There's a reason online shopping starts to drop off after the second week of December or so -- gifts you order won't necessarily get there in time for Christmas (or the other holidays you celebrate). Many retailers set holiday shipping deadline cut-offs of around December 15 this year for guaranteed arrival by December 24.

So what are desperate retailers to do in order to keep luring in shoppers to buy? Free shipping.

You'd think consumers would have a win-win situation in this equation, but there's a lot of fine print. Even the first annual execution of Free Shipping Day is complicated, and you could not come up with a more straight-forward and consumer-friendly concept unless you just simply started to give stuff away for free. Free Shipping Day this year is December 18. Sponsored (touted? hyped? promoted?) by the site freeshipping.org, the event is supposed to rally retailers and consumers to meet up online. Consumers buy last-minute gifts to be delivered free of charge by Dec. 24, retailers get a bump of last-ditch sales.

Oh, it sounds so simple.

It should come as no surprise to those of us that shop via the Internet that shipping costs often undermine the bargain. Some companies so inflate shipping costs that even $4 a gallon gas doesn't make their wares a wise purchase.

One site that will come in useful in fighting the shipping cost blues is Freeshipping.org. This site aggregates free shipping deals from over 700 stores, including biggies like Amazon, New Egg, Target, and Finish Line.

I'd suggest using this site when deciding from whom to buy an item that is sold by many vendors. For example, an Apple iPod Nano, 4 gig 3rd generation, is selling for $144 on New Egg, $145.95 on Amazon. New Egg, however, wants $5.99 for three business day shipping, while Amazon offers free supersaver savings (usually a bit slower, but not always.)

Another similar site, Freeshipppingon.com, is also worth checking out.

I don't think I know anyone who likes paying shipping fees when shopping online. You think you've found a great deal, but then you add on shipping and don't feel like it's such a steal anymore. I've rationalized that a few bucks for shipping is worth it, if it saves me the hour I'd take running to the store.

But for those of you that despise the shipping fees and refuse to pay them, I have your answer. A new website called "Free Shipping On..." gives you the opportunity to shop without shipping fees. Coupons for free shipping from hundreds of websites are available. But even better is the chance to search eBay and Amazon.com through the site, with the results including only those items that have free shipping!

So happy shopping without the hassle or irritation of shipping fees. And if you do use the site, come back and tell us how well it worked for you.

I was FLORed. (I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.) Late last night I placed an order for a few dozen FLOR carpet tiles for my living room, the 'Morning Coffee' pattern in 'Decaf' (reddish orange) and 'Espresso' (dark dark brown). The shipping cost, via UPS Ground, from the Georgia warehouse to my home in Portland, Oregon was painful, though, $39 for my order; I would have ordered a few extra tiles in some other colors and textures, but that would have tacked another $13 on my order. I shivered, and pressed "buy."

This morning, bright and early before the sun was up here on the West Coast, I got my shipping confirmation. Speedy! I thought. Then around 9 a.m. I got another email, this a promotional offer. "Free Shipping for a Limited Time!" the subject read. Ohhh... ouch!

I spent several minutes feeling peeved, and then I thought: why not just call? I dialed the customer service line and was connected to a friendly representative who happily processed a refund for my shipping. Giving me plenty of time to enjoy my morning coffee.

If you, too, are in the market for some FLOR tiles, now's the time! The free shipping code is BP887W, and the email didn't say when the promotion would end.