Yeah it ignores the age-old "shipping and handling" fees that infomercials used for decades to inflate the cost of goods. The early internet had tons of this stuff, and often it was kind of "surprise billing" where you bought something and cursed when you realized there was a 5$ fee on that 10$ widget.

Note that this is RAMPANT on eBay these days.

I remember some online store forum bragging about how much extra money you make with it. This was circa 1999-2001 era online shopping.

Free shipping means the price is the price you pay. It's a lot more transparent.

However, I can see how major retailers get to negotiate superior relationships with Fedex and UPS and USMail.