There is a reason others do it that way. If you sell something for $14.95 and then add $5 shipping, it looks a lot better when the consumer is deciding than $19.95 shipping included. Also, even if you have separate pricing for international shipping, people in Canada and all over will check the US price and then you either have to hassle contacting them or cancel the order.

Yes, we all love free shipping but as a business you'll be out of business if you don't make money and pay your bills. If it's a new site just first work on getting the sales. Start with a shipping cost and later change it if you want.

Shipping included is more convenient, but more commitments to buy may be obtained by offering the lower, without shipping price, added shipping charges are common enough to not be a shock when they appear, along with sales tax in some cases.

If your selling a single, relatively light product with uniform shipping cost through the country then free shipping is more practical. Larger products requiring UPS/Fedix will often have different shipping options offered and the cost will depend on the destination. Free shipping is impractical for such complicated cases.

The shipping and handling for TV infomercial products can ofter cover their production cost, the new "double your order for free, with separate shipping charges" scheme can make shipping more costly than the product price advertised.

Thanks guys, your answers helped a lot, think i will change my site to charge for shipping. I currently have free shipping and i'm getting the traffic to my site, just not as many sales as i would like, so i'm thinking that it's the "free" shipping that is the problem cause the items seem more expensive with it all included.

I wouldn't, it will make your prices appear higher than everyone elses before they even realize there is no shipping charge.

Yeah, but when people do price comparisons, they will go elsewhere because that initial price will be lower as it doesn't include shipping. Once they get to checkout, your website has already lost.

i love free shipping,,,

of course,, i compare prices on 100 other sites first.

I'm starting up a website and my thoughts are that i would prefer to have shipping included in my items as I hate getting to the checkout and seeing the shipping at some ridiculous amount. I just want to know what everyone else thinks? Would they prefer to see the shipping separate or have it all included in the product?