Author's product rating:   

Range of Services / Products	Good selection
Products & Services Pricing	Cheap
Security & Privacy Statement	Good
Purchase Tracking Function	Good
Customer Services Support	Excellent

Advantages:	Amazon Marketplace  -  cheap as chips
Disadvantages:	Delivery Costs

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

With over 500 reviews on this website, I thought shall I bother to write my own. I heard cries of 'Not another Amazon review!!' After long deliberation, I have decided to share my experiences with this website with you, whether you like it or not!

I first visited this website around a year and half ago while pricing a book I wanted to buy my brother for a birthday present. Looking around other sites, the book was costing around £5-£6, a little over my budget (I didn't have a job then - I was only 16). The search engine brought up a site called 'Amazon' which I hadn't heard of before as I was new to the online shopping experience. They had the book I wanted and for only £3 - half the price of the others! Needless to say I bought it, my brother was thrilled and I have never looked back!

♥ Amazon's background ♥
--------------------------------
I can't really find a lot about Amazon.co.uk but from what I have found on their website, they were launched in 1996, as an independent book store Bookpages, which was then acquired by Amazon.com in 1998. Over the years Amazon have branched out their online stores to include France, Canada, United States, Germany and Japan. They became famous for selling books but they now stock many other items such as Electronics, things for the garden and toys and games. Their Head Office is situated in Berkshire but they have other offices dotted all around the world.

♥ Layout & Design ♥
The layout of Amazon is plain and simple and easy on the eyes. Amazon pages consist mostly of a white background with various toolbars and special offer pictures to entice you in. On the white background the text is easy to read and is a good size and font, making it simple to find the information you want.

♥ Navigation ♥
Navigating around the website is extremely simple to do.
The homepage presents you with a whole range of things to do and places to go.
The Star Choice is shown on the top left displaying Amazon's featured item for the day. Lots of recommendations are shown down the centre of the page - they show the most popular and best offers e.g. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince £8.99! 47% off!
Along the top is the toolbar - the most important part of the website from which you can do almost anything.
Signing up is easy. Once you have shopped for your items and filled your basket you just need to input your e-mail address and a password. You will then be asked to enter card details (they accept most cards) or you can pay by cheque but it will take an age. Once this is done you will receive a confirmation for your order and an email as to when it will arrive. Then every time you want to order all you need to do is input your email address and password and bobs your uncle - it's remembered your details. Clever eh?

♥ Search Facility ♥
The search facility is excellent and it nearly always displays the results I want. The only occasion it didn't find my item was when I was looking for a rare DVD. Amazon will search both its own stock and that of Amazon Marketplace to find your item and will display both prices. You can also search for items that are the same type or brand or author if you are searching for a book. Amazon will also recommend a book you might like based on what you are looking at - which is sometimes helpful and I have ordered some items through this process.

♥ Range of Services / Products ♥
There is a wide range of products available. From starting out with just selling books, Amazon have expanded vastly and now offer thousands of items in the categories:
Books - These range from Audio Books, Text Books, Children's books and Adult Books. Many marketplace sellers offer books at 1p a time, a lot of them classics.
Electronics and Photo - Choose items from photography, sound and vision, phones and PDA's just to name a few.
Music - Whether you prefer jazz, rock, R'n'B or pop you'll find everything you need here.
DVD - DVD's of all genres reside here. Amazon are currently advertising their 4 DVD's for £20 promotion (which would include free delivery!) and have various other offers cropping up nearly every other day to try and get you to buy.
Video - Up to 20% off! Like the DVD's all the genre's are here to choose from whatever your taste.
Software - Up to 50% off. Whatever programs your computer needs you'll find it here.
PC and Video Games - Here you can buy games for all the different consoles and you can even buy the console itself.
Home and Garden - An odd category which sells items for your kitchen, garden, items to help with your DIY and personal items like toothbrushes and hair removal kits. A very odd assortment.
Toys and Games - For Kids only (or adults who haven't grown up yet!) You can choose toys by age, by the type of toy or brand (Harry Potter has its own section!)
Items are rarely out of stock so you should get what you are looking for.

♥ Products & Services Pricing ♥
Amazon Marketplace is by far the cheapest place to shop. Ok, so lots of the items are used, but many are in excellent condition and you wouldn't know the difference. I always buy from the Marketplace as the prices are so low - countless times I have ordered a good book to read and have only had to fork out 1p (plus the £2.75 postage) but still that's only £2.76 a book - Bargain!
Don't get me wrong - Amazons prices aren't bad but I find you can get better bargains at the marketplace so that's why I shop there and will continue to.
Postage on Amazon can range from £1.45 for a CD or DVD, £2.75 for a book, to £4.98 for an electronics item. If you place an order for over £19 you should qualify for a free delivery - Note that all items must be ordered at the same time and placed in the basket. I forgot to do this before and had to pay separate delivery charges for each item. Not good for the wallet!

Gift certificates are available to buy for friends and family and can be redeemed only on Amazon orders, not in the Marketplace. They can be sent to friends and family via email (as a code) or by post in a letter.
You can send any amount from £5-£500 and include a personal message to your loved one. I have received a few from film surveys completed on the internet and they are always handy to reduce the price a little.

♥ How fast is this website? ♥
I find Amazon's site loads quite quickly, almost instantaneously. It takes no time at all to process information and provides search results in the blink of an eye. Everything happens so quickly and you can search and order in less than a minute! N.B I am on broadband so I don't know what it would be like on a slower modem.

♥ Content Update ♥
Items are updated everyday at least and new products are added to their ever-growing collection. Items are available to pre-order frequently and most will be sent out the day they are released.

♥ Purchase Tracking Function ♥
Once you have ordered an item you can keep track of it in my Account. You can't track it as such but you can see if it had been dispatched and email the seller if you have any queries. If you order from Amazon then you do get an email from them once - when they have received it and twice- when it is dispatched from the warehouse. They also give an estimated delivery time which is very helpful.

♥ Speed of Delivery ♥
Delivery is very fast and sometimes next day depending on the time you order and who you buy from.
Amazon will deliver orders by first class which means they could take 2-3 days although whenever I've ordered from them, I've received it the next day - now that's service! I think so long as you place your order early in the day it'll get to you the next day. They do offer next day delivery but there is a charge 
If you buy an item from a trader at Amazon Marketplace your order could take any amount of time. Some of my orders have been here next day while others took 9 days! (The trader was on holiday when I bought her item). All items are packed well in a cardboard box (if you order from Amazon) or a jiffy bag (with a trader from the marketplace)

♥ Ability to Customise ♥
If the item you are buying is a gift, Amazon will give you the option to have your parcel gift wrapped with a message. If you choose to take up this offer you can give them the address of the person you intend to send the gift to and they will deliver it straight to them. There is a charge for this service - £2.98 - which is a bit expensive I think, after you have already spent money buying the gift but I suppose it saves a bit of time, maybe a little bit of money and it saves you the effort of wrapping and paying more postage costs.
I haven't yet used this service as the gifts are normally for close friends and family so there is no need to send it to them through Amazon - although I will consider it for the future.

♥ Customer Services Support ♥
I have never had to complain about a thing with Amazon or its members which shows how good their service is. Amazon always keep you informed of what is happening with your order and what process of delivery it is at. After I pre-ordered the Half Blood Prince last December, I had an email a month later saying that they would not be able to supply the book as they couldn't get any in. I was just about to order somewhere else when I received an email saying that a 'naughty house elf' had tampered with the email and a 'howler' would be sent to him. Lol. At least they have a sense of humour - although somewhat demented!

♥ Overall rating ♥
I really do recommend Amazon highly. With 1.5 million customers pre-ordering the Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince book released last week (of which I was one!) with them, they must be doing something right.
I've never experienced any trouble with Amazon or its traders on Amazon Marketplace.
I also like the fact that you can sell your unwanted items on Marketplace. You can list your items on here - just like eBay - but they charge a whopping 10% off your item for the fees of listing it. I listed my mobile phone once but after the charges there was no point in selling it as I wouldn't have made a profit.

♥ GOOD POINTS
@ Low prices - check out Marketplace as this is the cheapest place but also keep a look-out for bargains on Amazon itself.
@ Fast Delivery - 1-2 days is an excellent rate of delivery. I was so pleased with this - I love the fact something you order one day can be with you the next.
@ Huge range of items - Thousands of different items, hundreds of categories. 99% chance I'll find what I'm looking for at a price I like.
@ Helpful staff and members - Always on hand to answer questions and queries and very friendly.

X BAD POINTS
@ High postage charges - You can und up paying more for postage than the item sometimes. I do think their prices are a little too high but I'll continue buying here as the items and service are worth the money.

So overall I give this site a marvellous 10/10. It beats nearly all competition (except eBay of course) in its prices, design and customer service. I will always use Amazon and have recommended them to friends who find it useful to buy books for college at a low price.

Look out eBay - you may have a fight on your hands!

Thanks for reading. 

 

Author's product rating:   

Range of Services / Products	Average
Products & Services Pricing	Reasonable
Security & Privacy Statement	Satisfactory
Purchase Tracking Function	Average
Customer Services Support	Satisfactory

Advantages:	Sells lots of books including out - of - print and limited editions; can't find it? Ask !   Free SUPER SAVER DELIVERY now applies when purchase over £15 of "eligible products"
Disadvantages:	I forget passwords and their re - verification proceedure is bewildering; items can be expensive; must CHOOSE Super Saver Delivery to receive it; SUPER SAVER DELIVERY you WAIT FOREVER

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

• * * NEWS FLASH * * *
• * * SUPERSAVER DELIVERY NOW ON ORDERS OVER £15 * * *

This was my first ever review on "ciao!" written February 2004, when I was very frustrated at the site's verification procedures to process me through the checkout when I had forgotten the password I had set up some years previously. At the time, I only wrote about password verification and warned about the need to keep a note of the LAST 5 DIGITS of any card REGISTERED with AMAZON even if you have never made a purchase - and even if that card has subsequently EXPIRED, as the site will require this detail to verify your identity. © '05 ≈≈≈≈{; -)-{{::::: |||||<

=======================UPDATE:=========================

Further to comments made and as an update of my own experience, I re-presented this review on 19th March 2004. I took on board the comments particularly that, although there are MANY reviews of the site, a "prospective buyer" will not want to read HUNDREDS of reviews to get the information they require, so EACH review should be as informative as possible and include all essential information. Many people associate AMAZON with Entertainment Media (Books, CDs, Films. Games) and are surprised to realise that Amazon.co.uk is now MUCH MORE.

As my TITLE clearly states that I am discussing the purchase of BOOKS on AMAZON, I will be discussing THIS in much more detail. However, it is worth noting that AMAZON have been expanding their range, so I will include brief details of what is available.

The website has a brand new featured category link (featured in turn as you change pages) in the top corner of the page to entice you to explore another area you may not have considered - "Do It Yourself & Tools" - "Garden and Outdoors" - "Personal Care" - "Kitchen & Home" - these may or may not be related to the category tab you have pressed.

The following are the Specialised Categories which have Main Page Tabs you can choose:

Welcome
(Jessie's) Store (personalised from your own choices made in past visits)
Books
Electronics & Photo
Music
DVD
Video
Software
PC & Video Games
Home & Garden
Toys & Kids
Travel

Travel is actually a direct link to the homepage of one of Amazon's "Trusted Partners" - Expedia.co.uk - and offers a special link to "Learn more about our trusted partners" - which brings you right back to the Amazon.co.uk site on a page which gives you contact details and telephone numbers to follow-up on any order you may have made with Expedia.co.uk as a result of ordering through Amazon Travel Shop. This is actually done very well!

***[A similar partnership exists with Amazon.com and Hotwire.com - I have just today assisted my niece and nephew-in-law to find the cheapest fare (and book it) to come to my son's wedding in November - at nearly $100 less per person than with the cheapest airline when booked directly!!!]***

There are separate charges for the different categories ordered, depending on what you are ordering, and all charges are added to the total at the end when you checkout. SUPER SAVER DELIVERY is now available if you order £15 of "ELIGIBLE PRODUCTS" directly from Amazon. All ineligible products will incur delivery charges at the appropriate rate, which will be added on at checkout. Each item will be flagged on the final summary as to whether or not eligibility exists.

To receive this special offer, you first have to choose over £15 worth of eligible products. A banner will come up at the top of the page letting you know that SUPER SAVER DELIVERY is NOW AVAILABLE. However, Super Saver is no longer AUTOMATIC. You will still have to make the CORRECT CHOICE at the checkout. [© '05 ≈≈≈≈{; -)-{{::::: |||||<]

When you get to the checkout, you will need to CHOOSE the OPTION for Super Saver Delivery - which THEY CLAIM will be 3-5 working days [see ACTUAL DELIVERY TIMES below under "SPEED of DELIVERY"]. The Default is for First Class Delivery which costs according to a scale. This is "1 working day" delivery - ie - processed tomorrow, receive the next day. (2)

You are also given options for having items sent at different times and different places, gift-wrapped and with gift tags. ALL THESE EXTRAS cost more and MAY RESULT in a DELIVERY CHARGE on top, so you NEED to BE CAREFUL and make sure your CHARGES are all accounted for and you have not been charged extra.

=======================FIRST UPDATE:===================

{UPDATE:} I bought some more (Law) Books off AMAZON during 2004 - I bought over £25 of new books directly from AMAZON - so postage was free - delivery times were very quick also - within a week of the order being made.

I also bought books from partners - new and second hand. Postage for these is £2.75 per item, even if you purchase more than one book from the same vendor. {end of UPDATE}

======================HOW IT WORKS====================

When you order a book, from AMAZON or from a "partner" on the site - it will give you a running commentary of how much more you need to purchase before your postage on the other items is free. When you are buying a secondhand item or one of a limited number of items of the same sort offered by a vendor, this is what happens. As soon as YOU put the book into YOUR BOOKBAG the item disappears from the website so the item cannot be sold more than once. It remains in your bookbag for about three months awaiting your purchase completion. [This could be frustrating for the seller, if he/she is hoping for a quick sale - so note the next point!]

The BUYER has the freedom to WITHDRAW the book from sale and not sell it to you after all; if this happens before you go to the checkout, AMAZON will inform you next time you logon that
"one or more of your choices has been withdrawn by the vendor - please choose an alternative selection."

AMAZON also informs you when you go through the checkout procedure that the seller will contact you individually, and will send you the item requested. AMAZON takes your money from your account, and informs the vendor for you that the offered item has been sold.

They SAY the vendor is supposed to reply to the purchaser and confirm the sending of the parcel within two days of the purchase [the SELLER has not been told this]. You are given the option of requesting the vendor's e-mail address so you can contact them directly yourself.

You then await your deliveries. AMAZON inform you by e-mail that they have processed your order and that the other items are coming directly from the vendor.

AMAZON also inform you when they have actually despatched your order, so you know to be worried if they don't arrive

======================PRECAUTIONS TO TAKE=============

{THIS IS THE ORIGINAL REVIEW}:
I can recommend that anyone who wishes to purchase an item on AMAZON.CO.UK that they keep a continuous record of the last 5 digits of any card they use to pay for an item. - even when you throw away the card when it expires!

This applies whether you have only searched the site (and registered a card) but not bought anything, or have actually gone through with the purchasing process.

YOU MAY ASK "WHY?"

I tried to purchase a second-hand text in February 2004 on Modern English Land Law.

I found the text without difficulty, and it was at a VERY REASONABLE PRICE, too!
10/10

BUT - I went to the checkout and encountered a problem. My e-mail address was already registered with amazon. "REALLY?" I had never purchased anything that I could remember. So WHAT HAD I USED AS A USER-NAME or PASSWORD?

I clicked on the "forgotten your password" link. The webmaster could surely e-mail my details to my registered address. HELP!!!

They asked for the last 5 digits of any card I had used to purchase something. (but I hadn't bought anything before).

By the time I had finally managed to log in, my shopping basket appeared empty. The book had disappeared. And it was no longer on the website either.

I remembered the name of the vendor and, seeing another book offered by the same vendor, sent an e-mail to ascertain if the book which had vanished was still available for sale. (It was, as her reply indicated later that day.)

Meanwhile I added another book to the shopping basket. SURPRISE! I now had TWO books in the basket. The first one had re-appeared from the ether.

YOU GET FREE POSTAGE IF YOU PURCHASE over £25 *[now over £15] of eligible products - so my friend and I decided to search for some more books. (You pay one postage fee however many new books you order from the main site - and FREE is even better) We did not at that time realise that the particular books we were looking at were ineligible for the free postage, as they were second-hand and so incurred separate fees for postage. [© '04 ≈≈≈≈{; -)-{{::::: |||||<]

I went back into the shop and looked at a few thrillers and fantasy titles for "light reading" - but did not see what I wanted for a low enough price.

I went into Amazon Marketplace and pre-ordered a book whose review and excerpt I had enjoyed last summer but had never got around to reading. I picked my maximum price, acceptable condition and input my purchase details. (See how you can get distracted!) I checked the terms and conditions, and you pay per item - £2.75 for postage in the Marketplace, and you can only order one copy of each item you request. My request was registered and confirmed on the site before I left.

This was also confirmed by e-mail, and less than a week later I have been informed that I have been charged for the book and it should be on its way - HURRAY! Well done AMAZON!!! 10/10

BUT... I didn't finish my search for titles before I had to go out... and today I couldn't remember my password again..

Oh, well, back to square one. Now WHERE did I put those details, again... ?

{END OF ORIGINAL REVIEW - (for those who were interested)} (1)

======================SPEED OF DELIVERY================

Everything which I ordered had been received within two weeks of being ordered all through 2004 and the beginning of 2005... - but note the following recent saga of discontent:

**** "DEAR DIARY"
Currently [Oct 26] I am awaiting a video and book which my husband wanted, which was ordered [Oct 15] on the "Super Saver" free postage; he is much more impatient than I and wonders what is taking so long. It will be the longest I have ever waited - and it may be that with the Super Saver postage now being more widely available (lower purchase limit before it applies), the delivery times will be extended to encourage people NOT to opt for this option. I am disappointed that it is taking so long, as all items were IN STOCK when ordered.****

**** "DEAR DIARY"
Updated [Nov 1] I am quite disgusted to discover that the book and video (still in stock) had not been despatched YET despite the order having been placed two weeks ago. I have cancelled the order, re-ordered the book and the DVD rather than the video; paid for first-class postage so that it will be despatched (according to website) tomorrow with delivery date estimated as Thursday or Friday. Total cost is STILL cheaper than the video with Super Saver Delivery would have been. I will keep you informed.****

**** "DEAR DIARY"
Updated [Nov 3] E-mail received yesterday indicating that parcel despatched. Postman arrived today with parcel. This was a first-class (cost of £3 post and packing PLUS VAT) delivery and truly arrived straightaway! I am disgusted that they never managed to post the Super-Saver Free delivery within two weeks (when the goods were "in Stock") and yet the "Paid-For" parcel arrived within two days of the order... Amazon is certainly going downhill as far as I am concerned!**** (2)

Not every vendor contacted me to let me know the book(s) on the way, but the items all arrived anyway.

In fact, those who read my second review (on The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown) will know that I wished I hadn't bought the book once I had bought it, BUT... the speed of response to my request for the book was fantastic - their network of sellers seems good.

=======================AVAILABILITY =====================

Although they made no promises, even the book which was too expensive on site was obtained for me within a reasonable period of time at the price of my choice.

I might sometime request something at a ridiculously low price just to see if I get it as quickly.

If there is a problem with an item being low-stock or out-of-stock, they SAY that they will let you know about possible delays before you purchase it. Temporarily (or permanently?) "hard to obtain" items often have a listed "search fee" of about £1.99 added to the list price (listed with the original entry).

I am distressed that there was no reason given for the recent delay in sending the "SUPER SAVER DELIVERY" items ordered in October 2005 which I finally cancelled in November 2005, reordered an equivalent for less and paid normal 1st class postage for next-day-despatch / day-after-delivery. It was very frustrating to be asked day after day by my husband, "Has my video arrived yet?" when despite it being "in stock" at time of ordering, it had not even yet been despatched.

======================FOOTNOTES=======================

1) I remember my password now - hopefully I will use the site enough that the password will not be forgotten again...

2) Lowering the SUPER SAVER DELIVERY threshold will not be enough to keep customers happy who may be disgusted by Non-Arrival of Goods within the Suggested Delivery times when those goods are listed as "In Stock"... -
....and which then arrive swiftly once STANDARD (1st class) DELIVERY is chosen instead.

© 2004, 2005 jesi ………………… ≈≈≈≈{; -)-{{::::: |||||<