Why is Free Shipping so hard for some sellers?

[guybemis]

Can somebody help me understand this. I'm looking at an item priced $4.99 plus $2.69 shipping. It's a good price. The next lowest seller is charging $12.99 with free shipping for the exact same item. My question is why would the seller choose $4.99 plus $2.69 shipping?

From my buyer perspective, I would be just as likely to buy the item if it was priced $9.99 with free shipping. Because 1. it would still be under the $10 price point and 2. it would still be the lowest price on eBay. Mentally I have already put it over the $5 price point, because of the shipping charge. As a matter of fact I might be slightly more likely to buy it at $9.99, because I might have searched for it with Free Shipping checked. Though usually I use Price plus Shipping Lowest First. That is why I saw the item.

The seller is a long time seller and seems to price all their items similarly. The only thing I can think of is the seller is charges shipping without even thinking about other possibilities. Because maybe that is the way they have always done it.

Is that it, or am I missing something?

[dinpavent0]

Yup, I was thinking the same, start updating listings now... I asked post office the other day and they said costs going up at least 30%, and higher on priority mail rates. I asked cause I am trying to get ahead of game, postage always goes up in january.

[mikeystoyz]

I have most of my media items as free shipping.  Everything else the customer pays as people have stated unless you live in Nebraska your shipping can be quite a bit.  I would rather give a discount on shipping as opposed to whatever.  If someone buys a few of my media items I either upgrade shipping or something.  

[guybemis]

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@magicjohnsonsvariety wrote:

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@guybemis wrote:

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@mountainmommie wrote:

I am sorry but I don't understand what your point is. Are you making a shipping point or a profit point? 

Because you would pay $9.99 doesn't mean someone else will.  I'm confused.

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I'm trying to make both points. Do you really think the difference between $7.68 and $9.99 is going to make that big a difference? I'm pretty cheap but two and a half dollars is not that big a deal to me. Especially on an item that is already very low price, and that other sellers are charging as much as $39.00 for. And no I would not pay the $39 for it, or even close to it. But I would pay $9.99.

If two and a half dollars is that big a deal, the seller would have other options as well, such as $7.99 with free shipping. That to me would be exactly the same to me. Because I would mentally round either  $4.99 + $2.69, or $7.99 off to $8 anyway. As I said, I'm cheap, but pennies make no difference to me. But since the seller's price is so low anyway, I think they would be cutting their profits unnecessarily. I noticed the seller is a sponsored seller. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it. I found the item searching for the low price, not from the sponsored link.

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Generally, as a buyer I would choose the $7.68 item. Why pay 9.99 when it's just as easy to pay $7.68, assuming both items are exactly the same. It's not pennies to me...it covers about a gallon of gas or a cup of coffee.

However, I will pay more if other factors are involved. I will pay more if an item shows real photos, and I would choose the 9.99 seller if the $7.68 seller has lots of bad feedback.

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I would choose $7.68 too, but that is not the point. I was sugesting that the seller could charge $9.99, and I would still pay it. The next lowest price seller is $12.99. Actually even that price has disapeared. Now the next low price is $23.11 with free shipping. The seller could include the shipping in the price of the item, and it would still be the lowest price by far. I was just trying to understand, why some sellers are so anti-free shipping. Several posters here have given good reasons for it. I still think it's a bad idea not to offer free shipping. But if you want to get rid of the buyers searching for Free Shipping, I guess that is a good way to do it.

[dblkj-0]

I dare say sellers either use free shipping almost exclusively or they chose the other method... There may be some who go both ways but again I dare say for most sellers it's one or the other and thus you will run into your odd shipping cost items like the one you noticed.

For example, I'm a "free shipper" because I prefer the "one money" concept and yes that is how I ship everything. So sometimes I run into the odd item that would ship better calculated however I would rather "free ship" than step into unfamiliar territory.

[castlemagicmemories]

It's not necessarily a bad idea to offer free shipping.  There are some that go for it.  You do.

But some sellers have reported that they got more sales when they eliminated free shipping and went to a separated item and shipping cost shown. 

Apparently free shipping does not appeal to all buyers, and that appeal is not a given.  There are those who realize they may be paying more for a free shipping item as opposed to one with transparent charges, and so they avoid free shipping listings.

I find it harder for me to commit to a free shipping listing.  Of course the item cost is higher than a listing with separated charges, but unless I can look at it and determine that I think a fair item and ship cost is in that total, I don't buy.

[guybemis]

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@castlemagicmemories wrote:
Not every buyer goes for free shipping. Many know that the price may be largely inflated since the charges are not separated and transparent, and they may get a better deal for an item with separate and transparent charges.

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I don't understand that. The price can be largely inflated even if the shipping price is separate. The price of the item and the price of the shipping can be inflated. Thats why you have to search for the lowest price.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@dinpavent0 wrote:
Yup, I was thinking the same, start updating listings now... I asked post office the other day and they said costs going up at least 30%, and higher on priority mail rates. I asked cause I am trying to get ahead of game, postage always goes up in january.

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WOW 30%!  I knew they were going up, but had no idea they were going up that much!

[castlemagicmemories]

You're a creature of habit.  Many people are; nothing wrong with that.  That's why it's called our comfort zone.

[mam98031]

Various sellers will have various suppliers for items they sell.  Various sellers will may have paid a different price for the product they are selling.  The cost of that product plus other hard costs will drive what the purchase price is that the seller arrives at for selling the item.  There are so many variations to this it is hard to evaluate any given seller on what information you have provided here.

As to offering Free Shipping.  For some products folding the cost of shipping into the price of the product works very well and for other products, not so much.  Each seller needs to evaluate this for what they sell and make the determination of which is best for them.  There is no right or wrong answer.  

I do a combination of both in my listings.  I have a couple lines of products that do better with free shipping and another that doesn't.  So while this seems like a simple question on the surface.  Sellers really need to do their research and some testing to figure out what will be best in the long run.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@guybemis wrote:

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@castlemagicmemories wrote:
Not every buyer goes for free shipping. Many know that the price may be largely inflated since the charges are not separated and transparent, and they may get a better deal for an item with separate and transparent charges.

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I don't understand that. The price can be largely inflated even if the shipping price is separate. The price of the item and the price of the shipping can be inflated. Thats why you have to search for the lowest price.

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That's true.  The price may be largely inflated either way.  Perhaps I put that badly.  It's harder to judge if you are paying a good price with a free shipping item because the shipping cost is not transparent.  You are just hit with one price.  With item cost and shipping separate, the buyer can see if both costs are reasonable.  With the free shipping item, of course the item total price will be high because of the shipping cost rolled into it, so it is harder to discern if it is high but reasonable anyway.  The seller could have padded the amounts because the buyer can't see the breakdown and judge.  Not saying all sellers would do this, but it is a possibility.  Hope that makes sense.

[guybemis]

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@castlemagicmemories wrote:

It's not necessarily a bad idea to offer free shipping.  There are some that go for it.  You do.

But some sellers have reported that they got more sales when they eliminated free shipping and went to a separated item and shipping cost shown. 

Apparently free shipping does not appeal to all buyers, and that appeal is not a given.  There are those who realize they may be paying more for a free shipping item as opposed to one with transparent charges, and so they avoid free shipping listings.

I find it harder for me to commit to a free shipping listing.  Of course the item cost is higher than a listing with separated charges, but unless I can look at it and determine that I think a fair item and ship cost is in that total, I don't buy.

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Actually I go for the lowest price, free shipping or not. But I do like the concept of one single price. It makes it a lot easier. If I see two items listed, with the same total price, but one is free shipping, one is not, I would probably choose the one with free shipping. Otherwise I choose the lowest price plus shipping. But I have talked to people who will only buy items with free shipping. To me that is just too limiting, and I would miss out on too many good deals.

[clu3]

As a buyer, I prefer to know the item price & shipping cost separately.  Perhaps it's a hang up from being WAY overcharged on Amazon for Prime shipping.

[fern*wood]

I've started getting away from it because of returns.

[silly-shoes]

If I have a 5 dollar coin and put it up for $8.50 ,how many people do you think would still be interested? I'm certainly not putting it up for 5 with free shipping! Nuff said?

[resalerackrebel]

I will not offer free shipping...there's no such thing. To do so would be a very poor business decision as I sell clothing. It would encourage remorse returns and I am not willing to lose out on shipping costs just for customers to try items on, then return if they don't like.  Also, I never overcharge for shipping. My customers are given the exact rate (with ebay discount) that I pay and I've even had one customer message me thanking me for the "discounted postage".

Every seller offers different options for different reasons, that's our choice. Your choice is to buy what you like, at a price you feel is fair, from any seller here.