Do you think you get free postage on orders?

[IncompleteSenten]

This has made me curious because of a thread. It is not about that thread.

I have an Etsy shop. Over the years I have juggled things about to maximise sales.

When I have charged, say, £30 + postage I sell fewer items than when I sell, say, £35 with free postage. (Or more accurately, with postage included.)

YANBU - You don't get free postage. You either have a product with postage factored into the price or you have a product with postage cost applied separately.

YABU - you do get free postage, sellers make less profit because they absorb postage fees into their costs

I exclude massive massive companies from this btw. Eg Amazon - they are so huge they they could make a penny per sale and still be quids in.

I think for me having a price that includes postage or extremely clear postage costs helps me know what I’m spending up front. Especially if I’m only likely to buy one item. I hate it when you have to go through to the payment screen to find out how much postage is.

I want to pay a price that includes postage. It's the exact reason that Amazon prime has done so well. I pay £4 a month and get anything and everything delivered for free. If I go onto eBay, I want free delivery. If I was biting on Etsy, I would want free delivery, even though delivery is included in the price.

@Boogaloony

I want to pay a price that includes postage. It's the exact reason that Amazon prime has done so well. I pay £4 a month and get anything and everything delivered for free. If I go onto eBay, I want free delivery. If I was biting on Etsy, I would want free delivery, even though delivery is included in the price.

I pay £7.99 for Amazon Prime. Does anyone know if it varies by area or am I paying for something else that I don't need on top of your £4??.

Yes I think it’s the clarity of free/included postage. I know how much I am willing to pay for an item/how much it would cost from elsewhere. Therefore it is really easy to make a decision when there is no extra postage. When postage is not included I have to do an extra mental calculation to work out if I’m willing to pay that much/if it’s still cheaper elsewhere.

I tend to compare prices A LOT so I always make sure I get the best deal and often the postage really is free (I.e the item costs the same as elsewhere but I’m not paying postage on top).

@IncompleteSenten I keep seeing you on threads & want to say your user name always makes me smile!

I prefer paying like I do with Amazon, set monthly fee for unlimited parcels, but if it's a one off I prefer postage included as it's just quicker to compare sites/sellers and you can easily see, upfront what it's going to cost. I know the postage isn't 'free' it's 'included' but I don't care how a seller phrases it.

I don't really think about it but I'd rather pay an inflated price.

I don't know why but £24.95 is a perfectly acceptable price for an item but I refuse to pay £4.95 delivery for a £20 item

I just look at the total cost - in my head I know you don’t get anything for free, so if it says free postage I know the postage is actually already included in the price with ‘free’ postage.

I'd rather buy something with "free" P&P, knowing that the P&P is included in the sales price, because if I return it I'm more likely to get the full amount back. Sometimes sellers don't refund the P&P because they've spent the money sending it to me, which is fair enough.

@girlmom21

I don't really think about it but I'd rather pay an inflated price.

I don't know why but £24.95 is a perfectly acceptable price for an item but I refuse to pay £4.95 delivery for a £20 item

Agree, stupid but if the items were exactly the same I'd always buy the £24.95 one not the one with added postage.

I thought this would be about people who believe the Post Office has given you as the seller free postage.

I prefer postage included. It makes cross seller comparison easier.

It's just easier if the price includes p&p as then you don't have to hunt around for delivery charges.

Plus, as a seller, if you build a suitable shipping price into each individual item surely that is better for you as then you can effectively charge for postage twice but ship it all in one box?

"Eg Amazon - they are so huge they they could make a penny per sale and still be quids in."

Well, no.

Definitely prefer postage included in the price!

It's totally a mind game, seeing postage as an extra "cost" makes me think about my purchase more eg. Do I really need it / is the postage worth it / can I find a better deal. Not ideal for the seller!

I'm in two minds about which I prefer, because is the 'postage included in the price' scenario if I buy multiple items then the seller is definitely quids in, as I've effectively paid multiple lots of postage when it might well be possible to combine them all in a single parcel.

I hate paying postage. No idea why i feel like this but I usually spend over the £30 or £50 or whatever is required to get free postage. So for me I would be happier to pay £35 including postage than £30 plus postage.

The post is a great service, no idea why I grudge it.

Yes I think it’s the clarity of free/included postage. I know how much I am willing to pay for an item/how much it would cost from elsewhere. Therefore it is really easy to make a decision when there is no extra postage. When postage is not included I have to do an extra mental calculation to work out if I’m willing to pay that much/if it’s still cheaper elsewhere.

I agree. Actual shops have other overheads involved in selling to me - building cleaning & repairs, business rates, heating, trolleys, customer toilets, extra employee costs etc - and I really don't care what they are myself, as it's their business to factor it all in: not mine. I just want the simple answer to the question "How much do I need to pay you to enable me to walk away with this item and own it?"

I wouldn't dream of being charged extra by the shop for their shipping costs to get the goods from their depot/supplier to the store and additional non-included postage for online purchases is exactly the same, AFAIC. I'm not under the impression that postage isn't a factor - and that that's why you couldn't hope to have 10 bricks posted to you for anything like the same price as you'd pay to pick them up from a B&Q store.

Nobody likes the kind of businesses that give apparently cheap prices and then, when you're about to pay, spring on you that it doesn't include VAT (even though it's clearly an individual consumer scenario), there's this handling fee, extra charge for X etc.

I just want to know a clear all-inclusive price that I can simply pay to become the owner of the goods or otherwise decide not to go ahead with the purchase and walk/click straight away.

It's bad enough when they hassle you to buy optional extras - like the overpriced cables and warranties at Curry's that they insist you'd be stupid not to buy - those hard-sell practices put me right off using a shop in the first place and must surely directly result in many lost sales to non-aggressive-selling stores/online. I don't mind as much when WH Smith ask if you want a bar of counter chocolate for £1, but happily accept it when you decline.

I'm in two minds about which I prefer, because is the 'postage included in the price' scenario if I buy multiple items then the seller is definitely quids in, as I've effectively paid multiple lots of postage when it might well be possible to combine them all in a single parcel.

Surely that's why so many sellers on eBay offer discounts for buying more than one item, isn't it? If you're buying, say, a sheet of stickers - where half of the price you pay will be their postage costs - then they will try to encourage you to buy 2, 3, 4 sheets at the same time by offering a decent discount that takes into account that the extra sheets will cost them no extra in postage.

Wow, interesting thread. I need to change my Ebay listings.

But no, there's no such thing as free postage. The cost is included in the price, or the profit margin is so high on the item they don't mind losing the postage.

I think it depends on the postage charge vs the item price. So a spend of say £25+ I'd expect the postage included.

Also, I find that I prefer the price to include the postage on Etsy rather than a separate postage charge as its much harder to compare across sellers/products. EBay let's you sort by price+postage but Etsy doesn't so its annoying to have to recalculate and re-compare on Etsy

I would rather a price be listed including postage because I hate getting through the checkout and find the item I thought was going to cost x is now going to cost y.

I prefer the price to include postage, but fully appreciate it is factored in to the cost. It's the psychology of pricing though isn't it and the perception of value. It is also easier to compare as others have said.

It's similar to things being 29.99 instead of £30, that 1p seems to make a difference.

Agree with the comment that if postage is included in the price I will get a full refund if I return. If I've paid postage separately, it is never refunded (obviously) so I lose that money and have to pay to return as well. I price compare when I'm buying anything. Some do free postage from £25, £50 or £75, but charge the same item price, so that makes who I buy from easy. Some charge higher item price and postage, so that's a no. Those who are competitive on item price and a low threshold for free postage get my money and I'm a return customer, so they get continued business.

YANBU. It’s one of those psychological tricks where “free postage” makes you think you’re getting a bargain but you really aren’t. The seller will have adjusted the costs accordingly if they’ve got any sense. Amazon isn’t making a loss on Prime - they’ll have algorithms that are designed to ensure they price Prime products to cover the delivery cost. That’s why you can get the items cheaper from other sellers.

Businesses set their “free shipping when you spend x” price at the point where they are making clear profit and there’s a chance of persuading the customer it’s worth putting an extra item in the basket so they hit that price point. The science of retail is fascinating - they know exactly which buttons to press to trick people into thinking their getting a bargain but are actually persuading them to spend more than they’d planned.

I would much rather the postage was factored in; as others have said, it makes it much easier to compare items. Particularly on Etsy I've seen something I like only to find there's a £4.95 shipping fee.

If nothing else, it would encourage sellers to keep shipping costs down - I'd rather pay for Royal Mail with the option of a courier, rather than paying courier fees as standard. Couriers don't provide a better service - often the opposite - and RM means I can collect from the sorting office/a post office if I'm not in when they deliver.

I see it as "postage is included in the price" rather than free postage. But then I only tend to buy a couple of items at a time. If I buy lots at once I'd probably prefer a seperate postage fee