I agree with everything you said except... "If I know you offer free shipping sales more than say... once a year, I literally will not buy from you if free ship

I agree with everything you said except... "If I know you offer free shipping sales more than say... once a year, I literally will not buy from you if free shipping is not currently offered." You will not buy an item unless it has "free shipping"? You must miss out on a lot of good deals. You do know "free shipping" is NOT free as it will be included in the price of the item so it's the total price that matters not if it has 'free shipping'. Having "free shipping" is not always a good (or the best) deal... I do wish all online stores would price stuff with "shipping included" as to make it easier to compare prices.