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Monday, October 07, 2002
I Went on Down to the Google Store, and...
I'm crying the blues tonight after trying to buy green, yellow, and yes, blue Google pens online at the Google Store. You know, the ones shaped like lava lamps that all my family want to receive as stocking stuffers this year. Seems they've outsourced the order fulfilment to UPS - nothing wrong with that of course. Unfortunately, I found out that to ship three pens ($9.95 each) would cost $40 because I'm an "international" customer and UPS super-fast delivery is mandatory for "international" customers. Hey Google/UPS, you know it really doesn't take a lot of effort to ship stuff to Canada via regular mail for about two bucks. They're pens! This $30 order just turned into a $70 order.
Not to worry, though, I plan to sidle down to the Google Canada sales office on King Street here in Toronto and ask for a "tour of the office supplies area."
Of course, it's international shipping issues such as this that caused Amazon to finally open Amazon.ca, which will make some serious waves in the local bookseller market in the next five years. Amazon.ca has all of its delivery done by Canada Post Corporation - which it would have done in any case, probably, but they've signed a special partnership of some kind. The formerly plain red and white mail trucks now have huge Amazon.ca ads on the side. Cool! Who said the dotcom halcyon years were over?
Now if Google would just open up a nice "Google.ca store" - complete with, say, a nice partnership with the UPS folks here, everyone would be happy. I think those brown UPS trucks are long overdue for an update - perhaps a nice, big, colorful Google ad...
Or how about this? Google could sell its stuff on Amazon!
Posted by
Andrew Goodman
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D'oh!
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