Shipping Cost

[maggieandsampson_6]

How do sellers ship items for free, when the shipping cost is more than the item?  I am trying to educate myself if anyone can help. 

Thanks

[dtexley3]

Free shipping isn't free, it's a gimmick.  

Item $10 + $5 shipping = $15, with free shipping it $15 for the item.

That being said, overseas sellers, especially from China pay a fraction in USPS costs compared to what US Sellers pay to ship the same item.  About $0.87 as compared to around $4.75 for a 15.99 oz item.

[southern*sweet*tea]

Shipping cost has nothing to do with the value of the item.  I can ship a 4 ounce $10k diamond ring for under $10, or I can ship a $5 anvil for over $100, depending on where it's going.  That said,

• Some sellers get huge shipping discounts through their preferred carriers because of the volume they do;
• Chinese sellers ship practically free because they sell garbage, their government subsidizes their business, and they get huge discounts through the UPU because they are a supposedly underprivileged country;
• Some sellers are using those items as loss leaders to hopefully get buyers to look at and buy some of their other items;
• Some sellers are totally clueless and unaware that they are losing money.

[dbmm-media]

volume

[cream_couture]

The seller is a loss leader, doesn't know the true cost of shipping (i.e. mistakenly lists it with free shipping not realizing what the shipping will actually cost) or gets a good volume discount on shipping.

[ja-2149]

The seller, a person or persons, may be a leader in losses. But a loss leader is usually an item, a product sold at a loss to attract customers, not a person.

[cream_couture]

---

@ja-2149 wrote:

The seller, a person or persons, may be a leader in losses. But a loss leader is usually an item, a product sold at a loss to attract customers, not a person.

---

It doesn't need to be explained that a person isn't a loss leader.