Hacker News Reader

Comment by odonnellryan | Hacker News Reader

So, my problem with this: I can't usually get things delivered in the same day I want them, and sometimes even the next day. There's no slot available and so on.

I don't really think out what I need days in advance. I'm like, "oh, I'm out of... whatever, I'll go to ShopRite today."

View on HN

So if i knew you order toothpaste on average every 48 days, i could put a new one in cheapo snail mail on day 43. who is in the best position to predict this and take it completely off your mind? current grocers or amazon? your scenario presumes you need to invoke the order yourself. Amazon is going to be predicting your needs (poorly at first but improving over time). I'd wager this big picture includes getting audio feeds from your house 'hey - who drank the last of the milk?' 'are we out of eggs?', 'that's a shame, these strawberries went bad before i could use them'. I'm sure amazon has considered trash/recycling services to scan product barcodes to see what you've used up to add to the 'predict you' models.

A big challenge is going to be charging me for product i don't need yet. if i get toothpaste 15 days in advance of needing it because i traveled for 15 days of the period, then i'm not going to like being billed for something so soon. i'll feel scammed, like they're trying to ram product/sales down my throat. for this i'd be curious to see if there's a way to charge when the product begins to be used- so medicine shelf time doesn't cost you. That and no-brainer returns. (think dash button for come pick a product up)

Just my 2 cents

Amazon already has subscriptions. Personally, I don't buy anything with a combination of frequency and predictability that makes a subscription make sense but obviously some people do. (Diapers I assume are one thing.) And that becomes harder with with perishables. Customizable but pre-populated (based on prior purchases) would seem to make a lot more sense.

My SO has signed is up for subscriptions for certain recurring purchases. Our usage is too erratic to put on a schedule. I have a new job at home: finding a place for all the things we get automagically delivered from Amazon that we aren't ready to consume. I finally spoke up when we had three containers of dishwasher soap and nowhere to put them.

They email you before sending you stuff, just skip the delivery if you don't want it.

Personally I set everything to six months and then bring it forward when I need some.

Even if there are some small savings, at some point it's just less mental energy to place an order when you need something, which takes? I dunno 2 minutes.

Want to read something funny. Check out the Bounty oversupply: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2014-09-12/how-to-st...

The only thing that makes any sense for me to get on subscription is cat food. Cat has prescription food, so it doesn't change in price, and he eats the same amount every day.

Not from Amazon though, I get autoshipped from Chewy.com.

Pretty much every other thing one would subscribe to I'm going to buy when its on sale. I'm sure Amazon predicting my needs would be at a premium cost.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com