Free Items Where You Pay for Postage

Olokun on 09/05/2016 - 10:10
Last edited 09/05/2016 - 12:08 by 1 other user

I couldn't see that this has been discussed before, I am wondering what the communities thoughts are on deals where the item is posted as FREE however you must pay a fixed postage cost was well as either a of 1 item per transaction or the postage cost being a multiple of the quantity of items.

Recent examples being https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/246962 and https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/246316.

So should these deals be marked as the total cost to be paid as I think it is misleading to advertise the item as being free if there is no way you can get the item for free.

I am curious to know if it is just me that this bugs or do others think the same?

General Discussion

Comments

  • fruit on 09/05/2016 - 10:21
    +5

    I totally agree with you, it is misleading to put "FREE" in the title where you cannot get the item without paying.

  • Diji1 on 09/05/2016 - 10:33

    I think it's misleading to put shipping because it causes irrational behavior.

    For example I have seem comments turning down amazing deals because they weren't happy about the shipping cost relative size compared to the item itself. In other words they created a seperate, imaginary ledger for the shipping even though the total price was a bargain.

    I don't know of any methods whereby vendors manipulate people into being more likely to make a purchase using the shipping cost but it wouldn't surprise me at all if particualar values were chosen since they have the effect.

    • tassieeagle on 09/05/2016 - 11:16
      +1

      I'm confused by your comment. How is it irrational to not like a deal if the shipping kills it?

      • saintmagician0 on 10/05/2016 - 23:56

        I think the person you are replying to is implying that the deal itself was good, but the shipping ratio turned people off.

        For example, if $50 for a widget is a great deal, then it's a great deal. I'd buy it, for $50.

        However someone else may also have been willing to pay $50 for a widget, because that's a good deal. However they notice the cost of the item is actually only $30 and the shipping is $20. $20 for shipping a widget, what a rip off! So they don't buy it. Where as if the item had been $48 + $2 shipping, they would not have objected.

        I think this is the situation he was referring to. It's kind of irrational… but that's people…

  • mskeggs on 09/05/2016 - 11:06
    +2

    I think it is OK if there is a free pick-up option, but examples like Catch of the Day etc. where they clearly make a few $ on the postage to cover the item price is clearly not 'free', and not a bargain unless the total delivered price is particularly good.

  • tassieeagle on 09/05/2016 - 11:11

    I'm happy with how people title it at the moment, that being as long as it says free plus shipping price.

  • Moderatorneil on 09/05/2016 - 11:12

    Just an FYI, the deals mentioned were not marked as a freebie. Freebies need to be 100% free with no shipping or added costs.

    • Olokun on 09/05/2016 - 11:42

      Yes, however the title may mislead someone reading it think they could order multiple items with the standard combined postage one would expect.

      You would then have to read into the deal to see that it's a fixed price per (item + postage). It is no different to saying that the item is $x.xx and shipping is free. So why do it other then to manipulate the consumer.

      • Moderatorneil on 09/05/2016 - 11:48

        Sure. Posters should make the title as clear as possible. What title would you put in the 2 examples you listed?

        • Olokun on 09/05/2016 - 12:08
          +1

          For https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/246962, it has been changed to how it should be titled.

          My opinion of the Scoopon deal is that the vendor is borderline engaging in component pricing, if not misleading and deceptive conduct by making the items appear free when they are in fact hiding the price (or part of) in the cost of the P&H.

      • Limitless on 09/05/2016 - 11:59
        +1

        I titled my post $Scoopon $0 deals" as this was the name of the promotion run by Scoopon.

        Apologies if you feel manipulated. I clearly stated (bold in fact) that the deal wasn't 100% free.

        There were a few deals listed in the post and with limited title space i couldn't specify each deal price in the title. Interested to hear how you would have worded it.

  • Limitless on 09/05/2016 - 12:04

    How is $0 plus delivery all that different to $2 plus delivery?

    In both instances delivery charges outweigh the actual cost of the product.

    • Olokun on 09/05/2016 - 12:10

      The difference is when the delivery cost is a multiplication of the quantity ordered rather then the actual P&H cost that would be applied to similar items from the same vendor that is not part of the promotion.

      • Limitless on 09/05/2016 - 12:11

        which is then irrelevant if a consumer only wishes to buy 1 of the item

        • Olokun on 09/05/2016 - 12:14

          How is $0 plus delivery all that different to $2 plus delivery?

          I think a better comparison would be $0 plus delivery vs $0.00 with free delivery. When they mean the same thing why would one use the former.

          which is then irrelevant if a consumer only wishes to buy 1 of the item

          So it's ok to mislead others would would want to order more then one?

        • Limitless on 09/05/2016 - 12:20

          @Olokun: I have commented above the reason for choosing the title.

          How do you suggest I should have worded it?

        • Olokun on 09/05/2016 - 12:40

          @lkp:

          I think your deal is mainly fine as you bolded in the description that its not actually free and the only thing that you could have done differently is empathized that the P&H is a fixed cost per item.

          I think what I am trying to get at, is that the vendors are trying to present these deals as the item being free when they actually are not and that we shouldn't be encouraging or promoting this practice. Again it could be just me that it erks.

        • Limitless on 09/05/2016 - 13:00
          +1

          @Olokun: No I see your point and have been annoyed in the past seeing a deal get a lot of upvotes for being "free" then the OP later changing the deal to include postage costs.

          I just wanted to clarify that I was not intentionally trying to be misleading. I had considered how the post would come across (and hence the bold description) but it was difficult to word that particular post with all the elements to it. Had the deal been for 1 item only I would have worded the post $XX delivered.

  • Savas on 09/05/2016 - 19:38

    Yeah I agree Olokun, but also think it depends how reasonable the postage cost is.

  • bambooculm on 10/05/2016 - 12:30
    +1

    I am always very suspicious of free offers if the postage or shipping is not free, unless I know from experience that the merchant is genuine. Very often, such offers are simply an internet scam to obtain your credit card details. I am reluctant to provide my credit card details for a "free item".

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