December 16th is Free Shipping Day

If you’ve put off buying holiday gifts, your procrastination will be rewarded. More than 2000 merchants are offering free shipping on December 16th.

But don’t despair if you miss out on December 16th. This holiday season lots of merchants are competing for your business by offering free shipping. Some, such as L.LBean, Best Buy and Overstock.com, offer free shipping on all purchases. Others ship for free on purchases above a specified amount or on selected items.

FreeShipping.org is a good place to find free shipping offers all year as well as the holidays. You can search by merchant or product. For example, search “flatscreen TV” to find merchants who ship that product for free. The site also gives price comparisons, so you can find the best deal.

Some merchants give “free  shipping” to customers for a yearly fee.  For example, for $79  a year Amazon Prime offers 2-day shipping and Sears ShipVantage offers standard shipping.

I like free shipping, but I love free shipping on returns as well as purchases. Zappos, which started out selling shoes,  pioneered free shipping both ways. Now many shoe etailers offer this perk. Nordstroms, noted for its excellent customer service, also offers free shipping both ways. Check out FreeShipping.org for other etailers who offer free return shipping.

Every once in a while, because of a good deal, I violate my pledge to buy only from etailers who offer free shipping. I recently purchased pants from J.Jill:  $89 reduced to $24.99. I bit the bullet and paid $5.95 for shipping. The pants didn’t fit, and the fabric was too thin for winter. I spent $6.95 to return them. So I spent $12.90 on pants I didn’t buy.