Do the math.

Is free shipping really free? I am surprised at how many people fall for this gimmick. I checked out two different screen printing supply stores that offered free shipping and what I found was that they just increased their prices on the individual products in order to pay the shipping costs.
For example- I sell Emulsion PV for 46.00 a gallon to ship to Gulfport, MS from Miami it would cost 18.00 so that would be 64.00 in total for a gallon of emulsion. The first competitor sells the same exact emulsion for 87.00 a gallon....hmmm. The second competitor sells a comparable emulsion for 73.99 and you must spend 150.00 in order to get the free shipping deal. I don't make any money on shipping, whatever UPS charges me I charge the customer that. Do people really prefer me to jack up my prices in order to give "free shipping"?