Has "Free Shipping" Gone AWRY?

When I got my beer kegerator, Sam's Club by massively far had the best price $199 vs. $399 their nearest competitor. But I had to be a Member to buy it. So it cost me $249 with Membership, no big deal.

But shipping was $45, and Item was NOT available in stores, nor was there store pickup available (like Walmart has).

But if I got a "Sam's Plus" Membership (for $50 add'l), I'd get FREE shipping on all online orders. So for $5.00 more, I got a full year of FREE shipping from samsclub.com.

The other day, to get my actual Membership card, I had to go to an actual store to get it. It is not very close by at all, but we looked around the store while there, and got a few items. One of them a BIG bag of real bacon bits, another was a BIG bag of pistachios.

The other day we ran out of the nuts, so I simply ordered some more using free shipping. Did the same more recently for some more bacon bits. Now both packages came in large boxes with air cushioning to boot.

Seems like my "carbon footprint" is greatly increased by having these onesie, twosie item shipped!!!

I would NEVER had ordered these items, had I had to actually pay for shipping.

Any thoughts???

Southern Dad said:

The biggest reason that I remain an Amazon Prime member is the Free Shipping. I often pass right over other offers to sell the same product if the Prime logo is on one. You could very well be right that Free Shipping is a gimmick. It is probably a very successful marketing tool.

Click to expand...

But you can often find deals much better than Amazon, which often has free shipping, but even if you have to pay, it is still cheaper.

Southern Dad said:

You are not wrong, however, combine Amazon's excellent two day shipping, Sunday and holiday USPS delivery, and their return policy, I usually make the decision to purchase on Amazon. I am a fan of Walmart's online, too. Two other great places to order from are Wish and Aliexpress. Now, these two do not have quick shipping. My daughter says that a package showing up is like Christmas because she often has forgotten what she ordered by the time it arrives, but the prices are pretty good.

Click to expand...

I just (2 weeks ago) bought a laptop, and paid about $200 (incl. shipping). I searched at both Amazon and Google Shopping for best price. I just now search for EXACT model number in Google Shopping for possibly ordering 2 or 3 of them for my granddaughters, and much to my dismay, found EXACT same one for $150 (incl. shipping), so Amazon is NOT cheapest.

Southern Dad said:

Amazon is not always the cheapest. There are times that they are. In addition, Prime members get free shipping including Sunday delivery. That's fantastic for me. As for computers, I only use machines that have an Apple on the back.

Click to expand...

Update: Turns out that laptop for $150, was not exactly the same as the one I already got, so I ended up ordering one elsewhere for $170. So I still saved $30.

BTW: I don't "wait until the last minute", whereby I need it right away, nor am I so impulsive I need it right away either.

BTW II: Keep using Amazon; my son works for them as a software architect/developer and gets 25% of his paycheck in Amazon stock, so buy all means, keep using them!

Southern Dad said:

I live in a very rural area. Amazon is my favorite place to shop. At my office, I can get Amazon Now which is delivery in just a few hours, at my home I have to go for two day delivery.

Click to expand...

That's neat!