What's the point of preordering from Amazon if you don't get games on release day?

[Nooblet]

As with anything to do with shipping, it's a crap shoot. They usually try to deliver day of, but ultimately there's no way to be consistent with it.

Click to shrink...

There are two online retailers in UK simplygames and shopto. Eventhough UK is a small country where things don't take any more than 1 day to deliver they ship the game 3-4 days in advance to avoid any unforseen delays (and even earlier if it's a holiday period and there's a weekend involved). This also leads to people getting the game a day or two early as a nice surprise.

I'm not saying this is exactly what Amazon US should do, but they could have the items be shipped to the local amazon warehouses in the customer's city itself well in advance like a week early to make sure it's available for delivery on the release date, especially since for preorders they will already be aware of how much copies they have to ship and to where a good few weeks in advance at the least. Amazon likely starts receiving its copies shortly after the games go gold which would be a few months before launch.

 

[Adree]

This is why I go to Best Buy, Amazon did this to me wayyyyyyyy too many times

Click to shrink...

Was the opposite for me. When I absolutely have to get it day of I'd usually still do Best Buy but pick up in store.

 

[kjtc1979]

I still have GCU so I usually stick to Best Buy, but I preordered NSMBUD from Amazon when they had it on sale and it arrived on release day. That didn't always happen in the past, though.

 

[gcwy]

This is part of the reason I've made the transition to digital.

Click to shrink...

This.

 

[Iorv3th]

I've always got my amazon pre-orders on release day.

 

[SavoyPrime]

I always got my stuff on release day from Amazon. But I haven't ordered from them in a while and just been dealing with Best Buy since my GCU membership doesn't end until 2021.

 

[Shark]

I wouldn't get too worked up on expected shipping dates from Amazon ~2 weeks before release.

 

[Iori Fuyusaka]

asmith906
Check your account. It looks like it's updated to release day shipping, at least in the U.S.

 

[Exto]

Delivery service quality overall has plunged year after year. FedEx and UPS (DHL no longer in domestic market) aren't very reliable and I doubt Amazon's other carriers are doing much better.

 

[Deleted member 11413]

If you have Prime, games almost always arrive on release day. At least that's my experience. Occasionally a game will arrive a day or two late, but that's a rarity.

 

[Mr Clutch]

Amazon has NEVER met a same day as release delivery for any game I've preordered. Its so frustrating! I can tell you though, if you make a big enough huff about it to support, they're likely to give you a $10 credit to your account.

Edit: Should mention, I DO have Prime and usually put the preorder in upon 1st availability (so like you, a year or two in advance)

 

[Shock32]

I hardly ever order games from Amazon now a days. Release day delivery is not guaranteed and eliminating the 20% for prime members was the nail in the coffin.

I go digital or order from bestbuy with GCU and Just pick it up.

 

[OgTheEnigma]

Are there no decent alternatives to Amazon in the US for buying games online? In the UK, you can often get a game delivered a day or two before release if you stick to the smaller, gaming dedicated online retailers.

EDIT: Obviously, delivery distance makes things more difficult for quick postage in the US, but surely there's enough room in the market for some competitors to Amazon?