amazing company, amazing people, amazing story. just goes to show that sometimes--just sometimes--putting your nose to the grindstone and being well-intentioned and amiable about everything is the best idea.

Hmm. I love Amazon and love Zappos and hope that this is a happy union (and that nothing much changes).

I have no beef with Amazon, but Zappos' customer service and hella rapid delivery and random free upgrades and free shipping both ways aren't part of Amazon's model. I once ordered a couple of pairs of running shoes from Zappos at 8 pm. I got an email about an hour later saying they'd randomly upgraded me to rapid shipping. I thought, cool, maybe I'll have them to try out day after tomorrow.

I had the shoes before lunch the next day. Roughly 15 hours after I'd ordered them.

I'm pessimistic enough to believe that this means Zappos will go from being awesome and unparalleled to merely good.

Does this mean we now get to download all of our footwear?

Yup--just don't download anything from 1984.

For those of us not clicking all the links in the article, what is Zappos?

BP, I'm ashamed of you.
Zappos:shoes :: Amazon:books

ZAPPOS, HE COMES!

Rather overrated and overpriced shoes, at that. (men's, anyway)

I have to say, although I look at shoes on Zappos, I'd usually then cross-check Amazon and find they had the same shoes I wanted, usually for less. (substantially, in some cases.)

Like, a $60ish on sale pair on zappos was just $18 on amazon on clearance.

So maybe this means their prices will drop a bit.

I don't buy from Zappos for their prices - I do it for their customer service. So if I've tried the shoes on in a store I'd buy from Amazon to get them cheap, but if I'm not sure whether or not they'll fit or if I need them next-day then I'd buy from Zappos, which has an awesome return policy.

I don't really know what to think, as I rarely buy shoes online in the first place. The Zappos CEO seems sure that this is a good move...

Yeah, Zappos is just one of many places I check for shoes - the others are Endless, Piperlime (usually a rip-off, but sometimes they have good sales and free shipping), and Amazon. It's all sort of hit and miss for me with shoe sites. It also depends on whether I know exactly what size/model I want, or whether I'm just generally shopping around to see what I like.

Open letter from Zappos CEO on the Amazon/Zappos deal.