PSA: Your Amazon Prime orders could take up to one month to deliver

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When the news broke that Amazon was limiting non-essential deliveries to its warehouses last week, nobody knew what that would mean for overall shipping times. Well, now that we’re another week into the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve started to see that some items previously shown as Prime shipping (one or two-day) are now showing nearly month-long estimations before their delivery.

Yes, you read that correctly, a month. Like most Prime members in a major metro area, I usually get one-day Prime shipping on the majority of the things I order. Like these Monoprice Monolith M1060 headphones, which are now showing April 21 for the fastest delivery. Yikes.

Image: KnowTechie

I’m not alone either, with social media full of people complaining about the new normal for the usually-reliable Prime shipping. Usually, only items that are out of stock and awaiting new shipments show anything other than the usual one-, two-, or three-day shipping options for Prime members. Now, in-stock items are showing anywhere between five days and a full month for fulfillment.

Is this simply indicative of the upswing on online shopping now that the health services have told us to stay home to help with coronavirus prevention measures? Is it also showing the cracks in a country that was already heavily dependent on Amazon for its shopping needs? Will Amazon’s shipping times ever go back to normal, or is this the new normal?

If long shipping times are the norm, is it time to ditch Prime altogether for more local shopping? I mean Prime stuff usually ships free with $35 or more anyway. You do lose things like Prime Video though if you cancel your subscription, and for most that will be enough to keep paying Amazon its yearly fees.

This also has a knock-on effect on third-party Amazon sellers, most of which are small businesses. It’s clear now that the economic effects of the coronavirus will be felt for years to come.

What do you think? Have you noticed increased shipping times through Amazon? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. Click here for more.

Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.