Posts with tag shipping

The first thing you might notice on the ShopBarbara site is the "$5 Shipping" banner at the top. Yay! If you live in the United States, it's $5. DON'T COMPLAIN, EUROPEANS, or we'll pelt you at an exchange rate of 1.6.

We ordered a couple items and they came fast! So, that's a good start.

Let's talk about what they're selling: Flattering casual wear, dresses, bras and panties, and accessories.

As gas prices rise, the appeal of online shopping grows. There's no driving to the mall, no driving from one store to another to compare prices -- all it takes is a computer, a credit card, and a few clicks of the mouse. There's just one drawback -- the shipping costs.

Think about it -- how often have you found a great deal (or just a great item) online, and gone through the checkout only to find that you're being charged $10 or so for shipping? For that amount, you could drive to the local branch of a store and buy it in person. So what's a savvy shopper to do?

Check out FreeShipping.org, of course! You can shop by brand or category through over 800 name-brand stores to find free shipping coupons. That means you can get free shipping from JCPenney, Macy's, Target, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Best Buy, and many more. So, no matter what you're shopping for, you're likely to find a way to get it shipped to you for free!

We have long loved Zappos for having great features, like 110% price matching and free overnight shipping (you know, for those times when you have to have those shoes tomorrow or you will just die).

Alas, the love affair is over. Zappos has dropped their price protection and free overnight shipping, saying that they want to concentrate more on customer service rather than discounts.

Stores like Zappos, PegasusShoes.com and Endless.com have set the gold standard for what I expect when I'm buying online. It's called free overnight shipping and lately I feel like can't live without it. In fact, I'm so infatuated with this amenity that I've actually stopped buying from shops that don't send me my goods gratis.

The odd thing is that this is the opposite of the way I shop when I do it in person. In my day to day life, I'm more than happy to spend a little extra money at stores that are locally-owned and operated. However, when it comes to the online equivalent of these mom and pop shops, i.e. retailers that do not have nearly the volume to justify free shipping, I'm incredibly annoyed by the fact that I have to cough up more money to get the stuff I've already paid for.

This makes me a hypocrite, I know. But does anybody else out there suffer from this same contradiction?