Roland Perry wrote:

What would Amazon use in the USA if you bought a book for say $10?

Depends on what type of memebership you have and what shipping plan you select.
For regular members, standard shipping on an order with a book only would use US
Postal Service media mail. Takes 7-14 days. If the book is combined with a
non-media item, they tend to use UPS. Upgraded (extra fee) shipping is offered
for 2 day or overnight service. Those are available from the Postal Service, Fed
Ex and UPS at Amazon's discretion.

Prime Members (pay an annual fee) get 2 day shipping at no extra charge and can
pay a small amount for overnight service.

In message , at 06:53:50 on
Wed, 29 Feb 2012, Robert Neville remarked:
What would Amazon use in the USA if you bought a book for say $10?

Depends on what type of memebership you have and what shipping plan you select.
For regular members, standard shipping on an order with a book only would use US
Postal Service media mail. Takes 7-14 days.

That's a bit slow, but I suppose it's a big country. In UK we'd expect 3
days on average for ultra-cheap postal service, and I often get things
less than 24hrs after ordering using regular next-day postal service.

Upgraded (extra fee) shipping is offered for 2 day or overnight
service. Those are available from the Postal Service, Fed Ex and UPS at
Amazon's discretion.

What sort of order of magnitude is that extra fee?
--
Roland Perry

Roland Perry wrote:

Upgraded (extra fee) shipping is offered for 2 day or overnight
service. Those are available from the Postal Service, Fed Ex and UPS at
Amazon's discretion.

What sort of order of magnitude is that extra fee?

In my experience, standard shipping for a $10 book might be $2, two day service
might be $10 and overnight might be $15.

Amazon US has a deal where standard shipping is free if you order $25 or more
worth of merchandise.

They also offer Amazon Prime, for $80 per year, where you automatically get 2
day shipping included on any order filled directly by Amazon. So it only takes a
few orders before you "break even" and you get the benefit of 2 day delivery.

In message , at 08:27:38 on
Wed, 29 Feb 2012, Robert Neville remarked:
Upgraded (extra fee) shipping is offered for 2 day or overnight
service. Those are available from the Postal Service, Fed Ex and UPS at
Amazon's discretion.

What sort of order of magnitude is that extra fee?

In my experience, standard shipping for a $10 book might be $2, two day service
might be $10 and overnight might be $15.

Which of those are tracked or signed-for?
--
Roland Perry

In my experience, standard shipping for a $10 book might be $2, two day service
might be $10 and overnight might be $15.

Which of those are tracked or signed-for?

Two day and overnight are tracked. Signatures cost extra so are only
used on stuff that is expensive or restricted (alcohol.) On USPS
priority mail, which is typically two days, tracking is free if you
pay online and print the label yourself, costs a little extra at the
PO.

The relationships among shippers in the US are quite tangled. Both
UPS and Fedex have hybrid services where they deliver the package to
the local post office who then delivers it with the next day's mail
(or in my case, right away into my PO box.)
--
Regards,
John Levine, , Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. http://jl.ly

On Feb 29, 5:14*pm, John Levine wrote:
[...]
The relationships among shippers in the US are quite tangled. *Both
UPS and Fedex have hybrid services where they deliver the package to
the local post office who then delivers it with the next day's mail
(or in my case, right away into my PO box.)

We've a similar thing in the UK - "downstream access", with the mail
handed over by the alternative mail company to the Royal Mail at a
local delivery office for the 'final mile' - some more info he
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downstream_access

The above wonkypedia entry reads a bit on the optimistic side when it
comes to the talk under the 'future developments' heading about the
new world of "bypass mail" (that's post delivered directly to the
front door by an alternative company, without the involvement of the
Royal Mail whatsoever) - the only company who really seem interested
in pursuing that idea at the moment here is TNT Post UK (part of the
Dutch PostNL group).
http://www.postandparcel.info/45246/

Roland Perry wrote:

In my experience, standard shipping for a $10 book might be $2, two day service
might be $10 and overnight might be $15.

Which of those are tracked or signed-for?

The two day and overnight are. Standard delivery by UPS is as well. Postal
service media deliveries are not. Hybrid deliveries where DHL or Fed deliver to
the nearest bulk mail center (not the local post office) for final delivery are
tracked as far as the bulk mail center.

On Feb 29, 10:51*am, Roland Perry wrote:

In my experience, standard shipping for a $10 book might be $2, two day service
might be $10 and overnight might be $15.

Which of those are tracked or signed-for?

If it's sent by US Post Office, it is not signed for.

If it's sent by United Parcel Service, it varies on whether a
signature is required--basically depending on the quality of the
neighborhood.

If you're not home and you get a package (or letter) that requires a
signature, it's a lot easier with the Post Office as you go local.
With UPS, it may be cumbersome.