Some free-shipping offers

not so free

[Mike_Mackin]

"More than 90% of 1.5 million online shoppers recently surveyed by researcher BizRate.com said they paid for shipping even though about half were lured to Web sites by free-shipping offers."

USA Today [usatoday.com]

[Brett_Tabke]

Interesting. It's only after you click that shopping cart checkout, that they tell you it is shipped via pack mule and may take days longer to get to you for free. So, everyone ends up paying the extra for better service.

[EliteWeb]

:D Very true I've done it recently too! However I never let amazon fool me I always go with their free shipping :P

[Travoli]

Did they expect differently?

That reminds me of contest prizes.

"Win a new car" ... and the company buys the cheapest car possible.

[korkus2000]

Amazons pack mule shipping seems to be just as good as the lowest paid option. I always try not to have something immediately. That way I don't have the extra shipping costs. I will take the pack mule option for free.

[Mike_Mackin]

This ploy works in the pill pushing industry as well.

After the potential customer spends 5 to 7 minutes filling out a medical history they are told there is a fee for that part of the process. Many just accept that and conclude the transaction.

[mivox]

It's only after you click that shopping cart checkout, that they tell you it is shipped via pack mule...

<rant>Or, they say "free shipping within the continental US" (meaning every state except Hawaii), and I find out as I place the order that they meant "free shipping within the contiguous US" (meaning every state except Alaska and Hawaii), they don't offer free shipping to Alaska, so I'm expected to pay $30 shipping on a $20 purchase because UPS 2nd Day is my only option....</rant>

I've cancelled a whole lot of orders at the last minute because of inadequate shipping options... I was actually shocked to find out that Amazon's free shipping DOES include Alaska.

[edited by: mivox at 6:56 pm (utc) on Jan. 2, 2003]

[dvduval]

Here's a good one that some of our dealers use:
Free Shipping - BUT, if you return the item, you lose the free shipping. I kind of like that policy. After all, if you perform the service of processing the order, packing it and shipping, you ought to get something.

[Shane]

One up-mans-ship:

So Mivox, we have the same problem being in Canada only we also have customs, so a $21 purchase ($21 Canadian) also gets a customs charge of $7 minimum. So a $12 US item gets a shipping charge and a $7 customs charge. Stops me cold every time :(

..... Shane