The AFFP is a brilliant idea for Amazon, first it saves on packaging costs since the manufacture eats the cost of the box and item packaging. Amazon can just slap a shipping label on the OEM packaging and ship it, they don’t have to pay someone to put bubble wrap, etc. Second it means Amazon can sell the same stuff as regular stores but they aren’t visually the same. So people can’t buy an item they need right now at a higher priced regular store, then order it from Amazon and return the cheaper but not instant item to the store. Conversely, people can’t buy something from Amazon, then find the item on sale locally buy it and return the item to Amazon. Custom packaging is win, win win for Amazon. (It might also help the environment; I doubt very much that was the original idea.) The down side is that the AFFP boxes have the same level of attractiveness as IKEA packaging. This is in some ways ok, because you don’t walk down the aisles at Amazon, with brightly colored packaging enticing you to purchase things.
However, if you look at the example on the AFFP webpage, you can see that as a gift, the Amazon packing doesn’t really make the Pirate Ship look all that fun.
Christmas morning in the not to distant future after the colorful wrapping is torn off “Gee dad, you got me an IKEA lamp. Waaaah!!!” If Amazon remembered that children can’t always read and picture would have shown the IKEA lamp is actually a Nintendo DS, this awkward disappointment could have been avoided.
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