Why paying for shipping is an effective form of economic resistance

American consumers have come to expect free next-day shipping as a matter of course. But what are the real costs of free delivery?

I couldn’t tell you what my very first purchase from Amazon was—although I know it was a book and that I purchased it on my 7-pound laptop using a dial-up modem that took several minutes to connect me to Al Gore’s internet. I’m certain I was delighted to receive my purchase about a week later, even though I was paying for shipping.