[Yerushalmi] On second thought, keep it

[Yerushalmi]

Last year, when buying my wife a birthday present, I discovered that it would be cheaper to have it delivered to my parents' house than to not have it delivered at all. How is this possible?

[trebor]

Is the pandemic relevant? Did you purchase the gift online? In store? Relevant? Is it relevant what the gift was? Is a previous purchase history of your parents’ relevant? Are previous deliveries to their place relevant?

Were you and your wife living together at the time? Is her proximity to your parents’ place relevant? Do your parents live in the same country as you and your wife?

[Yerushalmi]

Is the pandemic relevant? No. Did you purchase the gift online? Yes. In store? No. Relevant? Yes. Is it relevant what the gift was? Yes. Is a previous purchase history of your parents’ relevant? Yes. Are previous deliveries to their place relevant? No.

Were you and your wife living together at the time? Yes. Is her proximity to your parents’ place relevant? Yes. Do your parents live in the same country as you and your wife? No.

[Doriana]

Were your parents eligible for a discount? based on their purchase history? based on their location?

[Yerushalmi]

Were your parents eligible for a discount? Yes. based on their purchase history? No. based on their location? A hesitant no.

[trebor]

Were your parents in the same country the gift was being shipped from? In another country that didn’t impose tariffs on goods (or certain types of goods?) from wherever it was being shipped? Or maybe the situation was vice-versa, and the company didn’t charge extra because of shipping arrangements with certain countries?

Is the gift a food item? Drink? Something your wife found useful? Something fun? A household item? A bit of technology? Clothing?

Do you and your wife live in an adjacent country to your parents? If so, do you live near the border?

By saying it’s cheaper than not having it delivered at all, would the other option have been you picking it up in person? From somewhere reasonable for you to pick it up? Would you have to go to the country it was shipped from to get it in person? Or do you mean not just that you saved money through this whole process, but that you somehow made money on all this?

[Yerushalmi]

Were your parents in the same country the gift was being shipped from? Yes. In another country that didn’t impose tariffs on goods (or certain types of goods?) No. from wherever it was being shipped? No. Or maybe the situation was vice-versa, and the company didn’t charge extra because of shipping arrangements with certain countries? No.

Is the gift a food item? No. Drink? No. Something your wife found useful? No. Something fun? Yes. A household item? No. A bit of technology? Toss-up between "yes" and "I can't answer this question". Clothing? No.

Do you and your wife live in an adjacent country to your parents? No. If so, do you live near the border? No.

By saying it’s cheaper than not having it delivered at all, would the other option have been you picking it up in person? No. From somewhere reasonable for you to pick it up? No. Would you have to go to the country it was shipped from to get it in person? No. Or do you mean not just that you saved money through this whole process, but that you somehow made money on all this? No.

[Earnest]

than to not have it delivered at all. --> would you have to go and take it from a relevant location? Further than your parent's house? In a place that you know? In a place where you/ your wife work(s)/used to work?

Would you have paid the delivery if the gift was delivered to your parent's house? Would the package be headed to your parents? To you?

Cheaper = in terms of money spend for the total order? In terms of money spend overall (e.g., in the example above, you would have to go further than your parent's house, thus spending more in terms of fuel)? In terms of time spent overall?

is the gift something striking? Something that, if not delivered, your wife would have seen/noticed? Something that undergoes a process during the delivery time? Increases its value? Undergoes a chemical process?
Is the gift related to health care? Something that your wife needed? Would need? A wheelchair maybe for an accident?

Assuming that you and your parent live near, would the puzzle work if you have delivered in your house rather than your parent's one? If not, because your parent's house was located in a special place (is the house number relevant?)? Had something that your house did not have (engine? Technology?) Is law relevant? Commercial policy?

[Yerushalmi]

than to not have it delivered at all. --> would you have to go and take it from a relevant location? No. Further than your parent's house? In a place that you know? In a place where you/ your wife work(s)/used to work?

Would you have paid the delivery if the gift was delivered to your parent's house? No. Would the package be headed to your parents? Yes. To you? No.

Cheaper = in terms of money spend for the total order? Yes. In terms of money spend overall (e.g., in the example above, you would have to go further than your parent's house, thus spending more in terms of fuel)? Yes. In terms of time spent overall? No.

is the gift something striking? Not sure what you mean. Something that, if not delivered, your wife would have seen/noticed? No. Something that undergoes a process during the delivery time? No. Increases its value? No. Undergoes a chemical process? No.
Is the gift related to health care? No. Something that your wife needed? No. Would need? No. A wheelchair maybe for an accident? No.

Assuming that you and your parent live near, would the puzzle work if you have delivered in your house rather than your parent's one? Depends on the circumstances. If not, because your parent's house was located in a special place (is the house number relevant?)? No. Had something that your house did not have (engine? Technology?) No. Is law relevant? No. Commercial policy? Not sure what you mean.

[Sundowner]

Were your parents entitled to free shipment? a discount on the item's price? a free gift?
Assuming you had ordered it to be delivered to your parents: would your parents then have sent it to you? to your wife? would you have picked it up there? would your wife? would your parents have taken it to you?
Is it actually a tangible item?
Did you buy similar items before? did your parents?

[Yerushalmi]

Were your parents entitled to free shipment? Yes. a discount on the item's price? No. a free gift? No.
Assuming you had ordered it to be delivered to your parents: would your parents then have sent it to you? Yes. to your wife? Yes, through me. would you have picked it up there? No. would your wife? No. would your parents have taken it to you? No.
Is it actually a tangible item? I can't answer this question as asked.
Did you buy similar items before? Yes. did your parents? Yes.

[wunderland]

Is it a digital item? Which can be delivered either physically on a storage medium, or over the Internet?

[Yerushalmi]

Is it a digital item? Which can be delivered either physically on a storage medium, or over the Internet?

Yes and yes.




***************SPOILERS************

I bought my wife a music album. The CD version happened to be on sale and actually cost less than the MP3 download version. Since my parents live in the US and bought Amazon Prime (which is the "previous purchase history" I referred to), they therefore had free shipping. So having the disc delivered to their house cost less than not having the disc delivered at all.

The best part is that with the purchase of the CD you also got the right to download an MP3 copy. So essentially I was being paid to add the physical copy to my order! And it meant my wife got her birthday present on time without having to wait for my brother to bring the disc overseas.