TIL that if you search "thank my driver" on the Amazon app, you can give your most recent Amazon driver a $5 tip at no cost to you. This is a limited time promotion.

Yes, it undermines the idea that drivers deserve a living wage and is just Amazon dipping their toes into shifting their drivers into something closer to 'ride share' style independent contractors who primarily get their income from tips.

Short term benefit for long term problems.

The downside is that it costs Amazon $5.00.

Why would they do it if they can have you do it?

For now

If there’s one slightly good thing about capitalism, it’s the blood-thirsty competition. Some corporation wants your money, and they’re gonna do what they can to capture the market and get your money. Drive up package pickup sounds really cool for a $79 annual subscription (until it eventually enshittifies).

It's already enshittified. It's a store. What you are describing is a store.

People have already forgotten this, but in the beforetimes you used to be able to go to a store and they would actually have a selection of products. Like, in stock. You could go to Radio Shack or CompUSA or Circuit City or even Best Buy and get whatever tech gizmo, hobby component, computer part, cable, or whatever it was you needed. Right then and there. And they would have it. All of it. No waiting. No shipping. You could even pay with cash. And you didn't need a goddamned subscription.

Or you could go to Sears and get just about any fucking thing. Or K-Mart.

Nowadays retail is so damn transient because "everything is online," so even major retailers don't keep wide swathes of product in stock and expect you to just buy it from their web site. And worse, what they do have in store is always super scarce, which I'm positive they do on purpose to increase your urgency to buy whatever they do have now, because if you come back tomorrow it'll probably be gone and out of stock forever.

If you're willing to wait 2 weeks for shipping (with an added shipping cost of $0.40) you can just order that stuff directly from Aliexpress and cut out the middle man.

Yeah, buying from physical stores also helps your local economy. Otherwise there’s eBay and Aliexe (spelling?)

Try sorting results by 'price low to high' and then watch as it completely ignores you - no - laughs in your fucking face - as it gives you results in whatever goddamn order it so desires.

It might make it easier to give it up if you can fully realize that Amazon is now 100% in the business of fucking you over.

Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

If you need something you can still search for it using Google. Sometimes manufacturers even have lists of companies who sell their stuff. You can buy from some other retailer.

And if Amazon is a lot cheaper or the only option, then you suck it up to living in a fully-evolved capitalistic hell scape and buy it from Bezos.

My guess is the funds have dried up already for this year.

The first 2 million thank-yous given will include $5 to the delivery driver at no cost to the customer. After that, customers can continue to thank their driver via the feature all year round, and drivers are able to see the number of times they are thanked within their app.

https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/transportation/alexa-thank-my-driver-feature

Looks like USPS delivered items are not eligible for the $5.00

Possibly? I think my last delivery was via USPS which might not be able to qualify since they're government employees.

Ive had some really bad problems with eBay and is actually why I went back to amazon.

One item was taking a long time to ship with no label made, I contacted the seller and told me that things were super busy in Japan. I gave him the benefit of a doubt and I checked in another month later, I asked him just to refund it, h but he kept delaying and eventually I just tried to go to eBay customer service. THERE IS NO CUSTOMER SERVICE. There are only automated menus for you to click through for different options, and since at this point it was longer than 3 months I couldn't do anything to get a refund, despite zero evidence of shipping being provided.

I have had to refund some stuff from amazon from time to time and a couple other issues, but those are always sorted promptly, especially after speaking to customer service. The complete lack of any human to speak to on ebay gives me zero confidence buying from there.

I think you can use Amazon as a distributor if you are keeping your inventory at their warehouses. They handle all the logistics. It‘s called „fulfilment by amazon“.

Ha, sounds like you might have delivered in rural areas like I did.

Chiming in to say it's the same in VA. I'm reasonably confident it's the same everywhere.

Mine just showed me products. Also I guess my last one was not delivered by Amazon either. Good catch.

It could limit it to a certain number per driver or something? Who knows. It's not transparent (on purpose) so we probably can't know what's going on.

This happened to my bestie just now when I screencapped that it had worked for me and told him about it.

I wonder what the difference is? Maybe its regional?

Edit: He figured his out. He placed the order through Amazon but it was delivered via USPS. Maybe that's the issue?

Lmao I feel you but you never know what the other person's day is like. We order from them while coming on here and cheering for their fair wages. We gotta have empathy that their lives suck in the micro, if we can see the socioeconomic component in the macro.

(Also, do it after your next order if you really want to withhold)

I've angrily thought "I want my ten dollar fucking tip back from this piece of shit" than shutup, ate my cold or incorrect meal, thought over it without being hangry and realized the evening is still worse for them.

Yup! I also was able to do it using the browser!

nah all I got was a live laugh love style poster and a gendered keychain

I don't like paying people just to do the job they're already paid for, and I think it's bad for society to promote it.