Found out the real cost of 'free' shipping on a $12 item, wild

Tbh I was scrolling through my order history last week and adding up what I actually paid for a bunch of small stuff from an online marketplace. This one seller had free shipping on a $12 tool, but the item took 11 days to arrive and came in a giant box with zero padding. I looked into it more and found out sellers often bake the shipping cost into the price, so you're not saving anything, you're just paying for it hidden. The cheaper items with paid shipping ended up being faster and sometimes even less total. I get why budget buyers love free shipping, but it feels like a trap for impulse buys under $15. Has anyone else compared final totals on small orders and noticed a big difference? I'm starting to think I should just filter by total price instead of item price.

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the_alice1mo ago

The hidden shipping cost is real, and that 11 day wait with a giant empty box makes it worse. Filtering by total price is the smart move honestly.

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