Free Shipping is an Oxymoron

Do you know of a shipping company that does not charge for its services? I don’t. If perfume, a bean bag chair, outdoor furniture or any other product is shipped from point A to point B, somebody is paying and somebody is getting paid for that service. Thus, "free shipping" is an oxymoron.



The term "free shipping" sounds great and makes you think you are getting something for nothing (free), but I can assure you that the company you are purchasing from has taken the estimated shipping charges and included those charges in the purchase price of the bean bag chair, outdoor furniture or any other product you may be interested in purchasing. These charges may not show up as shipping charges, but you are paying those charges one way or another.



Shipping charges vary depending upon the weight and size (dimensions) of the item, the distance between the zip code of the warehouse and the zip code of delivery, and the method of shipment. The shipping charges could be under $5.00 or in excess of $150.00.



It is not at all uncommon to purchase a $5.00 item only to find at checkout that shipping charges exceed the purchase price of the product. Unless I know for certain that the $5.00 purchase price is far, far less than what I would pay elsewhere for the same product, the shipping charges would be a real deterrent to my completing the purchase. Sellers know that I’m more likely to pay $10.00 for an item if I think I am getting free shipping than I am to pay $5.00 for the item plus $5.00 in shipping fees.



The more you purchase from a seller, the more profit to the seller; therefore, the seller is often willing to give the buyer a reduction in the overall cost of the products purchased. When sellers offer free shipping for orders over a certain amount, what they are really doing is taking a small reduction in profit that may or may not equal the actual shipping charges which cannot be accurately determined until you have all the information necessary for these calculations, i.e., total weight, dimensions, zip codes, etc.



Don’t misunderstand; I’m not faulting this practice. As a seller, I understand the marketing strategy; however, as a buyer, I realize there are other factors to consider.



There are websites which specifically compare prices of items you may be interested in buying. Suppose you are shopping for a bean bag chair and find, in comparing the cost from three different companies, that the prices vary from $35.00 to $75.00. Look closely with regard to these comparisons. The lowest priced item may, in fact, cost you more than the highest priced item once shipping and handling charges are taken into consideration. It’s a good practice to go to each site, put the item in the cart and see for yourself what the bottom line is before actually completing the purchase of your bean bag chair at either site.



It’s all about marketing. How do I get you to look at my products? Free shipping is definitely a term that gets your attention and mine. However, "free shipping" is an oxymoron. There are some really good deals on the Internet whether you are shopping for perfume, bean bag chairs, outdoor furniture, toys or any other product; and you can find them. Just be a savvy shopper and don’t take everything at face value.