Free shipping costs

Please take the free shipping banner off the website unless you are actually willing to offer free shipping everywhere. It’s certainly not free to the UK.

Will do, absolutely. Just need GoTenna administration to turn over website access to the community first. But when they do, totally will do that.

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I don’t expect “free shipping” applying anywhere but domestically when offered with any product or company. I doubt that even Amazon Prime offers such a deal. Why would you expect that?

Can you name other companies/offers where “free shipping” is included on a global basis? The only ones I’m aware of are some Chinese companies and it tends to be used as a loss leader. Sure, you get “free shipping” if your order exceeds a certain value, but it’s for such a long transit time that most shoppers prefer to pay for an upgrade.

Moreover, “free shipping” isn’t really free, but is rolled into the price structure where it is offered. Most consumers likely see domestic shipping costs as an acceptable inclusion in order to keep up with the competition. Most would likely see the inclusion of international shipping costs as subsidizing something they generally don’t otherwise have access to.

Free shipping implies shipping for free. When I open the site it doesn’t specify that it only includes America, or that I am in effect shopping in America. I am fine with it saying free domestic shipping, but why not just put that? UK shipping comes at about £55, nearly $70, that doesn’t appear on the bill until the very end of the transaction.

I wasn’t asking for free shipping, merely not advertising it unless it is available to every order, or at least adding the caveats for all to see

Hey, you ok? Not sure if it was you intention but that came across as more than a little bitchy. Hope I’m wrong and all is good with you

I’m fine. Nothing wrong here. There’s been several people lately coming on asking the community on the community forums to do things that only the developers can do. Was just momentarily annoyed. No offense meant.

This your first internet shopping experience - really?

The website is in English, the price is quote in pounds sterling, the statement is free shipping.

And hang on, how is it ok for me to subsidise you free shipping but you not subsidise mine?

Not making a moral judgment here, just relating general expectations. Free domestic shipping is common, largely because it is often offered to stay competitive with others.

Free international shipping is very uncommon and unexpected. I would expect to see a special note if international shipping were included in such an offer, otherwise I would assume such a statement applied only to domestic shipping.

Ahhh I see the confusion, I see the phrase “free shipping” to mean FREE SHIPPING, while you are implying that I should understand the phrase “free shipping” to mean “free shipping to mainland USA only, the rest of you will get stung at the completion of you order, obviously, your an idiot if you didn’t know that”. Well thanks for clearing that up Mike, really helped alot. And to think some people might have thought you were just being an argumentative shit there. Good job I understood you were just trying to be helpful and not condescending at all :slight_smile:

If I order something from the UK from a site that offers Free Shipping, I would not assume that was free international shipping unless it specifically said so.

That was one reason I brought up the Chinese, who have a lot of free shipping that, once experienced, makes you more likely to prefer paying for it - unless you’re a very patient consumer.

And Free Shipping is almost always accompanied by a list of rules, ifs, ands, or buts. It’s a qualified or conditional offer. And where I see it currently is it is alternating with a 20% discount offer. I would want to check what the order invoicing says to be sure, because sometimes when such offers are made simultaneously you only get a choice not both, but I think you may get both the 20% discount and free (domestic) shipping in this case. Thing is, it’s a banner thing and well, it’s made to get you to click and consider, so it doesn’t tell you the full story. I don’t expect a lengthy bit of contractual language explaining this, if I want the details, then I click on through.

It’s Marketing 102 stuff and common as dirt on the internet. Some folks don’t like it, but it’s nearly ubiquitous.

I got my GTMs on Amazon, buying from the manufacturer is rarely the cheapest, even if they offer free shipping. I got mine for $35 each, with free shipping (not Prime free shipping, just free shipping) from Amazon. Have you considered looking elsewhere for some for yourself?

Yeah, good point. The manufacturer will offer the product at a price that’s reasonable for consumers with convenient availability. However, they don’t want to undercut wholesaler and retailer incentives that they sell to. This is pretty much the case for any mass market item. Shop around, there are deals. If you’re price sensitive, shop around more.

The internet makes things a little different. Marketing on one page, fine print on another and usually several steps in the ordering/invoicing/shipping process all on separate pages. I know people in the biz of supporting such software…it’s way harder and more complex than it looks. They do a pretty good job here of keeping things human scale. I’m sure someone will take a look at that. But I don’t think there’s anything going on but some confusion of expectations. This is something to inquire about with CS more than anything.

If you do shop internationally, do so strategically. It is a axiom that you want to check with local sources first. While they may not have the lowest shelf price, once you take into account shipping Iand perhaps customs duties, etc), you may find the local source has the lowest landed price. Plus many consider part of buying local to include buying an imported item through local retailers and wholesalers. Some think the internet will supplant all these sort of entrepreneurs. However, I still think there’s a place for people who are adept at adapting their business acumen to interpret products in culturally sensitive ways.

There are no other retailers in the UK, or Europe as far as I can tell. We can either buy from Gotenna direct for full price plus £50 shipping, or second hand from eBay (very very rarely) and risk getting devices that are bricked by the firmware update and no support to repair.
I am getting the distinct impression that the company is focusing on the pro version for larger revenues, neglecting the consumer market. Which has to make you wonder, how long before the app stops being supported or disabled?

I rather doubt that. While there is a market out there for Pro, by it’s nature it’s rather more limited than the potential market for the goTenna Mesh. The Pro utilizes freqs that require licensing and the costs to the end user are higher for the Pro. Thus the potential market for the GTM is vastly greater than the Pro.

And there was a rather substantial capital investment in goTenna over the summer ($24 million IIRC) so tales of disappearing, unsupported soft- and firmware are simply apocryphal. goTenna is going to be around for a long time.

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I was under the impression that the $24 million investment came FOR the pro version of the item, specifically for defense and government agency use? Who’s investing that much for what is essentially a finished consumer unit with limited appeal? The big money is the pro and Pro X packs.

There’s been a whole discussion over this. Basically, the idea is that for iOS users, you’re screwed. iOS is wholly owned and controlled by Apple. If Apple decides you’re done with it, then you’re done with it. Whether that’s an app, a device, an OS version, a user account, anything. If you’re an Android user, you’re in luck, Android is not controlled by a central authority, so there’s no requirement for support by a central company in order for the distributed network to function. If you’re investing in one or more GoTenna Mesh devices (which I’m starting to get the impression you aren’t, but…) you should also consider investing in an Android device, preferably not Samsung’s Qualcomm devices. (Because for whatever reason, Samsung decided to take the one thing Android had going for it over iOS, (unrestricted usage) and toss it out the door.)

I do have a couple of units, on Android devices (with spare Android devices just in case). My issues come from trying to encourage others to get and use the devices. The argument always comes down to cost (including the bloody shipping) and the fact that the company that sells them just took a ton of money from government agencies. Take Hong Kong as an example, government there could stop all data and mobile signal, so Gotennas would be really useful, unless of course the government had just given Gotenna a ton of money…