Got me some JEANS, but at what cost?
I’m going to show you two pairs of jeans from two different online stores. Since I have no desire to get sued, I’m going to call these stores Big Online Business (BOB for short) and Little Internet Zhop (LIZ for short).
BOB offers Daring Duke’s Denims Boyfriend Acid Washed Bootcut Jeans for $39.95.
LIZ offers Daring Duke’s Denims Boyfriend Acid Washed Bootcut Jeans for $45.99.
But before you push the Add To Cart button over at BOB’s site…
There’s a big red banner on BOB’s site offering FREE SHIPPING!* (and the * in 4-point type at the bottom of the page says: only on orders over $100).
The LIZ site doesn’t have a free shipping banner, but does have a small paragraph on their Shipping Policy page that offers a flat shipping rate of $1.99. Shipping from BOB’s convenient nationwide chain of warehouses is going to run you $14.99.
BOB: $54.94 – LIZ: $47.98
BOB’s base of operations is in San Jose, California, and you just happen to live in California. Hello, California state sales tax of at least 8.25% – higher in some counties.
LIZ is in Phoenix AZ.
BOB: $58.23 – LIZ: $47.98
BOB’s return policy is buried deep within a Flash-driven FAQ that won’t respond to your particular browser, so you won’t find out until much later, or when the jeans arrive and you read the packing slip, that you have to pay a $10 restocking fee. When you open your package from BOB, you find… not the desired pair of Daring Duke’s Denims Boyfriend Acid Washed Bootcut Jeans, but a Daring Duke’s Denims Boyfriend Acid Washed Jeans JACKET. Whoops.
LIZ’s package arrives with a similar jacket. Whoops. We can talk SKU mixup later. LIZ’s return policy is simple and in plain text: If you don’t like it, send it back. Just call LIZ to let them know and they’ll make things right. LIZ sends a shipping label “just in case.”
BOB: $68.23 plus return shipping – LIZ: $47.98
As you can see, just a few very common details have really changed the picture. With our eyes wide open, BOB’s lower price is no longer the great deal it started out to be.
And they’re far from the only details that can make a difference in what you pay when you shop. Here’s a short list of things you want to keep in mind for the next time you shop – just a few tips to help you keep your eyes wide open.
- Use a service like BizRate, or Shop.com, or Shopping.com.
- Visit stores that offer comparison services across a list of the merchants they offer.
- Use a search engine like Google or Bing or Yahoo or Ask.com and hunt across vendors for the best price and terms, if you have unlimited time.
But that’s just where comparison shopping starts. To get the bigger picture, look at:
- Shipping Costs
- Do they offer free shipping or reduced cost shipping?
- Do they offer reduced price shipping on every order – or only once your order amount exceeds a certain dollar amount?
- Is this reduced or free shipping limited to certain product lines?
- Is their free or reduced cost shipping a permanent offer or a limited time offer?
- Does their free shipping or reduced cost shipping offer include your location?
- Are there any hidden costs that may be escalating the order price in order to cover this lower shipping cost?
- Return Policy
- Do they have a return policy stated clearly and understandably?
- How many days do you have to return an item?
- Does the merchant charge restocking fees for returned items?
- Does the return policy include any fine print? Make sure that you are aware of any restrictions that may cover items you’re looking to purchase.
- Privacy Policy
- Does their website include an easily found and clearly written Privacy Statement?
- Contact Information
- Do they offer clear and complete contact information including toll-free numbers, fax numbers, online customer and technical support?
- Does the merchant offer SECURE shopping checkout (look for https:// at the start of the checkout page’s URL).
- Do you recognize the merchant? Sometimes merchants like Sears, Walmart, Boscovs give web-only pricing in addition to their known offline presences.
A savvy online shopper runs through this checklist almost automatically before beginning to shop on a site for the first time. Practice before you shop so you are entering your next shopping experience with your eyes wide open.
To encourage eyes-wide-open shopping, Perfectly Shaped World includes a Plus Size Mall, where we’re building a directory of plus size retailers, including brief savvy shopper summaries.
Popularity: unranked
