Amazon Won’t Say Why Next-Day Shipping Option Sometimes Vanishes

When you’re looking at an item page on Amazon, you may see a note that says, “Want it by tomorrow? Order it within 45 minutes,” and realize that yes, you do need that printer cartridge the next day. What’s confusing for some shoppers, though, is that sometimes same-day or next-day delivery is available on the item page, then disappears when they go to check out.

This option is part of Amazon’s Prime Now, which isn’t available in every town and city. It is available near Sacramento, and a sad college student contacted CBS Sacramento consumer reporter Kurtis Ming to find out why Amazon is teasing him with the prospect of next-day delivery when the item isn’t in one of Amazon’s warehouses.

“It’s kind of a little bit of a semi bait-and-switch,” the college student told the TV reporter, not quite using the term “bait and switch” correctly, but describing the disappointment that shoppers often feel when they go to check out and the next-day delivery option disappears or is only available with a surcharge, which shouldn’t be the case for an Amazon Prime member.

Amazon suggests that shoppers filter their searches by when the item can be shipped if they want the item shipped the next day or even the same day.

“While shopping, customers can find the Prime FREE Same-Day search filter just below the Prime filter — in the left-hand menu on desktop, and in the right-hand filter menu on mobile,” the retailer explained as part of a longer statement to the station. Amazon still didn’t address why the same-day shipping option sometimes disappears before checkout.