Are you more inclined to buy if the seller offers "free" shipping?

Space Bandito

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I'm pretty sure there have been studies surrounding this very topic - so much that it is widely believed that the offer of free shipping is perceived by consumers as a better deal even if they purchase price is higher than without.

My experience ordering yesterday from Rock Bottom Golf has me thinking of this very topic.

I had a $25 gift card to spend, and figured I might as well use it to replenish my dwindling supply of epoxy. RBG offers only one kind of epoxy at $4.95/tube, so I thought "hey! I can get 5 tubes for my $25" Not bad right?

By the time I got through the checkout process, I learned that the least expensive shipping cost for my 5 tubes would be $9.99, this immediately knocked my order of 5 down to 3, which really kind of sucks considering I am using 40% of a gift someone gave me to cover shipping costs. So, having no choice, I adjusted my order, and proceeded with the purchase. Then RBG decided to kick me while I was down.

Today I get a shipping confirmation informing me that my order will arrive in approximately 16 days!!!

Needless to say, I will never order another item from Rock Bottom Golf so long as I shall live, but would I be so bent out of shape if I didn't have to use 40% of my gift card to pay for ridiculously slow shipping? Would I be ok if the tubes if epoxy were $7 or $8 each and the shipping is perceived as free? I think I would. Heck, I've been paying Amazon $79/year for Prime for 10 years just for that "free" shipping option. Even when there is bold text on an item that reads something like "Available at a lower cost from other sellers, without prime shipping." I still click that Prime box.


What say you?
 
In general, I'd have to say yes but I do consider overall value and total price regardless.
 
Haha at $79 for Prime.
It’s $119 my friend. Why? Because the cost of shipping is astronomical right now.
 
And you get the Prime TV subscription for that $119 a year too

Also my whole family one account (prime and Prime TV) and we are spread out over CA. Price per person makes it even better in that case.
 
no such thing as free - somebody has to pay for it
 
I’ve left $200 in a shopping cart over shipping so I agree. Funny part is most free shipping cost is built into the price of the item


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I have had good luck with RBG so I am surprised at the slow shipping but not the $9.99. Maybe they are just out of stock at the moment?
 
I always figure the total cost, but also consider want/need and shipping time. Amazon Prime gets here fast, which is important sometimes, and sometimes not. If free shipping is more costly than item + shipping, and delivery time is the same, I go with the savings.
 
I have Amazon Prime also and the free 2 day shipping does help me decide to buy some things from Amazon if the base price is competitive. As far as golf items,if buying on Ebay or Global Golf or where ever,if the shipping is not free and it's not a high ticket item I usually look else where or wait until I get a better deal.
 
I've definitely backed out of a purchase of there wasn't free shipping. Sometimes the deal just isn't worth having to pay the extra for shipping.
 
Bake shipping into the cost, don’t charge me an additional fee for it
 
Total cost is the bottom line.

Now, if they are charging through the nose on shipping I pass completely merely on principle.
 
If I am shopping around I look at overall cost. A $10 items with $6 shipping on one site is the same to me as a $16 item with free shipping in another.
 
I always look at total cost whether there is free shipping or not. If an item costs $10 and the shipping charge is $5 and another listing or site has the same item at $17 with free shipping, I am taking the 1st option every single time. No perception with me, just bottom line total cost.
 
I'm pretty sure there have been studies surrounding this very topic - so much that it is widely believed that the offer of free shipping is perceived by consumers as a better deal even if they purchase price is higher than without.

My experience ordering yesterday from Rock Bottom Golf has me thinking of this very topic.

I had a $25 gift card to spend, and figured I might as well use it to replenish my dwindling supply of epoxy. RBG offers only one kind of epoxy at $4.95/tube, so I thought "hey! I can get 5 tubes for my $25" Not bad right?

By the time I got through the checkout process, I learned that the least expensive shipping cost for my 5 tubes would be $9.99, this immediately knocked my order of 5 down to 3, which really kind of sucks considering I am using 40% of a gift someone gave me to cover shipping costs. So, having no choice, I adjusted my order, and proceeded with the purchase. Then RBG decided to kick me while I was down.

Today I get a shipping confirmation informing me that my order will arrive in approximately 16 days!!!

Needless to say, I will never order another item from Rock Bottom Golf so long as I shall live, but would I be so bent out of shape if I didn't have to use 40% of my gift card to pay for ridiculously slow shipping? Would I be ok if the tubes if epoxy were $7 or $8 each and the shipping is perceived as free? I think I would. Heck, I've been paying Amazon $79/year for Prime for 10 years just for that "free" shipping option. Even when there is bold text on an item that reads something like "Available at a lower cost from other sellers, without prime shipping." I still click that Prime box.


What say you?

Holy crap, that shipping time sucks. I've never had a problem with shipping speed from Rock Bottom, but I also only buy from them when I've got enough in the cart for free shipping.
 
I always compare the free shipping option with the pay for shipping to go with the total overall lowest cost. Amazon has me spoiled though. Usually the cheapest and that prime shipping is great. With a student account, prime is half price, something like $60 a year.
 
I always look at total cost and estimated shipping/handling time. If it's free shipping that ships in 5 days to arrive 10-14 days later, I'll pass more often than not.
 
As a Canadian I'm not sure I can even wrap my head around "free shipping".
I would definitely be more likely to buy if shipping was free, but I dont want to wait 20 days to save a few bucks either.
 
Total cost is the bottom line.
That said, as we buy higher priced things or larger items where shipping is higher cost we can sometimes start to think that shipping would not be any part of our returned money if things go wrong. Lets say something your buying is 399 dollars plus perhaps 35 dollars shipping. Another place has the item at 435 with free shipping. If the item is to be returned for refund , one gets you back 399 and the other 435. But a lot of that also depends on the return and refund policy which is also important enough to consider before purchasing items.
 
As a Canadian I'm not sure I can even wrap my head around "free shipping".
I would definitely be more likely to buy if shipping was free, but I dont want to wait 20 days to save a few bucks either.

I’ve never shipped to Canada before and I had an interested buyer for a set of clubs I had for sell and I was quoted 60ish bucks to ship it through usps.

I thought that was a lot of money. Buyer never responded back to pursue it.

Is that a lot or is that normal?




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