Is It Silly to Buy More Stuff Just to Get Free Shipping?

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Is It Silly to Buy More Stuff Just to Get Free Shipping?

By JLP | July 24, 2007

Earlier I was on the JC Penney’s website buying some Levis since the store no longer carries decent-looking jeans (I like Levis 560s). I found the jeans I liked on JCPenney.com and put three pairs in my shopping bag. The total came to a little over $86. I went to check out and found out that there was a $15 shipping charge because I my purchase was for less than $100. I didn’t really want anything else but I ended up adding a shirt because I didn’t want to pay $15 shipping.

The only problem was the shirt was $29.99! LOL! So to save $15, I spent $30! Granted, the shirt really only cost me $15 since I was going to have to pay $15 regardless of whether or not I met the $100 threshold. I guess I subconsciously reasoned with myself that I would rather pay $15 towards a shirt than to pay $15 for shipping. Logical? I’m not sure.

Topics: Miscellaneous |

Comments to “Is It Silly to Buy More Stuff Just to Get Free Shipping?”

Jon Says:
July 24th, 2007 at 4:59 pm

Can’t you just return the shirt to your local JC Penney?

pam Says:
July 24th, 2007 at 6:12 pm

I would have just found something for $15. Same cost in the end, but you have something to show for it.

Chief Family Officer Says:
July 24th, 2007 at 9:35 pm

Like Pam, I probably would have found something that was $15 - most likely something I could use as a gift. Although I may have just gotten a 4th pair of the jeans. I mean, since I like them, I would eventually wear them (you bought 3 pairs, after all). And like Jon says, you can probably return it without penalty at your local store (I’ve done that at the GAP when something I ordered online just didn’t fit right).

Gaming The Credit System Says:
July 24th, 2007 at 10:50 pm

It’s actually a rather common tactic among bargain hunters. There are often good deals at Staples, Amazon, etc. and the threshold for free shipping is often not too far above what the item in question costs. E.g. the item might be $49.99 while the free shipping threshold is $50. So there are typical “filler items” (see e.g. this thread) for less than $1 to get you past the required amount for free shipping.

Adam Says:
July 24th, 2007 at 11:17 pm

Makes sense to me!

Compounding Says:
July 25th, 2007 at 6:08 am

You can do what the others have mentioned, or you can hop on FatWallet and look for some coupon codes for either free shipping or X% off.

KMC Says:
July 25th, 2007 at 7:26 am

Studies have repeatedly shown that web buyers do exactly what you did and purchase more than they planned to get ‘free’ shipping. That’s why it’s so common.

Anil Says:
July 25th, 2007 at 7:47 am

I am sure you could have found that something you really needed and costs just about $15.00. (vs 29.99 shirt !)

tireofbeingbroke Says:
July 25th, 2007 at 12:09 pm

I say return the shirt to a JCPenny store if you can. I’ve done that before but I normally get something close to the limit so that it costs me very little, eg. in your case it would have been something for 15 - 20 bucks.

Matt Says:
July 25th, 2007 at 2:13 pm

I would only spend more to get the free shipping if I was planning to get the items. Essentially if I could wait and take advantage of a perk like this I would otherwise I wouldn’t spend money I didn’t need to spend.

JLP Says:
July 25th, 2007 at 2:21 pm

Thanks for all the comments, everyone.

I’m going to keep the shirt. for one, I wouldn’t feel right returning it since I knew I had to have $100 in purchases in order to qualify for shipping. Two, I can always use another shirt.

thomas Says:
July 25th, 2007 at 5:30 pm

I’d feel worse about paying shipping than gettings something for 50% that I could use.

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Is It Silly to Buy More Stuff Just to Get Free Shipping?