiring several thousand people.....

[Jim Becker]

Amazon's currently posted guidance:

https://blog.aboutamazon.com/company-news/amazons-actions-to-help-employees-communities-and-customers-affected-by-covid-19/?_encoding=UTF8&token=GW&utm_content=COVID-19_roundup&utm_medium=swm&utm_source=gateway&utm_term=gw03162020&ref_=nav_swm_swm_covid_19&pf_rd_p=21318ab6-0bf9-482d-a0f1-421700b65615&pf_rd_s=nav-sitewide-msg&pf_rd_t=4201&pf_rd_i=navbar-4201&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=PWQZTPAH8HHXPCCPCHYR

[Alan Rutherford]

Yesterday my wife agreed I could buy that rifle scope I wanted and while I was on Amazon, we need a bath brush. Scope will be here Thursday but every bath brush I looked at - and I looked at a lot of them - estimated April 21. I guess it's all in what you consider "essential".

[glenn bradley]

A lot of folks would calm down a lot faster if people would stop posting inflammatory rumors as fact. Anyone who wants to claim that 90% of our toilet paper comes from China or that martial law is imminent, please put a link in to your source for this "data" :p.

[Bruce Page]

A lot of folks would calm down a lot faster if people would stop posting inflammatory rumors as fact. Anyone who wants to claim that 90% of our toilet paper comes from China or that martial law is imminent, please put a link in to your source for this "data" :p.

Second that!

[Alan Rutherford]

The facts of my bath-brush-buying experience are as I stated them and IMO at least partially confirm the OP. The sky is not falling and 90% of our TP is made in the US but we can reasonably expect some inconveniences that we had not anticipated.

[Kev Williams]

Didn't bother to read everyone's responses for now, but about 4 hours ago I ordered TP that'll be here the 27th, Q-tips, coffee filters and silly putty...

What I'VE heard about 'essential items' is that Amazon is giving them priority over 'fluff' items as to their warehouses being restocked; necessities first, fluff last...

[Matt Day]

I called last week when my prime order was scheduled to take 6 days. They said that a lot of warehouse/fulfillment locations are slow or closed due to self quarantining or social distancing. Basically they have low staff because of COVID19. Expect all orders to be delayed.

About 30 minutes ago I ordered some bench casters and they’ll be here Friday. Everything is not April 21st.

[Doug Dawson]

Yesterday my wife agreed I could buy that rifle scope I wanted and while I was on Amazon, we need a bath brush. Scope will be here Thursday but every bath brush I looked at - and I looked at a lot of them - estimated April 21. I guess it's all in what you consider "essential".

Some of their choices are strange. I can buy a vibrating hole plate for cutting out a junction box, but I can't buy a drill bit for fishing the wall (both in stock.) And a parts cleaner is April 21(!) All of these things are "essential".

[Jerry Bruette]

A lot of folks would calm down a lot faster if people would stop posting inflammatory rumors as fact. Anyone who wants to claim that 90% of our toilet paper comes from China or that martial law is imminent, please put a link in to your source for this "data" :p.

Green Bay, WI https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-green-bay-wisconsin-became-the-toilet-paper-capital-of-the-world

[roger wiegand]

Some stuff ships direct from Amazon warehouses, other stuff shipped from the myriad suppliers affiliated with Amazon. What I understood was that they were prioritizing "essential" items at the warehouses and asking suppliers who previously sent "non-essential" items to the warehouse to be shipped to customers to ship them directly instead. Not all small suppliers are set up to do this and it is more expensive for them, hence the delays.

[Ronald Blue]

I'm not so concerned about extended delivery dates although I placed an order yesterday and everything is supposed to arrive Wednesday through Friday. My bigger beef is they supposedly aren't tolerating price gouging. That's nothing but hot air. 4 standard rolls of Charmin $18.43. amazon.com/Charmin-Bathroom-Tissue-Strong-Sheets/dp/B079H255XY/ref=sr_1_8?crid=2TUIH8KE4YJ14&dchild=1&keywords=toilet+paper&qid=1585005060&refinements=p_89%3ACharmin%7CCottonelle%7CQuilted+ Northern&rnid=2528832011&sprefix=toilet%2Caps%2C195&sr=8-8&swrs=ADF4EA95D996E76E7F7593A9CCB9CAFA (https://www.amazon.com/Charmin-Bathroom-Tissue-Strong-Sheets/dp/B079H255XY/ref=sr_1_8?crid=2TUIH8KE4YJ14&dchild=1&keywords=toilet+paper&qid=1585005060&refinements=p_89%3ACharmin%7CCottonelle%7CQuilted+ Northern&rnid=2528832011&sprefix=toilet%2Caps%2C195&sr=8-8&swrs=ADF4EA95D996E76E7F7593A9CCB9CAFA)
Wife was going to order Campbell's Soup the other day. 4 10 oz cans $32.xx. Disappointing that they aren't booting third party sellers that attempt to take advantage of the situation.

[Lee DeRaud]

While some of the prices I've seen lately on Amazon are stupidly high, I also have to note that they are for items I never considered buying on Amazon before. For all I know, that is their "normal" price.

[michael dilday]

I think it is just Italy and France. Might be so drivers are not exposed in those countries. Just maybe.

[Brian Elfert]

Food is often ridiculously expensive on Amazon. Household supplies often not much better.

[Frank Pratt]

A lot of folks would calm down a lot faster if people would stop posting inflammatory rumors as fact. Anyone who wants to claim that 90% of our toilet paper comes from China or that martial law is imminent, please put a link in to your source for this "data" :p.

This is important. Maybe mods need to get involved if people can't behave themselves.

[Jim Becker]

They thankfully shipped this...quickly, too. :)

428662

[Jan Smith]

A lot of folks would calm down a lot faster if people would stop posting inflammatory rumors as fact. Anyone who wants to claim that 90% of our toilet paper comes from China or that martial law is imminent, please put a link in to your source for this "data" :p.
This, I do not know how many times.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I ordered a quart of Tru Oil from them yesterday, then saw it was not going to be delivered till April 21-28 so I cancelled the order and got it off eBay instead. It was a few dollars more but I want to make sure I have some for when my current bottle runs out in a couple of months or so.

[Greg Parrish]

Yeah it’s crazy. We’ve received things like golf tees, fridge filters and batteries but other common items lust April 21 delivery. Hard to figure what they use to determine a necessary item.

[Tom M King]

I checked the tracking progress bar on that mower spindle, that I mentioned earlier in this thread that is listed as April 21, and it has been shipped, so I doubt it will take that long. I expect they're just being conservative with the arrival estimates. Checking other items, shipping is significantly slower than it has been, but does look like there is noticeable progress.

[Jim Becker]

The delay shipping many items is that they are focusing their stocking/restocking/shipping on essential items. If they happen to have something in, you may getting in normal time frames, but that's not assured as they concentrate on "what" they are delivering.

[Brian Elfert]

A lot of folks would calm down a lot faster if people would stop posting inflammatory rumors as fact. Anyone who wants to claim that 90% of our toilet paper comes from China or that martial law is imminent, please put a link in to your source for this "data" :p.

I included the source for my claim that Amazon was showing delivery dates of April 21st for many non-essential items. Others here also checked items on Amazon and saw the same thing.

Delivery dates on items from Amazon are all over the map. Headphones show Sunday delivery yet DVI to HDMI cables show April 23rd dates now.

[roger wiegand]

Lots of things are coming in 2-4 days despite ship dates many weeks out listed on the site. I think those Apr 21 dates are a better safe than sorry move on Amazon's part, Actual deliver so far has been much faster on those items. It's definitely taking longer than usual, but not enough to cause a problem with just a little advance planning.

[John K Jordan]

Delivery dates on items from Amazon are all over the map.

They change too. I ordered something the other day an later got this update:
Your previous estimated delivery date: Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Your new estimated delivery date is: Wednesday, April 8, 2020
I'll see what actual the non-estimated delivery date is.

[Tom M King]

One of my April 21 items just came. I can tell what it is by the size of the package. Our UPS guy knows to just leave stuff on the screened porch. We don't touch, or open anything for a couple of days.

Edited to add: I checked the "orders" page, and it is indeed what I thought it was. Also, that mower spindle that I've mentioned a couple of times as being the first April 21 item is now scheduled to arrive on Friday.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I ordered via Amazon last Wednesday, a hat for a grandson. It arrived yesterday.

[Stan Calow]

Maybe it depends on how close you are to a distribution center. We have one here in KC. I ordered some non-essential stuff on Sunday night and it was delivered Monday afternoon. But I did see on the Amazon website last week a notice that said you might be asked at order time if it was OK to delay delivery, due to prioritizing essentials. I was not asked when I placed my order.

[Brian Elfert]

For me, there is an Amazon fulfillment center on the southern end of the metro area I live in. There is also a sortation center much closer to where I live.

[Tom M King]

That mower spindle showed up today, March 26, not April 21, along with some other stuff that was ordered after it.