$$ off deals + outrageous shipping costs

[mejackson8828]

Has anyone else come across what seems to be a great deal (i.e. $10 off $30 or something similar) - then you do your shopping, go to check out and your shipping costs are OUTRAGEOUS - sometimes almost as much as the amount of the discount! They virtually wipe out any potential savings. When I do come across these deals, I walk away - I prefer sites with set shipping costs that are reasonable ($4 to $5 flat rates). Maybe these merchants will get the idea that they're losing business if enough people complain.

[SkyeJaz]

Yeah, Netgrocer, Walmart, Buy.com, Barnes and Noble, etc. etc. etc. and TONS of others. I look at net shopping as a supplement to B&M. I only buy things online for small amounts and never spend more than I am willing to lose ( baby gear anyone?) I never buy on the internet from unknown (and sometimes known) companies and I also always use my junk e-mail addy for every sale. (you can always forward to your main account afterwards). These shipping charges almonst always negate the use of the coupon and unless the deal is too good to pass up, I only buy from 7 or 8 tried and true sites. I'm just not willing to take the chance. The other thing that Ticks me off is the fact that you can spend alot of time browsing and shopping and then get to the end of the order and have the code not work, find out the S/H are excessive, etc. etc. I can't tell you how many orders I've cancelled becasue of this type of thing. I'll never, ever shop at Net grocer cuz of this (no matter HOW many coupons they send me)

[ladyhope]

I disagree with skyjaz. Netgrocers shipping was only 5.99 up to 60.00 plus I added a 15.00 of 35 coupon and then ordered sale items that were no more than at my local superone on sale. As for Walmart I dont consider the shipping bad. I do not expect them to eat the shipping cost when they are offering me the same low prices as their bm stores. What I do like is the free shipping when you reach a certain amount but that is unrealistic to expect from a walmart. I think charging by the weight of your shipment is the best way to go. I just order from a clothing catalog and was floored when they charged me 9.99 to ship 62.00 worth of clothes. I strongly suggested they consider shipping by weight not based on the amount you spend.

[Kaylap]

same experience with cooking.com....I ordered a $27 dishrack and they were going to charge me $8.25 to send it first class mail!!!!! So I hunted around and found a free shipping coupon for an order of $35 or more...I spent that $8.25 on another item instead of on shipping. I thought that was outrageous!!

[bwsmom]

The worst one I've seen is KBkids.com. You go in thinking their clearance sales, bargains of the day, coupon codes, etc., are going to be SO great, and then you get slammed with an enormous shipping cost...and you notice, they never have offers that include free shipping....guess this is where they make up the difference for their "discounts".

[MariB]

(Besides free shipping!) I appreciate merchants who do one or both of these: 1.Have a sliding scale for shipping fees that DECREASES as the amount spent increases. 2.Have easily accessible shipping information. Have you ever searched everywhere on a site for shipping charges and been unable to find them ? Incredible! That's a red flag for sure.

[UlrikeDG]

What I like even better than the decreasing shipping fee is the flat shipping fee! BabyCenter.com has a flat $5 fee, which is really nice when you buy things like carseats which are kind of bulky and sometimes very expensive.

Ulrike

[vanderson]

I just ran into this with mexgrocer. You get $5 free groceries, $10 if you refer a friend. I got my $10-ordered 8 bottles of pop (singles) and 2 jars of salsa. My total was $2.06 but shipping was going to be $8.97!!!