Today's Special Value

[Chicago18]

I like today's TSV but will not buy it due to shipping/handling cost. Am I being unreasonable as it just seems to be so high for a lightweight shirt. 27% of the selling price and then add tax....

[millieshops]

I always pay tax why do people persist in blaming that on any company. All they do is COLLECT it according to the laws of your state.

BTW- I paid for a year of Amazon Prime - don't ask what that ended up costing me per purchase! I bought so few items, I would have been better off paying for each purchase which is what I'll do in 2015. Especially now that they raised their shipping by 20%, I'd be paying about $20 an irem PLUS tax! Not happening.

The only thing that even began to make the $79 of last year worth it to me was that I caught up on Downton Abby. That's done - and I don't need $99 worth of items, let alone $99 for shipping next year. I didn't even spend that much on QVC shipping in 2014 and I buy more here than I do there.

[Chicago18]

I have no problem with the tax I'm just saying so many stores offer free shipping these days especially if you spend a good amount of money-that I struggle with some of the shipping costs I see at QVC. Does not have to be free but.....

[mimi5775]

On 12/26/2014 Chicago18 said:

I have no problem with the tax I'm just saying so many stores offer free shipping these days especially if you spend a good amount of money-that I struggle with some of the shipping costs I see at QVC. Does not have to be free but.....

hsn has so many incentives qvc does not like free s&h...but I watch qvc so much, I enjoy it on -- and buy from both.

[Fur Dude]

If I really want an item I don't mind paying the shipping and handling, but I'm very annoyed at how long it takes the Q to process returns that I have to pay for. All the other shopping channels seem to have a much faster and efficient system, get with it Q!

[Madremia]

Agree totally, I've been a QvC shopper for more than 20 years and from the beginning I've always evaluated a purchase by adding the shipping and handling to the price and then deciding if it's truly a good value. Over the past several years I've begun to search elsewhere after seeing something I want on the Q. Many times, not always, I can find the same item cheaper elsewhere--either outright or when you factor in the often ridiculous shipping the Q charges. I have had amazon prime for two years and for me it's totally worth it. To each her own I suppose.

[Moonchilde]

Yes - whether Amazon Prime is a given, why wouldn't someone do this, etc. depends entirely on a person's buying habits and their likes and dislikes. At the time I was purchasing the most on Amazon, I still didn't purchase enough to make Prime worth the $$ to me even at $79, never mind the $99 it is now. I rarely watch popular films so that perk is meaningless to me. I am very picky about my reading so the "free" books I could get as a Prime member don't interest me either. For me it's the same with Costco. I would shop there so seldom and buy so few things that I'd never make the price of the card back per year. I understand why families do like Prime, but it isn't a natural choice for everyone. It also depends on where you live. In a large urban area it's not so necessary. And for the things I purchase, at least, Amazon's prices are not head-and-shoulders above the rest for price any more.

[MartieHugs]

I have Amazon Prime, and I love it. I have family in Alaska, my niece is in college and uses it. I like being about to watch movies, too. Well worth it all around.

As for shipping costs in general ... most on-line retailers have volume-based contracts with various shippers, and some of the shipping charges are based on how far you are from the warehouse. There's no hard and fast rule.

As consumers, we need to remember there is an added expense every time someone "touches" an order. The person who pulls the order off the computer, the person who "picks" the order from the warehouse shelves, the person who processes your payment: checks the order and seals the box, applies the shipping label. All of those are part of the "h" - handling - of shipping and handling cost.

In some cases, some of those costs are subsidized by the manufacturers who have outsourced their own product s&h.

As for returns, there is no way to automate returns. It's great if you use the label that tells the warehouse what's in the package, but it doesn't help when two or three items are crammed into the same package. In any case the return needs to be opened, inspected, then processed. It's labor intensive and time consuming.

Yes, I worked in the industry for a number of years. We used to figure that 8-10% of the items sold would be returned. Not because anything was wrong with them, but because it just "wasn't right." It's the way business works.

[Black Cat Back]

That's why I never bought the Ninja blender that was a TSV. The s/h was over $11.00. I decided to get it at Macy's. No s/h and I get a lifetime 20% off of everything since my Mom worked there for many years and they did that for employees and families back then.

I saved a lot more that way. HSN has a lot more items with free s/h, especially their Today's Value items.

Many of my items in the past I've ordered have come without pouches or proper packaging, so I don't think it justifies the high costs.