Frequently Asked Questions

My inbox blew up last December—friends, coworkers, even my mom: “Why is my cart total bouncing around after checkout?” The new FTC rules are supposed to stop hidden fees, but somehow, they still sneak onto receipts, especially for trendy gifts.

What should I look out for to avoid surprise charges when buying gifts online?

Scrolling through five checkout screens to figure out if my niece’s socks come with a processing fee—ridiculous. Packaging charges, expedited handling, “convenience” fees—they’re rarely in the main price, just buried in tiny gray text right before you pay.

Minnesota banned businesses from hiding “junk fees” and now requires full price transparency, but I still screenshot every checkout page. Last week, a big retailer snuck in a $3 “holiday fulfillment” charge at the end. Policy changes or not, if you click too fast, you’ll miss it.

Can you explain how and when service fees are added to my gift purchases?

Subscription boxes, theater vouchers—I expect some “convenience” fee. But when I sent candles to my cousin, the site just sprinkled in “service” fees after shipping, sometimes per item, sometimes a flat rate. There’s no consistency. Even with the new FTC rules coming in May 2025, retailers just invent new fee names when old ones get called out.

Friday night, in a rush, my cart jumped from $48 to $56—no warning, just a tiny italic note. I almost missed it, distracted by my dog eating wrapping paper. The refund fine print? Always longer than the checkout page.

What are the common hidden fees in gift cards, and how can I avoid them?

Olive oil gift card—seemed safe. But some brands charge $1.50 per month if you don’t use it within six months. There’s always a catch: activation fees not shown until you’re at the register, or “inactivity” penalties that eat away at the balance. Federal law limits how fast gift cards expire, but loopholes are everywhere—especially if you don’t read the back.

A friend who works in finance flagged retail and online holiday gift card scams with fake charges and up-front fees. Who actually reads the fine print at a mall kiosk? I register my card online and spend it fast, because once fees start nibbling at the balance, customer support rarely helps without a fight.

How can I identify and dispute unauthorized charges on my holiday purchases?

“Pending transaction: $7.99 – CandleCo?” Right. I don’t even like candles, so why is this on my statement? I swear, I jot down every Target run and late-night impulse buy in my planner, but then, out of nowhere, random $3.21 charges from stores I’ve never heard of. Banks? They brag about their “fraud detection” stuff, but honestly, has an algorithm ever lived through December? I doubt it. And those stats—some analyst claimed error rates jump 15% during the holidays, but good luck getting a bank to admit that when you call.

So yeah, when something weird pops up, I call customer service. It’s always a roll of the dice. Sometimes I get a human, sometimes a robot. They’ll read their policy at me like I haven’t already Googled it. “Temporary credits”? Sure, those vanish faster than my patience. I never just send a screenshot. I want everything in writing—email, chat transcript, whatever. But why is it so hard to just click one button and say, “Hey, this isn’t mine”? You’d think in 2024, someone would’ve figured that out.

Is it possible for packaging and handling fees to increase the cost of my gifts unexpectedly?

Every year, December rolls around and suddenly my shipping receipts look like ransom notes. “Winter safe packaging” for $2.64? Okay, not a big deal—until it shows up on every order and suddenly I’m out twenty bucks. What’s the deal with “optional” gift wrap that magically re-adds itself if you try to remove it? Feels like someone’s playing a joke, except it’s my bank account.

California supposedly banned these hidden fees last summer, but I’m still seeing “climate-controlled box” charges from shops in other states. Here’s a trick I stumbled on: change your shipping zip code, hit refresh, and sometimes—poof—the fee disappears. Is that even legal? Who knows. I just want my gifts to show up without a surprise surcharge for “thermal insulation” or whatever they’re calling it this week.

What steps can I take to ensure the price I see for a holiday gift is the final price I’ll pay?

Look, I’ve tried everything. I log out, clear cookies, and then—why not—open incognito tabs like I’m some kind of undercover agent, just to check if the price for a mug or whatever suddenly jumps. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. Who really knows? Supposedly, the FTC says all businesses should show total prices, including mandatory fees, upfront—before purchase. “Should” being the key word, since I keep running into sites that slap on shipping at the absolute last second. Is that even allowed? Apparently, yes, depending on where you live. Ridiculous.

Honestly, the only thing that’s sort of worked for me—if you can call it that—is running the order through three different price-comparison sites, then staring at the subtotal like it’s going to confess its secrets. I mean, those “cross-shop guarantees” sound great until you realize they just ignore half the fees. Special handling? Poof, not included. “Priority” whatever? Add it yourself. My neighbor—who’s way more intense about this—calls customer service every single time and demands an emailed line-item bill before paying. At first, I thought that was overkill. But then she saved $18 on custom socks last week, so maybe she’s onto something? Or maybe we’re all just losing our minds over $6 shipping charges.