Originally Posted by
Mobile 155
I rest my case. But remember the customer isn’t paying any more now to get the package to their door. Why pay an extra free to give someone access to a locker they never asked for in the first place? Right now you can get a dining room table and a pair of gloves delivered to your door for free on free shipping days or if you have prime. If people wanted to pick those things up they could drive to the mall.
Right, but if the shipping costs are built into the prices, then the prices can be lowered by allowing people to choose whether or not to pay an extra $1 to have it delivered to their door. So instead of paying, say, $20 plus free shipping, you pay $19 and you have the option to have it shipped to your door for $1. Also, Amazon makes more money because they're spending less of the $19 on subsidizing vans for drivers.
The only real loser in the deal would be Mercedes because they don't get to sell as many vans, but then that was the whole point of using bike couriers instead of vans+drivers, wasn't it? I.e. to make the money by and for cycling instead of driving.