Free Shipping is a SCAM
Like many people I used to think Free Shipping was great, when I started my business I realized quickly the hypocrisy of it all. The people delivering packages and the companies that employ them do it for money not the kindness of their own heart. After all right or wrong, money makes the world go around not good feelings.
How do the companies offer "free shipping"?
No one truly does (and stay in business) as absorbing the cost themselves eats into everything else. You simply can't, it costs money to make things, package them and deliver them. So everyone just hides the fee in either an inflated cost or subscription fee (example: Amazon Prime), big retailers also get economy of scale which helps lower some of that cost which small companies cannot do. In fact Etsy tells sellers all the time to just jack up their prices and mark it free shipping. Amazon also does dynamic pricing in which prime members are charged an inflated price for "free shipping" items and non prime members see the exact same price of item+shipping.
Why do the companies off "free shipping"?
Because your conditioned (mostly by Amazon) to think it's free because... well it says "Free"! So it gets you to buy more as well (helping defray the cost of shipping further). The other reason is it makes a simple clear price (except for taxes) when ordering. Now the last part is important because of the "Free shipping" conditioning, this happens, not for any other reason. People could of named it "Shipping included", but that doesn't have the word "Free".
What does this all Mean?
At the end of the day, you the consumer are actually paying more, this is because companies just jack up the price based on either the average shipping price or the furthest shipping cost. Companies also have to jack up their prices on marketplaces (example: Walmart, Amazon, Etsy) to absorb the fees associated with selling on the platforms as opposed to selling directly. You can run your own quick test by finding something on amazon, now go find the manufacturer directly calculate the shipping (if any) into the price and you'll generally find it's cheaper to order direct and skip amazon.
What can you do?
Well to put it simply, stop blindly believing it and be skeptical of it! When you see it look for other places to buy it as you'll probably find it cheaper. This can even apply to cheap Chinese imports as ordering direct from china is cheaper. So much stuff on amazon is cheap Chinese imports these days it's like a roving junk shop!
Isn't it illegal since it's not really free?
Multiple lawsuits over the years have been brought forth and they've all lost. The generality of it now is "everyone should know that free shipping isn't free" so no lawsuit works.
What can be done?
Call your congressman and complain, seriously only legislation that makes it included as a "misleading" practice for the FTC to fine will people start to change. Alternatively just stop falling for it and be skeptical of the term and shop around.
Extra Reading:
- https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/lawsuit-alleges-amazon-charges-prime-members-for-free-shipping-031414.html
- https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/electronics/lensprotogo-class-action-says-free-shipping-is-misleading/
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