" So I STRONGLY urge sellers to NOT use "Free Shipping".... your sales will go down....don't believe me, test it yourself. "
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I have tested it myself several times over the years. The results were the same every time. When I added the shipping separately, my sales dropped to almost nothing. When I changed back to "free" shipping, even though the prices were higher, sales jumped right back up. Lesson learned. Too many buyers nowadays expect free shipping, and use the refinement to cut out all of those listings without it. Of course, a lot depends on what your competition is doing. But if your competitors are all offering shipping included, you'll drop out of the picture with added shipping, even though your prices are lower. Remember, the Price Lowest search results include shipping, whether it's included or separate.
Don't get me wrong - I hate the new way PLs will be calculated, and I probably will stop using them as of May 1. (Remember, those clicks are good or 30 days.) But those of us who offer free shipping will suffer less of a sticker shock from the new calculation.
That brings me to another point: When someone clicks on an item and buys it 30 days later, we are charged the PL fee based on the rate we were charging at the time of the click, even if it has since been removed or lowered. So . . . wouldn't it also be fair to calculate our fee based on the rate (item price only) charged when the buyer clicks? So if they clicked May 15 and bought the item June 10, it would be calculated the old way. If one is fair, so is the other!!
