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Free product, just pay shipping... legal or illegal, allowed not allowed?

by Ashley Gable
9 replies
Hi,

I have been researching to find out if free + shipping offers are allowed anymore under FTC guidelines. I contacted the company that handles my payments and they said it is fine and they can do it.

But I was hoping to find out if it is still done?

I would be charging what it actually costs me to package and ship the item. I wouldnt be trying to make a profit from it. I dont mind paying for shipping either, its just that the item I plan to send is quite heavy (its a real product).

I have thought about maybe charging a very low price, with free shipping. But would like to test both if at possible.
#allowed #free #illegal #legal #pay #product #shipping
  • Profile picture of the author Tsnyder
    I see this type of offer all the time. I'm not a lawyer..;. this isn't legal advice... but I don't see how the government has any authority to dictate whether you want to give your product away, or not, as long as there isn't any hidden "gotcha" in the deal... like a barely disclosed recurring billing.
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    • Profile picture of the author onSubie
      Originally Posted by Tsnyder View Post

      I see this type of offer all the time. I'm not a lawyer..;. this isn't legal advice... but I don't see how the government has any authority to dictate whether you want to give your product away, or not, as long as there isn't any hidden "gotcha" in the deal... like a barely disclosed recurring billing.
      The concern is deceptive marketing. Take a $2.99 product that costs $3 to ship and give it away "FREE" + $5.99 shipping.

      Although that is common and I don't think illegally deceptive.

      They call it "shipping + handling" = FREE + 2.99 handling + $3 shipping.

      You see this with bonus offers in TV pitches like "Order now and get a 2nd Widget Free... just pay separate shipping and handling".
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  • Profile picture of the author wordpressmania
    I don't see any problem with this otherwise it is described on my above post
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    There's too many well known brands and marketers still using these type of offers for them to be illegal.

    But it all comes down to how deceptive you are being. If you are saying free plus shipping but making a profit on the shipping, that is when issues could occur.

    But so long as you are giving your product away and only charging the real shipping... AND being totally upfront and clear about this to the customer, then I don't see any issues with this at all.

    The times most companies get in trouble is when they are deceiving people and people start to make complaints to the authorities. So as long as you are doing things by the book, you should be fine.

    To give you an example, Russel Brunson did a free plus shipping offer only a few months ago for his split testing handbook. Ryan Deiss (another well known marketer) has been doing several free plus shipping offers lately in the survival market with things such as credit card knives and the like.
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  • Profile picture of the author rodelu
    I see all the big marketers do it (Frank Kern, Jeff Walker and so on). I don't see anything wrong as long as you charge a reasonable shipping fee.
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  • Profile picture of the author Robert X
    Like rodelu said. I too bought a book from Frank Kern (Convert) in this manner. And if anyone knows it's Frank, because he was sued by the FTC and he does everything super legal now a days. (Not that he was scamming people before, he just didn't know all the technical rules)

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  • Profile picture of the author Work1099
    It's probably worth talking to a legal advisor to confirm. Some responses to this thread have batted the idea aside based on if it's right for their to be such laws or not ... but such laws could still exist regardless. It's worth confirming with a legal advisor.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    I'm not a lawyer and don't play one on TV, but I can't see how this would be illegal.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ashley Gable
    Awesome thanks everyone. You confirmed my thoughts. As long as I am not being deceptive I cant see why it would be wrong.

    Just wanted to make sure there wasnt something I was missing : )
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