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Free Shipping vs. Paid Shipping for E-Commerce?

by AZJ0SH
5 replies
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Does anyone have experience selling online and offering free shipping?
I am currently in the in the final phases of development on my e-commerce website, the item I am selling weights a good amount and costs about $18 to ship worst case and about $10 if the person is closer.

Right now I am offering my item for $29.95 with Free Shipping, would this be better versus offering it at $14.95 + Shipping?

The item I am selling is already going to be considered "cheaper" than my competitors because I am sourcing the items myself form a supplier versus drop-shipping like others are. I will have the best price either way compared to simliar items sold by other merchants.

What is the best way to list these items? Should I do split testing down the line?
#ecommerce #free #paid #shipping
  • Profile picture of the author seeyou
    I will recommend. Going for the price + shipping because if the shopper is too far it will cost you more and if the shipping price changes or increases it will affect your profit margin.

    So think it through.
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    • Profile picture of the author spooksdenimes
      Hi there, here are my 2 cents on the subject

      - Free Shipping : Always a good sales gimmick. Unfortunately it'll be easier to apply if you have a limited number of products - or at least products with the same weight. Also, you can't really offer discounts based on weight (I guess sending 2 products together will cost you less than one by one).

      - Paid Shipping : Allow you to show a lower price . I had cutomers coming over and saying "your products are nice, but XXXX's products are cheaper". No sir they are not, if you add the taxes and the shipping at the end, you'll end up spending more. But those people can't usually see they are getting fooled, and you'll end up loosing a sale to your competitor. However, it's WAY easier to have an accurate weight & shipping price when people combine several products. (assuming you have the weight for each product and that you plan to encode them in your backoffice).


      Personally, I still went with the "free shipping" offer, but I might reconsider it for my next ecommerce venture.
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  • Profile picture of the author kjamesnv
    Originally Posted by AZJ0SH View Post

    Should I do split testing down the line?
    YES! Split test. That is the only way to really know. Everything else is just guessing and speculation.
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  • Profile picture of the author AZJ0SH
    I am only selling 4 items total on my site, all 4 are similar in size/weight/dimensions for shipping. Thanks for the input guys!
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    • Profile picture of the author Solid Commerce
      Yes. Split test everything.

      Assume nothing.

      Sourcing your customers is one of the best ways to find out what they actually want to see.

      _ Sean
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