how to order something online

[calimac]

1. Go to the manufacturer's website, find the item you want, and put it in the cart. That's the easy part.

2. Since you don't expect to be a regular customer, try to find a way to check out as a guest. Fail to find one.

3. Since you have in fact ordered from this company before, check your saved password file for a login there. Don't find one.

4. Sigh. Fill out the form to register for a new account. Note that when you type in a username (the same one you use everywhere) a popup informs you that it's available.

4a. Sigh again at the restrictions for a password, which eliminate any combination you can remember.

5. However, when you click to save the registration, receive a notice that the username (which is unlikely to be anyone but you) is taken.

6. Go back to the beginning and click the "Forgot password?" button.

7. Wait five minutes. About this time, begin to wish that it were still possible to just drive to the store and buy this product.

8. Receive an e-mail with an obscenely convoluted temp password.

9. Log in using this.

9a. Don't bother to change the password.

9b. Confirm that it's gone into your saved passwords file this time.

10. Reorder from scratch, since it works that way.

11. Get to the checkout screen, and find that, while the item you want costs $9, shipping costs $7.

11a. Realize that, to make this an economical purchase, you'd better find something else they sell that you want.

11b. Realize further that you've used up all the time you'd allocated for what should have been a 3-step procedure, you have errands to do, and you'll have to come back later.

Comments

[resonant.livejournal.com]

Sadly, so true.

[darkoshi]

If a site doesn't show how much the shipping costs without logging in or before checking out, I assume it's going to be high and usually move on to alternate sites that have the same product and show the shipping costs up front.

But even then I often still end up doing steps 11a and 11b, especially on Amazon where you get free shipping if you spend $35+.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

I've rarely if ever seen a site that gives shipping charges upfront. I presume that's because they're often distance- and jurisdiction-affected, and the site can't calculate them until you put your shipping info in.

However, just about all sites allow you to make changes or resume shopping after you see this, instead of forcing you to either continue or abandon.

[darkoshi]

I checked my order history to make sure my memory isn't playing tricks on me. :-)
The last places I've ordered from:

eBay and Amazon - shipping is shown up front (or free shipping over $35)
JCPenney's and Staples - using ship-to-store (ergo no shipping charge)
Zenni Optical (glasses) - flat-rate shipping, shown up front
VetSource - free shipping
LuckyVitamin - flat rate shown up front & free shipping over $49
One site which doesn't show the shipping charge until check-out, but I've ordered from them enough times that I trust it not to be unreasonable (they also have a guest check-out option).
One site which lets you calculate the shipping charge based on your zip code after adding the item(s) to your cart (without being logged in).

I'm not sure how often I come across sites that don't show the shipping charges until after creating an account or entering a full address. Unless I'm desperate for the item, that's usually enough to make me close the website.

And I see now that you wrote "manufacturer's website"...and yes, in my experience the websites of companies that manufacture their own items tend to be less user-friendly. And if you're looking for an obscure part that only they sell, you may not have much choice.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

You seem to be using some definition of "shipping is shown up front" unknown to me, then.

I just made a test run through Amazon - for which I already have an account - and, after logging in and choosing an item to purchase, had to do the following, each on a separate page:

1) go to my cart (which said how short I was of free shipping, but not how much the shipping of my current order would cost)
2) confirm my shipping address
3) choose my shipping method
4) select my payment method
AND go through two pages of ads (one of them for an Amazon credit card, I forget the other)
before reaching a "review your order" page which at last told me what the shipping cost would be.

That makes six extra pages after what I would call an "up front" revelation of shipping costs.

[darkoshi]

Was that an item marked as free shipping over $35? Once I see that, then I'm at step 11a, because I either check for other items I want to buy, to get over the $35 mark, or delay the order, or find a different seller with stated or free shipping. But you are right, that is a lot of hassle to see the actual shipping cost for those items.

The main item page on Amazon should have a link to another page that lists all the sellers of the item along with the price each one charges including the shipping charges. It's not unusual for items that are marked as "free shipping over $35" from one vendor*, to also be available from other sellers for potentially better prices.

*Those are ones which are sold directly by Amazon or "fulfilled by Amazon". Those prices are shown preferentially on the main page even though other sellers may have better prices!
For example, this main item page currently lists the price as $14.59 with free shipping over $35.
But the right side shows "Other Sellers On Amazon" with a "14 new" link - that link brings up this page which shows another seller has it for $14.28 and free shipping.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

If your demand is free shipping or nothing, then yes, you get to know that fairly early. But I wasn't expecting free shipping on the item I ordered. What stopped me was finding out how much the shipping would be, and I didn't find that out until later on, and I didn't find out how much the shipping would be with Amazon, either.

True that it's given with Amazon Marketplace, and I'd forgotten about that, but this is items sold by Amazon itself.