Don’t let high shipping fees sour a good deal

This year, I’ve received more e-mails for free- and reduced-price shipping on Internet purchases than ever before. And I’m not the only one getting deluged by such deals. The National Retail Federation (www.nrf.org) estimates that as many as 78 percent of merchants will dangle some sort of free shipping incentive this holiday season.

Free shipping is no doubt a great incentive to buy. But I’m a realist, too, and understand that companies can’t always afford to swallow the costs. However, I draw the line at retailers that use delivery fees as a profit center. A bargain price on merchandise can easily be sunk by above-normal fees for shipping. And in my book, $92 in fees on a $200 order qualifies as high.

Here’s how a recent experience went down. I needed to stock up on ink for my Epson R2400 photo printer. The machine requires eight separate ink cartridges, which have a going rate of around $12 to $15 each, according to the comparison site Pricegrabber, which was my first stop on this shopping trip. But I thought I could do even better, so I dug deeper.

My next destination was Newegg.com, a site that’s served me well in the past. The company is among the top-rated online merchants in our December survey report on where to buy electronics (full Ratings are available to subscribers). Newegg’s prices were great, from $11.49 to $11.99 per cartridge. The total for two sets: $191.84; that was better than any of the other trusted sources I was considering. But hold on. When I was prompted to choose a shipping option, I found that the price was $92.21 for next-day service and $43.14 for UPS 3-Day shipping.

I didn’t go through with the transaction. But I thought I deserved an explanation. So I called Newegg’s service department, just as any customer would.

I asked the representative to double check to see if I made a mistake.

“No,” she said.

“I can’t understand how shipping fees could be so high,” I said. “Were there cheaper options I might have overlooked?”

Again, she said no, and attributed the fees to the high cost of gasoline.

“But gas prices are at their lowest in five years,” I noted. “That excuse doesn’t seem to make sense any longer.”

Sensing my displeasure, she apologized, and offered to waive the shipping fee entirely as payback for my angst. Kudos to Newegg for that, and it’s a lesson we can all learn from: If you sense a fee is unfair, challenge it. You might just come out ahead.

In my case, the offer came too late.

I had, in fact, placed my order elsewhere, directly from Epson’s Web site. The inks cost me a little more than I might have paid at some other sites — the total bill came to $227.84, or $14.24 per cartridge — but the company’s offer of free FedEx overnight shipping was simply too good to pass up.

Speaking of free shipping, here’s a reminder. Thursday, Dec. 18 is Free-Shipping Day, a promotion dreamed up by the folks at FreeShipping.org. Hundreds of merchants will be participating, and it’s one of your final chances to order online in time for Christmas delivery.

For you last-minute shoppers who are shipping gifts out on your own, here’s a list of shipping deadlines for holiday delivery among the three major services, the U.S.Postal Service, FedEx, and UPS.