Amazon Devising Methods to Deliver Packages in Your Home or Car's Trunk

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monkeymagick

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Walmart is not the only company letting strangers into your home when you're not around to combat "porch piracy." Amazon is putting its hat into the home-intrusive-delivery game. The company plans to have a smart doorbell system to allow a courier into your home when you're away. Partnering up with Phrame, a smart license plate maker -- with your consent, the delivery guy could possibly open your car's trunk instead of your private homestead to drop off the five pounds of Damn Good Beef Jerky.

Amazon, UPS and other delivery companies don't disclose data on lost packages. But according to the smart doorbell maker August, 11 million U.S. homeowners had a package stolen in 2016, and a survey by Shorr Packaging showed 31 percent of U.S. shoppers have experienced package theft.
 
I don't get the whole Amazon and food ... have you guys checked prices against your local store? Everything is sold at a premium.

It must be a "it's more convenient for me and I'll pay the 50% markup" millennials point of view / way of thinking.
 
SixFootDuo said:
I don't get the whole Amazon and food ... have you guys checked prices against your local store? Everything is sold at a premium.

It must be a "it's more convenient for me and I'll pay the 50% markup" millennials point of view / way of thinking.
Click to expand...

Actually plenty of food items on Amazon are cheaper than in stores, especially specialty items, and sticking with specialty items, not everything will be available at the local store. There are definitely valid cases for ordering certain food items from Amazon. Your blanket statement is too, well, blanket-y.
 
focbde said:
Actually plenty of food items on Amazon are cheaper than in stores, especially specialty items, and sticking with specialty items, not everything will be available at the local store. There are definitely valid cases for ordering certain food items from Amazon. Your blanket statement is too, well, blanket-y.
Click to expand...

I do all the cooking and shopping in my house hold. I actually cook with a fair amount of 'specialty items' ingredients, etc. I'm going to have to disagree with you. I shop local and at many ethnic grocery stores, Thai, Korean, Chinese. Mediterranean Markets. Some of are huge, others small but all have very very reasonable prices on all their ingredients. Spices, Noodles, Sauces and Oils. Meat and Fish, etc.

Here is an example, Coconut Oil / Milk. Asian stores, it's cheap, Walmart $8 to $10 or $12 dollars, Amazon $12 - $14 - $16? That's one example. Asian market, it's $4. I could list several dozens and dozens of other items.

Just not sure people are aware that ethnic markets do not follow the American Capitalism Greed model of pricing. Large Farmers markets can be great places for Veg and Fruit. The smaller Farmers Markets, you have to totally avoid as prices are always astronomical.

As far as meat in general perishables goes, Save A Lot, Aldi, etc. I never spend more than $1.99 for Hamburger, $2.00 a Gallon for Milk, .69 cents a lbs for chicken leg quarters, thighs or legs.

Walmart, Sams Club, Cosco ... some of the worse pricing ever.

I doubt Amazon will ever be as cheap as what you can find if you know where and how to look. I'm positive that as soon as someone loads up their car via this Amazon truck deal, they've spent an extra $100 they didn't have to.

Also, a freezer pays for itself almost instantly as soon as you load it up with sale items.
 
We use quite a bit of ghee butter and gluten free flour and it is cheaper (~30% including shipping or ~50%+ without shipping) to order from amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom) to Lithuania (1000 miles and quite a few countries apart) than to buy locally :cry:
 
Damn, it's just way to hard to go outside anymore; let alone get shit off your porch.
I tried ordering food and such from amazon once. My detergent was canceled as damaged in delivery [probably dropped and exploded], the dish soap i was out of got lost, and the bag of tortilla chips came as crumbs... Only tried it because they gave me a coupon for prime pantry. Ordered just enough to 'fill the box' and get free shipping, and they separated all the items for shipping anyway.?
I think I'll stick to picking up the groceries myself and keep strangers out of my stuff. And why the hell would i overpay for a proprietary smart lock so someone can remotely unlock my house or hack it? Get that shit outa here....
 
I'm glad they're jumping on delivery to your car's trunk.
I can only assume that this is in preparation for self driving cars. Once they have a working system in place it's only a matter of time until autonomous vehicles become ubiquitous and they're able to capitalize on it right away.
 
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SixFootDuo said:
I do all the cooking and shopping in my house hold. I actually cook with a fair amount of 'specialty items' ingredients, etc. I'm going to have to disagree with you. I shop local and at many ethnic grocery stores, Thai, Korean, Chinese. Mediterranean Markets. Some of are huge, others small but all have very very reasonable prices on all their ingredients. Spices, Noodles, Sauces and Oils. Meat and Fish, etc.
Click to expand...

Well I must admit, I don't live in the U.S.A. but in Germany. I'm the main cook also but here whilst we do have Asian supermarkets and the like, they're pretty few and far between, as well as expensive.
 
I've had a motherboard, video card, and Fire tablet stolen from my front door. (the video card and Fire tablet had specific delivery instructions to deliver it to the leasing office, but UPS failed.) So, I wound up renting a box from a UPS store to receive all my packages. I don't think there is any decent way around "porch piracy".
 
That's funny cause I've been delivering packages to your wives trunks since 2010
 
dgingeri said:
I've had a motherboard, video card, and Fire tablet stolen from my front door. (the video card and Fire tablet had specific delivery instructions to deliver it to the leasing office, but UPS failed.) So, I wound up renting a box from a UPS store to receive all my packages. I don't think there is any decent way around "porch piracy".
Click to expand...
How about put a webcam that records on motion detection on your porch?
Only complete morons will chance being recorded when stealing things off people's porches.
 
Gigus Fire said:
How about put a webcam that records on motion detection on your porch?
Only complete morons will chance being recorded when stealing things off people's porches.
Click to expand...

that's what ski masks and creepy clown costumes are for?
 
polonyc2 said:
that's what ski masks and creepy clown costumes are for?
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usually people don't go to this level to steal packages. They walk there like they live there, pick up packages and walk away, most likely to get in their car and drive off.
Wearing ski masks in broad daylight and carrying a package is pretty suspect.
If you have people wearing creepy clown costumes when it's not Halloween... well you have a lot more issues in your neighborhood than most.
 
SixFootDuo said:
I don't get the whole Amazon and food ... have you guys checked prices against your local store? Everything is sold at a premium. It must be a "it's more convenient for me and I'll pay the 50% markup" millennials point of view / way of thinking.
Click to expand...
I'm 60 and I get some foods from Amazon. Even the stuff that I might be able to find if I went to a bunch of local stores and found it cheaper; it's simply not worth my time to drive around looking for stuff. I guess it's more about how much your time is worth, or, how much time you have to waste. I don't like wandering around in supermarkets, which is why I go first thing in the morning on the way home from work; they're usually pretty empty of people, and the shelves are stocked.

polonyc2 said:
WTF?...smart doorbell system?
Click to expand...
Now if they can make one that will turn the hose on the jehovahs' witness people automatically, I'll get one.

Gigus Fire said:
If you have people wearing creepy clown costumes when it's not Halloween... well you have a lot more issues in your neighborhood than most.
Click to expand...
I usually just figure they're going to or coming from a child's birthday party. And even if he's actually dismembering them all after the party, at least the guy's working. :jawdrop:
 
SixFootDuo said:
I don't get the whole Amazon and food ... have you guys checked prices against your local store? Everything is sold at a premium.

It must be a "it's more convenient for me and I'll pay the 50% markup" millennials point of view / way of thinking.
Click to expand...

Time is far more valuable than money.

I do Kroger's ClickList, and it's worth every penny of the $5.
 
SixFootDuo said:
I do all the cooking and shopping in my house hold. I actually cook with a fair amount of 'specialty items' ingredients, etc. I'm going to have to disagree with you. I shop local and at many ethnic grocery stores, Thai, Korean, Chinese. Mediterranean Markets. Some of are huge, others small but all have very very reasonable prices on all their ingredients. Spices, Noodles, Sauces and Oils. Meat and Fish, etc.

Here is an example, Coconut Oil / Milk. Asian stores, it's cheap, Walmart $8 to $10 or $12 dollars, Amazon $12 - $14 - $16? That's one example. Asian market, it's $4. I could list several dozens and dozens of other items.

Just not sure people are aware that ethnic markets do not follow the American Capitalism Greed model of pricing. Large Farmers markets can be great places for Veg and Fruit. The smaller Farmers Markets, you have to totally avoid as prices are always astronomical.

As far as meat in general perishables goes, Save A Lot, Aldi, etc. I never spend more than $1.99 for Hamburger, $2.00 a Gallon for Milk, .69 cents a lbs for chicken leg quarters, thighs or legs.

Walmart, Sams Club, Cosco ... some of the worse pricing ever.

I doubt Amazon will ever be as cheap as what you can find if you know where and how to look. I'm positive that as soon as someone loads up their car via this Amazon truck deal, they've spent an extra $100 they didn't have to.

Also, a freezer pays for itself almost instantly as soon as you load it up with sale items.
Click to expand...

A factor is probably where you live as well. I live in a really small town. We have a walmart, and a really expensive grocery store.

I need to drive at least an hour to get to anything else.
 
I live in an apartment and ever since the office no longer accepted deliveries, we've had three deliveries stolen. So now we have them delivered to our work address.
 
Gigus Fire said:
How about put a webcam that records on motion detection on your porch?
Only complete morons will chance being recorded when stealing things off people's porches.
Click to expand...

Can't do that very easily with an apartment. I can't drill holes or mount anything on a wall.
 
Why don’t they sell Amazon storage boxes you can mount on your porch that Amazon and the customer can access.
 
SixFootDuo said:
I do all the cooking and shopping in my house hold.
As far as meat in general perishables goes, Save A Lot, Aldi, etc. I never spend more than $1.99 for Hamburger, $2.00 a Gallon for Milk, .69 cents a lbs for chicken leg quarters, thighs or legs.

Walmart, Sams Club, Cosco ... some of the worse pricing ever.
Click to expand...

I also do most the cooking/shopping.

Prices really depends on where you live. It's a lot different here in Southern California.

$1.99 for hamburger? Even the worse 35% fat hamburger cost more than that out here.
10% in the grocery store usually runs over $6/lb, more than I'd ever pay. If find 15% for les than $3, I stock up the freezer.

Best price for milk is Costco. I can get non fat for around that price, as long as I buy 2 gallons.
Costco isn't always the best pricing on everything. Shopping the local sales can save you money over Costco.
However, there are certain items I buy, including Costco's own brands, that are almost always cheaper that I can find elsewhere.

Chicken legs? Haven't seen it that cheap for decades. I recently found some on sale for 79 cents, although usually 99 cents is about as cheap as they get.

They're opening an Aldi nearby soon. From what I here the prices should be good.
 
SparkedFire said:
Why don’t they sell Amazon storage boxes you can mount on your porch that Amazon and the customer can access.
Click to expand...

Most people don't have that large of a porch, and unless you own the property, I don't think your landlord would appreciate you bolting something to the porch.
Beside, the porch pirates will just clone the master key or start carrying crow bars to pry open the boxes.
 
dgingeri said:
I've had a motherboard, video card, and Fire tablet stolen from my front door. (the video card and Fire tablet had specific delivery instructions to deliver it to the leasing office, but UPS failed.) So, I wound up renting a box from a UPS store to receive all my packages. I don't think there is any decent way around "porch piracy".
Click to expand...

Live in a better area?

Apartments are the worse for porch piracy. Houses are generally better, and wealthy gated communities usually don't have a problem unless it's teens to live there.

I haven't had a problem yet, but I live in one of the safest/lowest crime cities in the country.
I also live at the end of a long cul-de-sac, so anyone driving down the street looking at porches would be noticed.
 
dgingeri said:
Can't do that very easily with an apartment. I can't drill holes or mount anything on a wall.
Click to expand...
PoE webcam, ethernet through the window, use some really strong tape as a mount point. Probably the least invasive and non-permanent solution i could come up with.
It does suck a lot depending on the apartment.
Also just a fixture that looks like a working camera is usually enough to deter most thieves.
 
Anything left on my porch is gone before I get home. They don't really seem to care about cameras, our street has hours of footage of thieves walking off with packages.

Even then, anything delivered by an Amazon courier has a 50/50 chance of never making it to my house in the first place before it has a chance to be stolen. Even on days when I'm home waiting for the package, I can see the status change to "delivered". No truck, no box.
 
SixFootDuo said:
I do all the cooking and shopping in my house hold. I actually cook with a fair amount of 'specialty items' ingredients, etc. I'm going to have to disagree with you. I shop local and at many ethnic grocery stores, Thai, Korean, Chinese. Mediterranean Markets. Some of are huge, others small but all have very very reasonable prices on all their ingredients. Spices, Noodles, Sauces and Oils. Meat and Fish, etc.

Here is an example, Coconut Oil / Milk. Asian stores, it's cheap, Walmart $8 to $10 or $12 dollars, Amazon $12 - $14 - $16? That's one example. Asian market, it's $4. I could list several dozens and dozens of other items.

Just not sure people are aware that ethnic markets do not follow the American Capitalism Greed model of pricing. Large Farmers markets can be great places for Veg and Fruit. The smaller Farmers Markets, you have to totally avoid as prices are always astronomical.

As far as meat in general perishables goes, Save A Lot, Aldi, etc. I never spend more than $1.99 for Hamburger, $2.00 a Gallon for Milk, .69 cents a lbs for chicken leg quarters, thighs or legs.

Walmart, Sams Club, Cosco ... some of the worse pricing ever.

I doubt Amazon will ever be as cheap as what you can find if you know where and how to look. I'm positive that as soon as someone loads up their car via this Amazon truck deal, they've spent an extra $100 they didn't have to.

Also, a freezer pays for itself almost instantly as soon as you load it up with sale items.
Click to expand...

How much of what you can get cheaply at a Save A Lot or Aldi is organic?
 
dgingeri said:
I've had a motherboard, video card, and Fire tablet stolen from my front door. (the video card and Fire tablet had specific delivery instructions to deliver it to the leasing office, but UPS failed.) So, I wound up renting a box from a UPS store to receive all my packages. I don't think there is any decent way around "porch piracy".
Click to expand...

Well hopefully next time you plant a shit bomb that remotely detonates as they drive away. Just remember to know what you're doing. You don't want to kill anyone. You just want the cover the inside of their car and them with SHIT!

 
Next they will have amazon warehouse workers stalk you to deliver to you directly. Run up to your car window with packages at a red light, or toss them over your stall wall when taking a crap in a public restroom.
 
SixFootDuo said:
I don't get the whole Amazon and food ... have you guys checked prices against your local store? Everything is sold at a premium.

It must be a "it's more convenient for me and I'll pay the 50% markup" millennials point of view / way of thinking.
Click to expand...

it's hard to carry all those groceries with that huge sense of smug though.
 
SixFootDuo said:
Well hopefully next time you plant a shit bomb that remotely detonates as they drive away. Just remember to know what you're doing. You don't want to kill anyone. You just want the cover the inside of their car and them with SHIT!

Click to expand...


I'd rather devise something that would emit a foul smelling substance, preferably something liquid so that it sticks to things around it, without having the added danger of bacterial infections that might get me sued. Perhaps a small pressurized tank with a flip up sprayer held down by the box flaps. However, there is then the problem of cost for such a thing. I'm not spending $50 to prank a package thief.
 
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