How important is free shipping when ordering online?
 

I can think of a few that have free shipping -Deep Discount DVD-Lasercorner.com-Best Buy.com.Isn't this a tell tale factor when having big orders(some places like DVD Empire require 4 dvds for free shipping).

It isn't free shipping as it the total price ie price of dvd + shipping. If the store is offering free shipping, then they have a advantage in the price department.

The other question is what exactly is "free shipping" in terms of the way they ship.

Buy.com offers "free" shipping which they call budget shipping. They specify 1-3 weeks for delivery after they ship.

I would rather buy from vendors who use Media Mail or something similar which arrive in 3 days. But to have to wait up to 3 weeks for "free" shipping, no thank you! :rolleyes:

Free shipping isn't that important at all too me. I used to order from DDD, but after awhile learned my lesson when it would take up to 3 weeks of shipping time to reach me, and then they started really screwing up my orders. A screwed up order (with their ship times) can take over 2 mos to clear up. Not worth $2.50 for me. Even when you pay for faster shipping their shipping dept holds onto the 'ready to ship' order for about a 3-7days. I think their free shipping would be quicker and more relibale if they handed the packages to freight train jumping hobos to deliver.

On the other hand, when Buy.com offers free shipping I generally get the package in 2-3 days, depending on the time of day that I ordered it.

In general though, I look at final check out price to compare and take into account the type of 'free' shipping I'm getting. I'd rather pay to have something sooner than get something later. It's always nice to check out at some place and find that due to a special price or item you get free shipping though.

Free shipping doesn't mean anything to me. The bottom line is what's my out of pocket cost. If company A is charging $10 for a DVD + $4 shipping and company B is charging $17 with free shipping I am always going to go with company A, all other things being equal. One exception is that I hate paying shipping AND sales tax. Sometimes I will not buy from an e-tailer who has that policy. These e-tailers usually never have the lowest price, anyway.