presta
Guru
There was a small trader on Jeremy V a few minutes ago saying that, unlike Amazon, he has to charge postage, and he then added "even then we can't charge the full cost, so we have to absorb the remainder".
Assuming that he was making a profit (and he didn't say that he wasn't), "absorbing" the balance of the P&P costs just means putting it on the purchase price of the goods, in which case that's the same choice that's open to any retailer. Personally, I prefer 'free' postal costs 'hidden' in the price, because separate charges are regressive and are expensive for anyone buying small quantities, but from a retailer's point of view, passing on the economies of scale with separate charges incentivises people to buy more rather than less.
Assuming that he was making a profit (and he didn't say that he wasn't), "absorbing" the balance of the P&P costs just means putting it on the purchase price of the goods, in which case that's the same choice that's open to any retailer. Personally, I prefer 'free' postal costs 'hidden' in the price, because separate charges are regressive and are expensive for anyone buying small quantities, but from a retailer's point of view, passing on the economies of scale with separate charges incentivises people to buy more rather than less.
