3 ms·

What use is it to see the price of the item without knowing the shipping cost? It seems to me that what you’re really saying is that they need to know where you

What use is it to see the price of the item without knowing the shipping cost? It seems to me that what you’re really saying is that they need to know where you live and what kind of shipping you want before they can show you the real price.

mcv 8y ago
> What use is it to see the price of the item without knowing the shipping cost? It's better than not knowing the price until I tell them where I live. > It seems to me that what you’re really saying is that they need to know where you live and what kind of shipping you want before they can show you the real price. If they want to include shipping in the price, then yes, they need to know where I live before they can tell me the price. So either they can't tell me the price, or they will change the price after they learn where I live, or they won't change the price and lose money on it, or they may refuse to ship to me. None of these options are in any way reasonable, except maybe not telling me the price, but that's extremely annoying. Better to not include shipping, tell me shipping is not included, and add shipping later. That way, shipping cost can be the real shipping cost, rather than shipping cost for 1 item times the number of items, which is likely to be more than the real shipping costs.
- mikeash 8y ago
  My point is that the only “price” that matters in the end is the total amount you pay, with shipping. If shipping is separate then they’re not really showing you “the price,” they’re just showing you a somewhat arbitrary number that sets a floor on the actual price you’ll pay.
  - mcv 8y ago
    > My point is that the only “price” that matters in the end is the total amount you pay, with shipping. Not at all, how that price is built up is extremely relevant. If an item is cheap but shipping is horrendously expensive, I go look if I can find it at another webshop that has more reasonable shipping. Shipping is part of the total price. Pretending it's not is taking information and choice away from the customer.
    - mikeash 8y ago
      But there is no additional information in the general case. The amount charged for shipping is completely arbitrary. All you’re being told is that the price P is actually the sum of A + B, where A and B are just some amounts. There are exceptions to this. For example, I trust McMaster-Carr to charge me whatever they get charged for shipping, which is good because they won’t tell you in advance what it will cost. But in general it’s just another number. It’s a really common scam to have a cheap item with expensive shipping in order to trick people who aren’t paying close enough attention. Put it this way: store A is selling widget X for $40 with “free shipping,” store B sells it for $35 plus $5 shipping, and store C is $15 plus $25 shipping. Who do you buy from?
      - mcv 8y ago
        By that argument everything is "just a number". It's still part of the sum. For example, if C sells something else that I want that's also much cheaper than a the other shops, and it won't increase shipping costs much, then that's the better option. If not, I may continue to shop around until I find a shop that combines low item price with reasonable shipping cost.
        mikeash 8y ago
        The sum is all that matters. The rest is just a weird number game. As you say, your store preference depends on various factors. If C’s shipping costs are structured one way, you’ll prefer them. Another way, you won’t. You have to know all those details before you can choose. That’s my point: ultimately, functionally, there is no difference between a random store that won’t show you prices until you give them your location, and a ransom store that shows prices immediately but won’t give you shipping costs until you give them your location.

mcv 8y ago

> What use is it to see the price of the item without knowing the shipping cost? It's better than not knowing the price until I tell them where I live. > It seems to me that what you’re really saying is that they need to know where you live and what kind of shipping you want before they can show you the real price. If they want to include shipping in the price, then yes, they need to know where I live before they can tell me the price. So either they can't tell me the price, or they will change the price after they learn where I live, or they won't change the price and lose money on it, or they may refuse to ship to me. None of these options are in any way reasonable, except maybe not telling me the price, but that's extremely annoying. Better to not include shipping, tell me shipping is not included, and add shipping later. That way, shipping cost can be the real shipping cost, rather than shipping cost for 1 item times the number of items, which is likely to be more than the real shipping costs.

mikeash 8y ago
My point is that the only “price” that matters in the end is the total amount you pay, with shipping. If shipping is separate then they’re not really showing you “the price,” they’re just showing you a somewhat arbitrary number that sets a floor on the actual price you’ll pay.
- mcv 8y ago
  > My point is that the only “price” that matters in the end is the total amount you pay, with shipping. Not at all, how that price is built up is extremely relevant. If an item is cheap but shipping is horrendously expensive, I go look if I can find it at another webshop that has more reasonable shipping. Shipping is part of the total price. Pretending it's not is taking information and choice away from the customer.
  - mikeash 8y ago
    But there is no additional information in the general case. The amount charged for shipping is completely arbitrary. All you’re being told is that the price P is actually the sum of A + B, where A and B are just some amounts. There are exceptions to this. For example, I trust McMaster-Carr to charge me whatever they get charged for shipping, which is good because they won’t tell you in advance what it will cost. But in general it’s just another number. It’s a really common scam to have a cheap item with expensive shipping in order to trick people who aren’t paying close enough attention. Put it this way: store A is selling widget X for $40 with “free shipping,” store B sells it for $35 plus $5 shipping, and store C is $15 plus $25 shipping. Who do you buy from?
    - mcv 8y ago
      By that argument everything is "just a number". It's still part of the sum. For example, if C sells something else that I want that's also much cheaper than a the other shops, and it won't increase shipping costs much, then that's the better option. If not, I may continue to shop around until I find a shop that combines low item price with reasonable shipping cost.
      - mikeash 8y ago
        The sum is all that matters. The rest is just a weird number game. As you say, your store preference depends on various factors. If C’s shipping costs are structured one way, you’ll prefer them. Another way, you won’t. You have to know all those details before you can choose. That’s my point: ultimately, functionally, there is no difference between a random store that won’t show you prices until you give them your location, and a ransom store that shows prices immediately but won’t give you shipping costs until you give them your location.