Online shopping in a nutshell

While total price is the same- paid shipping is often higher quality than the free option. Some free shipping options don’t even specify a carrier and are often the cheapest possible courier and method. Sites like eBay don’t allow you to give shipping feedback on free shipping, which limits your ability to recourse for bad shipping, and if a shipping guarantee isn’t met etc there isn’t really a shipping credit or refund to be given, or it is often harder to get. On the other hand though- if a refund is needed, or you feel one is likely- such as a “risky” purchase where you may not trust the quality of the goods- it can be better to take the free shipping, as shipping is often not refundable, so you may lose $5 plus the price to ship back in the above example versus just the return shipping. There are many particulars that make the best buying decision, but it’s best to consider the practical benefits and drawbacks to decide.