> Most online clothing brands offer ‘free’ shipping, with the catch that you have to meet a minimum purchase amount (often $100) to qualify. Some 58% of consumers will add additional items to their cart — often things they didn’t originally intend to purchase — just to “save” $5 to $10 on handling fees.
You will find people vigorously defending their behaviour when challenged on this. For example: Amazon Prime.
Amazon Prime is a product that costs you money and makes you spend more money on Amazon, and yet people will defend their spending saying that they are "saving" money.
The shipping is "free" but you have to spend £8 a month to qualify. If you don't spend at amazon during that month you are still down £8 (that's about £100 a year). If you spend something at amazon during the month you are still down the £8 in addition to the money spent at something.
Amazon Prime is a shady product designed to get you to spend money at Amazon.
As the article says often you will find the same product for lower in other places. You just need to do the sums. Another common defence we will see when people respond to this is "Oh I know it doesn't save me money, it's the convenience".
Retailers love making their customers comfortable and not thinking about these shady offers. Imagine having millions of customers so happy they will pay more money to you and defending this very process.
Now... there's also the shady dark patterns the company uses to sign you up for it and make it it harder for you to cancel, but that's another thing!
> and yet people will defend their spending saying that they are "saving" money
I've never seen Prime as a purely money-saving scheme. It possibly does save me a bit overall (but not every month, for sure) on the things I genuinely want next day, but I also get the convenience of weekend delivery which either isn't available or is very expensive without Prime (from Amazon or other options), or certain drop-site delivery locations that don't seem to be available & cost-less without Prime. There is also the utility value of not needing to think about delivery as much.
> designed to get you to spend money at Amazon.
That much is certainly true. But it doesn't have to cost you more that way than it would anyway.
> You just need to do the sums.
Shopping around can be time-consuming, especially as every other retailer is pulling similar tricks so you have to make an effort to see through their crack as well. Though I do sometimes double-check and find the Amazon price the same once delivery is accounted for in both cases. Sometimes there is a saving to be made. Sometimes that saving has a convenience cost.
> Another common defence we will see when people respond to this is "Oh I know it doesn't save me money, it's the convenience".
Is paying for convenience inherently wrong in your world view?
IMO, spending time and/or cognitive effort to save money has to be weighed against what-ever else you might be doing with that time/effort (going out for a run, playing with the cat, doing some work, just enjoying doing nothing really, ...) otherwise you are guilty of exactly the same sort of false economy.
> Is paying for convenience inherently wrong in your world view?
I was channelling the spirit of the article.
But for me it's not that something is convenient on it's own, it's 2 things. Firstly, it's that it's shady and manipulative and that people will defend this when challenged by saying "oh it's okay I don't like to think about it, it's convenient".
Secondly because a BOGO offer (or Amazon Prime) lowers the cognitive load it is explicitly a convenient thing for us. our brains think we are both getting a deal and we are having a smooth ride. It's easier to not do the economics and it's easier and smoother for us to think less even if we spend a little bit more.
>There is also the utility value of not needing to think
>Shopping around can be time-consuming
>Spending...cognitive effort to save money
Now, making money isn't wrong, nor is hacking on psychology, but I don't see any comments in HN defending BOGO. We all like to think we are rational and that it's others who are the crazy ones.
Walmart can be convenient too. The prices are about the same as Amazon and depending on where you live you can have your product in hand in however long it takes to pick it up locally (~30 minutes or less let's say). Order it online, pick it up locally.
And if it's not available in the store right now, they ship it to their store for free in usually a day or 2. No membership required.
Given that other retailers charge upwards of £10 for Saturday courier delivery, Amazon is cheap. They also have fairly no-questions-asked customer service policies which is nice.
The refund policy is many times fairer in the UK than with other retailers. I never fell like I'm taking a risk with Amazon. OK, they have a fake products problem but I haven't experienced that yet.
>Amazon Prime is a product that costs you money and makes you spend more money on Amazon, and yet people will defend their spending saying that they are "saving" money... The shipping is "free" but you have to spend £8 a month to qualify. If you don't spend at amazon during that month you are still down £8 (that's about £100 a year). If you spend something at amazon during the month you are still down the £8 in addition to the money spent at something.
OTOH you also get prime video and music.
Prime Video has a lot of HBO stuff (Sopranos, The Wire, Curb) and while prime music's selection is limited, they have a few great electronic or classical stations for studying (commercial free).
I'm more likely to get rid of Netflix than Prime given all that's bundled in.
But it is convenient. I pay a small, fixed amount to Amazon, where I can incidentally buy literally everything, and I never have to worry about shipping costs again, nor worry about dealing with a different interface or multiple accounts for any type of goods I want to buy.
This in itself is an irritation for some: the price went up when that was added and many don't use it at all. I hardly use it (my TV from Amazon connected to a PC with a graphics card from Amazon by an HDMI cable from Amazon won't play Amazon HD streams because of a licensing issue - if I want HD I need to get the content ahem elsewhere) though for me the price is still worth it for other factors.
Your not counting the value you get from prime video I saved on buying all 5 season of arrow on dvd for example or the expanse which has just come out.
I don't always use prime delivery but I still come out ahead.
I'm embarrassed to say Amazon got me with this trap a few times. I'm at the checkout with a $19 mouse but amazon reminds me that I could get free shipping if I get to the $25. So I go back and look for something I need for $6 bucks. Can't find anything I need for $6 bucks so out of frustration I somehow end up with a $70 worth of stuff I don't need just to save a couple of bucks on shipping.
What worked for me is to settle on a generic filler item. Personally I use toothpaste. Costs a decent amount, can be stored for a long time, doesn't need much space and I'll need it eventually. This way I don't go looking around randomly but just always fill the gap with that item.
I try to keep an eye out for small things I could use and keep them in a list for this reason. AmazonBasics has a lot of cords and adapters and things I'd much rather get in lieu of a shipping charge.
You will find people vigorously defending their behaviour when challenged on this. For example: Amazon Prime.
Amazon Prime is a product that costs you money and makes you spend more money on Amazon, and yet people will defend their spending saying that they are "saving" money.
The shipping is "free" but you have to spend £8 a month to qualify. If you don't spend at amazon during that month you are still down £8 (that's about £100 a year). If you spend something at amazon during the month you are still down the £8 in addition to the money spent at something.
Amazon Prime is a shady product designed to get you to spend money at Amazon.
As the article says often you will find the same product for lower in other places. You just need to do the sums. Another common defence we will see when people respond to this is "Oh I know it doesn't save me money, it's the convenience".
Retailers love making their customers comfortable and not thinking about these shady offers. Imagine having millions of customers so happy they will pay more money to you and defending this very process.
Now... there's also the shady dark patterns the company uses to sign you up for it and make it it harder for you to cancel, but that's another thing!