I know now is not the time to be complaining about the shipping of non-essential items but damn, Amazon is merciless. The main reason try to I avoid them, is the terrible shipping overall. From pricing, to time frame, to packaging. It's all, very, very bad. It could vary depending on where you are located, and what warehouses are nearest to you. But for me, it's bad all the way around.
When I had Prime I was disappointed in the very average service it offered. When you don't have Prime, you are dealing with carrier pigeons basically. They give themselves over two weeks to get you your package with the free option. They take almost a week to process for a place that supposedly employs so many, and they use cheap bubble mailers or wraps of cardboard in lieu actual boxes for shipping with no regard to how your specific item should be packaged. Amazon is the archetypal minimum effort, maximum profit type of corporation.
Now that my order has hit a snag somewhere at a regional facility, they've given themselves another whole week before they have to rectify my $20 purchase. I think I've said it before, and I'll continue to say it. Online shopping sucks. You know what's better than this? Walking into a store, making a transaction, and walking out with my purchase.