Amazon Fines Company $5,000 For Using Packing Peanuts

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I know what you are thinking, everyone hates packing peanuts and any company that uses them SHOULD be fined $5,000. I'm not arguing with that, I just didn't know Amazon imposed fines like this for violating its seller terms. If you think about it, the company probably would have been better off using crumpled one dollar bills to ship its product. :eek:

Last week, the retailer emailed Doheny a picture of the open box, saying the kind of packing peanuts he used weren't allowed at their facility. It said he could use other things like shrink wrap, air filled pillows or crumpled paper. "Crumpled up paper? Then you're wasting trees," Doheny said. Two days later, he got another email slapping him with a $4,200 fine for not complying with the rules. On Wednesday, they tacked on another $900 for a shipment he'd already sent.
 
What's wrong with packing peanuts? I never heard of any hatred of them til now.
 
I've never had an static shocks from it... oddly enough. It's obviously there since it sticks to you because of it but I've never been hit by a zap... and I get shocked on a frequent basis when wearing .... virtually any jacket.
 
That fine was called a "vendor violation" at a company I used to work for. He could have been fined for other stuff like a shipping label with an incorrect type of barcode or incorrect size of label, etc.
 
Interesting... I guessed I should get rid of my huge bag of packing peanuts that I've saved from past Amazon.com and Newegg.com shipments...
 
Look, I don't believe we need LAWS to make them illegal, they're already fading away on their own for all the reasons mentioned above.

If I was Amazon, I wouldn't be fining my shipping partners because they aren't "green"... the peanuts have been very biodegradable for many years now... but because when they do get loose, they get into everything. They explode EVERYWHERE.

And also the volume of them. The inflatable packing material is an absolute miracle. You can take an entire gigantic box full of it, slice down the strips in seconds with your packing knife and have all that volume of air cushion down to a wad in the palm of your hand that throws away in just a few cubic inches.

Back when peanuts were all there was 15 years ago, I had literally hundreds of full size black trash bags full of it stashed away. Hundreds. The stuff was a scourge on humanity.
 
"Crumpled up paper? Then you're wasting trees,"

If only there was a way to make more of them. And it isn't like packing peanuts are environmentally friendly, so it must not be that big of a concern for the guy.
 
Gnimble said:
Interesting... I guessed I should get rid of my huge bag of packing peanuts that I've saved from past Amazon.com and Newegg.com shipments...
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amddragonpc said:
That fine was called a "vendor violation" at a company I used to work for. He could have been fined for other stuff like a shipping label with an incorrect type of barcode or incorrect size of label, etc.
Click to expand...
this was a shipment from a vendor to Amazon so i get that... but 5k from the go.? Damm
 
Uvaman2 said:
this was a shipment from a vendor to Amazon so i get that... but 5k from the go.? Damm
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Amazon is brutal. But they move your product (if it is decent) so you tolerate it because you just ship them stuff and they deal with the rest. There are a ton of rules you have to follow.
 
Advil said:
Look, I don't believe we need LAWS to make them illegal, they're already fading away on their own for all the reasons mentioned above.

If I was Amazon, I wouldn't be fining my shipping partners because they aren't "green"... the peanuts have been very biodegradable for many years now... but because when they do get loose, they get into everything. They explode EVERYWHERE.

And also the volume of them. The inflatable packing material is an absolute miracle. You can take an entire gigantic box full of it, slice down the strips in seconds with your packing knife and have all that volume of air cushion down to a wad in the palm of your hand that throws away in just a few cubic inches.

Back when peanuts were all there was 15 years ago, I had literally hundreds of full size black trash bags full of it stashed away. Hundreds. The stuff was a scourge on humanity.
Click to expand...
yeah im sure its not about being green... i have gotten water soluble peanuts if I remember correctly.
 
Darunion said:
Amazon is brutal. But they move your product (if it is decent) so you tolerate it because you just ship them stuff and they deal with the rest. There are a ton of rules you have to follow.
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fair enough.
 
Koolthulu said:
"Crumpled up paper? Then you're wasting trees,"

If only there was a way to make more of them. And it isn't like packing peanuts are environmentally friendly, so it must not be that big of a concern for the guy.
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Plus paper packing can also be recycled or reused without much effort.
 
Gnimble said:
Interesting... I guessed I should get rid of my huge bag of packing peanuts that I've saved from past Amazon.com and Newegg.com shipments...
Click to expand...
Or you can be a dick and use them to fuck over companies that you don't like... by making it look like you received stuff with peanuts in them.
 
Apparently people haven't heard of the peanuts that look like puffed cheetoes, don't generate static, don't fly everywhere and dissolve almost instantly with water.
 
We still receive tons of the "puffed cheetoes" type, make quite a mess.

On another note, the Rogue One trailer is out...it looks...OK.
 
oh great i just returned a huge box filled with packing peanuts back to amazon warehouse in las vegas. I guess Amazon.CIS will be threatening to cancel me now.. Will be ready to dispute any amazon charge i have made the last 3 months

Next time i return a package to amazon, i am going to write in the description, very few packing peanuts, item must have moved excessively during transit causing the item to be defective. I got plenty of peanut packing material in the basement
 
They should us the ones that are edible. They don't seem to be nearly as staticy
 
Advil said:
Look, I don't believe we need LAWS to make them illegal, they're already fading away on their own for all the reasons mentioned above.

If I was Amazon, I wouldn't be fining my shipping partners because they aren't "green"... the peanuts have been very biodegradable for many years now... but because when they do get loose, they get into everything. They explode EVERYWHERE.

And also the volume of them. The inflatable packing material is an absolute miracle. You can take an entire gigantic box full of it, slice down the strips in seconds with your packing knife and have all that volume of air cushion down to a wad in the palm of your hand that throws away in just a few cubic inches.

Back when peanuts were all there was 15 years ago, I had literally hundreds of full size black trash bags full of it stashed away. Hundreds. The stuff was a scourge on humanity.
Click to expand...

You've just described Tribbles.
 
Koolthulu said:
it isn't like packing peanuts are environmentally friendly, so it must not be that big of a concern for the guy.
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Darunion said:
Yup pretty much what my reply was going to be. The sooner they become illegal the better
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And when packing peanuts are outlawed, only outlaws with have packing peanuts :)

I reused them all the time when I sold stuff on ebay and still have a couple large boxes full of them.
They are not that environmentally unfriendly it your recycle/reuse them multiple times.
 
nutzo said:
And when packing peanuts are outlawed, only outlaws with have packing peanuts :)

I reused them all the time when I sold stuff on ebay and still have a couple large boxes full of them.
They are not that environmentally unfriendly it your recycle/reuse them multiple times.
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oh I don't care about the environment, its the inconvenience of them lol. Leave a cat alone one time with a box of them. I personally am fine with air bags because I love to scare the shit out of my wife by popping them and when done they take up little space in the trash. I would prefer even if those were made with non static generating bags as well just because we really don't need a possible point of failure with electronics shipping.

Bring back more of the edible peanuts, its always fun when someone who has never seen them watches you eat one.
 
I ship and receive a ton of packages. I have boxes of peanuts and will continue to use them. The main advantage of the airbags though is that they're way less dense and keep package weight down. I don't buy packing materials as I have more than enough to just recycle everything, but you can save money with the airbags.

Retronym said:
the worst is that shredded confetti shit.
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This... gets everywhere and is impossible to cleanup by hand.
 
Uvaman2 said:
this was a shipment from a vendor to Amazon so i get that... but 5k from the go.? Damm
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At the company I was at, we had a budget "bucket" for vendor violations. We had six-figures in that bucket just in case. In my opinion, it's ridiculous.
 
Jarod888 said:
They should us the ones that are edible. They don't seem to be nearly as staticy
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Yeah, they have been biodegradable since the 1990s. While eating them is not recommended, I ate one before, there is nothing in them that would hurt you, made of plant plant starch.

I didn't think the chemical ones even existed anymore.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
Apparently people haven't heard of the peanuts that look like puffed cheetoes, don't generate static, don't fly everywhere and dissolve almost instantly with water.
Click to expand...

They reek when you dissolve them. Smells like somebody dumped popcorn into water and let it cook down into an oatmeal-like consistency, then made you take a whiff.
 
Steve said:
*zap* static *zap* cling *zap* end up everywhere *zap* stick to everything *zap* garbage man strings them down the street for miles *zap* ;)
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I've shipped high end speakers and the only safe way to do it is using peanuts. They keep the speaker secure, meanwhile have enough give to take the small shipping blows. "Hard" insulating Styrofoam around all sides of the box, soft wrap on the speakers, and a ton of peanuts - only way.
 
I think I still have a bunch of packing peanuts from the old days stashed somewhere. I am almost tempted to use those the next time I have to return a movie back to Amazon because it arrived scratched and damaged. I agree that they suck though.
 
I HATE receiving boxes with packing peanuts. They are an absolute mess.
 
Given the (nonexistent) packing I've had on a lot of my Amazon orders, I'd say that any packing at all would be considered a violation.

How the caps didn't get ripped off that bagged power buck, rattling around with box inside the shipping box, I'll never know.
 
You can always take those packing peanuts and mix with gasoline to have homemade Napalm. :sneaky:
 
The last time I opened a package and found packing peanuts, I nearly taped the box back up and did a return to sender. I hate those f'ing things. If Hillary made a campaign promise to abolish them, I might consider voting for her. lolololol just kidding.
 
What's so bad about packing peanuts? Their pretty fun I think.
 
LightningCrash said:
They reek when you dissolve them. Smells like somebody dumped popcorn into water and let it cook down into an oatmeal-like consistency, then made you take a whiff.
Click to expand...

I would rather something smell a little bad when disposed of than give me a bunch more plastic to throw in the dump. I don't claim to be the greenest person by any stretch, but the air pillows are beyond overused. they have their value as not everything can do peanuts, but they are used too much.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
I would rather something smell a little bad when disposed of than give me a bunch more plastic to throw in the dump. I don't claim to be the greenest person by any stretch, but the air pillows are beyond overused. they have their value as not everything can do peanuts, but they are used too much.
Click to expand...

put the deflated air pillows in the recycling bin.
 
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