Thinking about trying to sell things on line...how do you figure out how much to charge for shipping

[Dragonkort]

Hi guys. I havent been on for awhile because my scroll saw broke and i had to get a new one. Frountly I do a LOT of different crafts.  iv been thinking about trying to sell things on line again but have a few questions. First I used ebay last time i sold things on line but am woundering which sights are best for selling crafts and second how do you figure out how much to charge for shipping. I had no trouble selling things last time but i lost money most of the time because I didnt charge enough for shipping or i charged to much. I know you have to know the weight of what your shipping, but it seems the farther you have to ship something the more it cost as well. How do you figure that when you dont know where your going to be shipping until after you sell the item. I hope to be here more often now and to be better at not writeing to much and staying just on topic. Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

[Garyrenee]

Up north here in Canada I just called the post office. Told them the size, weight and destination. Gave me the total cost including taxes delivered.  It’s pretty much the the same with purolator as well.   The variables are the distance travelled, the method of travel ( how fast you want it to get there ) lastly the insurance cost if you so desire.  I send pictures to the customer and tell them the total cost. When I receive payment in full, I deliver the item. Never had a problem. 
 

[kmmcrafts]

I suggest using the calculated shipping cost within the websites you sell on.. for instance on ebay you enter your ship from zip code and then enter the weight of the item being listed. This is done within the product listing page.. Then it tallies up the shipping cost based on the buyers zip code.. Please do be aware that if you have more than one to sell to use the heaviest weight one.. No two pieces of wood weigh the same. I got burnt on that one once. Same project same type of wood but moisture content on one project made the weight a few ounces more on the one. LOL

Good luck

[ChelCass]

www.pirateship.com is your friend.  Simple to use and less expensive them the post office. Plus your postal carrier will take your packages saving you a trip to the post office.  Most use Paypal for billing.  Just be sure to add 2.9% plus 50 cents for paypal fees.

[BadBob]

Most of my items ship USPS first class using Etsy calculated shipping. I can go up to 16oz for first class.

I try to use as many free packing materials as possible, so I don't know beforehand how much it will weigh, but I do know how much it costs to ship 16oz to the furthest location from me in the US. I can use that as a rule of thumb.

[crupiea]

I got all the boxes and such that I needed or thought I would need.  Most items are either one of two sizes for the most part. 

Then I packaged a few up like I was shipping it with the bubble wrap and tape and all and weighed them. 

A scale is a must for this. 

I have found that priotity mail flat rate mailers work best for me.  I only use either the padded buble mailer or the medium flat rate box.  So now I only have to make sure what i make fits into one size or the other and weight isnt a factor. 

I sort of split the shipping cost with the customer so i never have to hear griping about the cost as they never pay all of it. 

This calculator makes it very simple.

https://www.ebay.com/shp/Calculator
 

[Jim Finn]

US postal service has an on line calculator that is accurate and simple to use.  All you need is a scale and a ruler .

 

[Dragonkort]

ok I read all the posts and i think i understand it now......weight times how far it has to go....The proublem I have ( and its been 7 some on years since i sold on ebay)  is what to put down for shipping when i list the project.... since i dont know where it will be going before hand. you used to have to put the price of the project an the shipping and handling in the listing....with out knowing where its going....how do i calulate for that? sorry it took so long to get back to this post but i think i posted the question before i started getting the bowtox shots

[kmmcrafts]

23 minutes ago, Dragonkort said:

ok I read all the posts and i think i understand it now......weight times how far it has to go....The proublem I have ( and its been 7 some on years since i sold on ebay)  is what to put down for shipping when i list the project.... since i dont know where it will be going before hand. you used to have to put the price of the project an the shipping and handling in the listing....with out knowing where its going....how do i calulate for that? sorry it took so long to get back to this post but i think i posted the question before i started getting the bowtox shots

Many sites now allow you to just enter the total packaged weight and your ship from zip code. Of coarse you have to select what shipping carrier you'll be using. Then it will calculate the shipping for you based on the buyers address. eBay offers this now as does etsy, amazon etc.. I do it on a few listings like this but most of my stuff was "fixed price" as that was the only way it was offered through the sites when I started selling.. I'd like to switch all this over to the calculated shipping as once it's set up no need to go in and change prices every time they raise the rates etc. 

[Dragonkort]

so you dont have to have the shipping cost listed in your in your post but add itin once you know where its going to be shiped to? one of the reasons spike isnt to thrilled about me trying to sell things on ebay again is because we lost money when i sold things because we idnt have the right price listed for shipping and most of te time we didnt charge enough for shipping... he wants me to figure out how to get the right shipping for each project before we try to sell thigs again....and would it be better to well things in esty insteade of ebay?  I have a ton of boxes full of crafts that are just sitting herewhich sort of upsets him because im always making new things and well just putting them in boxes when im done is leaveing us with tons of boxes of finished crafts that arent going anywhere..

 

 

 

[kmmcrafts]

8 hours ago, Dragonkort said:

so you dont have to have the shipping cost listed in your in your post but add itin once you know where its going to be shiped to? one of the reasons spike isnt to thrilled about me trying to sell things on ebay again is because we lost money when i sold things because we idnt have the right price listed for shipping and most of te time we didnt charge enough for shipping... he wants me to figure out how to get the right shipping for each project before we try to sell thigs again....and would it be better to well things in esty insteade of ebay?  I have a ton of boxes full of crafts that are just sitting herewhich sort of upsets him because im always making new things and well just putting them in boxes when im done is leaveing us with tons of boxes of finished crafts that arent going anywhere..

 

 

 

You enter the box size and weight of the item all boxed up when doing the listings. Then make sure you choose a shipping method and the zip code you're shipping from ( ie USPS First Class or Priority etc. ) then eBay, etsy or? will calculate the postage automatically for your customers to see the shipping price.. They will charge the customer the shipping based on their location.. 

The only issue is you kinda got to do a mock-up of packing it up so you know the correct weight. You'll need a shipping scale but you can get them for like $10 on eBay. It's best if you have a printer and can print the shipping label. I rarely ever go to the post office anymore.. print my own labels and they pick up from my house. Only exception is during the holidays as they don't have room in their mail carrier cars to pick up all my packages.. They'll send a special truck but that is crazy $$.. so I do drive to Bellevue most everyday from November - January which is 12 miles each way.. being a business I can deduct $0.58 per mile on my taxes for deliveries or shopping to get supplies.. When my kids was in school I used to time my deliveries so I could pick them up from school so they didn't have to ride the bus, LOL and got a tax deduction to do it since I went right past the school to go to the post office. They loved that because the bus ride is 50 minutes so it'd be 4 before they got home.. and only 3:15 - 3:20 if I picked them up.  

 

[Dragonkort]

Hey thanks for making that clearer for me!!!  I did sell things on ebay for a few years before i could no longer get on the computer but most of the time we lost money because we didnt charge enough for shipping.....which is why spike hasnt been to crazy on the idea of my selling on line again....  since we live in town going to the post office wouldnt be a problem..... and id rather not trust our mail carryer with picking up orders....iv been set several packages from my friend in the U P that never arrived to me.... when the packages wore tracked it reports that the packages wore delivered where i dont know because we didnt get them...We told her to mail any packages under spikes name from now on its a sort of unusul name so maybe our mail carryer can get it to the right address.  now we have gotten packages ment for other people too but when that happens we either return it to the post office or just take it to who ever it was suppose to go to... so either the person who got the packages liked what was in them and just kept them or they returned the packages to the post office and God only knows what happened to them after that. i'll ask spike to read your message and help me get a mail scale...and help me read the ebay instructions ( he said i still have the ebay account so would proubly do ebay again) for doing the shipping cost. and now id best get busy around here and see what all i can get done today lol

[Ctutor]

My daughter sells quite a bit of stuff on  line.  she always indicates the cost of an item is plus shipping.  After getting an inquiry she calls whatever shipping service is best for the item and lets the buyer know the total cost.  When payment is received she ships the item.  Takes the guess work out of the selling problem. If the buyer want expidited or insured extra that is the buyer's decision.  You don't want to get caught up in the shipping mess.

'

[kmmcrafts]

If you don't want to do the calculated shipping through the website you can just put in the weight and box size on USPS website then put in the farthest distance ( for me it's CA ) then charge that amount for everyone. I think people make shipping a lot bigger deal than it really is. Doing this method does equate into a close to correct shipping.. Closer to home shipping might be a couple bucks less.. sometimes you loose a couple bucks. 

Some people say that it's over charging everyone doing that.. true but if they didn't want it because shipping it too high they won't buy it.. you can also refund over charges if it bothers you that they bought it with too high of shipping. 

After you do it a while you pretty much know what shipping cost will be.. The only way to have it be right is to use the calculated cost the websites offer.. and let me say the sites will charge the at service counter price and not the "discounted price" you get if you purchase the label and print your own label with your own printer. That discounted price for me is typically a $1 to $3 more I get.. Consider that the cost of your shipping label, printer, printer ink etc. etc.

https://postcalc.usps.com/?_gl=1*rg5axp*_ga*MTA0MjQ3MDgxMS4xNjEzNzQzOTI1*_ga_3NXP3C8S9V*MTY1MzczNDcwNy4xNS4wLjE2NTM3MzQ3MDcuMA..

[BadBob]

On 5/26/2022 at 9:21 AM, Dragonkort said:

Hey thanks for making that clearer for me!!!  I did sell things on ebay for a few years before i could no longer get on the computer but most of the time we lost money because we didnt charge enough for shipping.....which is why spike hasnt been to crazy on the idea of my selling on line again....  since we live in town going to the post office wuldnt be a problem..... and id rather not trust our mail carryer with picking up orders....iv been set several packages from my friend in the U P that never arrived to me.... when the packages wore tracked it reports that the packages wore delivered where i dont know because we didnt get them...We told her to mail any packages under spikes name from now on its a sort of unusul name so maybe our mail carryer can get it to the right address.  now we have gotten packages ment for other people too but when that happens we either return it to the post office or just take it to who ever it was suppose to go to... so either the person who got the packages liked what was in them and just kept them or they returned the packages to the post office and God only knows what happened to them after that. i'll ask spike to read your message and help me get a mail scale...and help me read the ebay instructions ( he said i still have the ebay account so would proubly do ebay again) for doing the shipping cost. and now id best get busy around here and see what all i can get done today lol

Try this.

Free USPS and UPS shipping software | Pirate Ship

[Dave Monk]

I have shipped enough things that I know about what it's going to cost without measuring and weighing. When I give a person a quote I up the price to cover the packing and shipping. I may loose a few bucks on some things and gain on others. 

[Dragonkort]

ok thanks....I have to go through my boxes of finished crafts to see what i have. do you have any tips on how to price things?  last time i was on ebay several people told me that i wasnt charging enough...lol.... and now that im feeling better ( thank you God for bowtox!!) and my saws working im going through my patterns so i can start making new things....Spike took me to hospic today ( I get most of my craft supplies there) and i was able to get quite a bit of craft supplys...Not for woodworking lol but for all the other crafts i do lol and we got the wood shop all cleaned up so all i have to do is pick out some wood and some patterns and go at it. I know i dont make much of the more complacated things you guys do I know how to do and am good enough to....but now i know why i had so much breakage I need to get a better grade of wood.... I usuly just get blatic bearch.... can you tell me what the best wood to get for doing the more detailed fret work?  that way I can pick up one panal of the more expensive 1/4 wood every now and then and make some of the more intergite work .....  I still have to get a scale but im getting closer to being able to try and sell things.... which will be good as im running out of room to put boxes of finished projects and thank you so much for all your help!!

[Puzzleguy]

You need to keep a listing of everything you sell

and its weight - saves you time figuring out costs .

Yes they vary - Etsy is a decent place to start - and use their

shipping ( those who don't have had problems with etsy - )

 

Your responsible for tax collected in any state you ship to . 

Etsy collects the tax and pays it -which relieves you from that

 

Etsy has gotten a bit more pricey - but its still a good platform

Id say add a buck or two to your prices to offset the fees !

 

Places like amazon have problems - and you have to agree and follow amazon protocal

Im not good about stuff like that -

 

Edited June 2, 2022 by Puzzleguy

[kmmcrafts]

21 hours ago, Puzzleguy said:

You need to keep a listing of everything you sell

and its weight - saves you time figuring out costs .

Yes they vary - Etsy is a decent place to start - and use their

shipping ( those who don't have had problems with etsy - )

 

Your responsible for tax collected in any state you ship to . 

Etsy collects the tax and pays it -which relieves you from that

 

Etsy has gotten a bit more pricey - but its still a good platform

Id say add a buck or two to your prices to offset the fees !

 

Places like amazon have problems - and you have to agree and follow amazon protocal

Im not good about stuff like that -

 

I believe all the bigger selling platforms collect and remit the sales tax for you for all the states other than the state you live in. I know for a fact that eBay, Etsy, and Amazon do as I sell on those platforms.. where that gets tricky is when selling on a smaller platform or your own site. However I believe there is a threshold of X amount of $$ sold within that state before you really have to do this anyway.. and most of us hobby sellers will likely never meet that threshold.. I want to say it's a 10,000 threshold for each state.. and most don't sell that much $$ worth in all states combined. BUT since eBay, Etsy and Amazon all do sell as a whole that much in each state they're required to collect and remit those taxes. I may be totally wrong on that but when this first came out that is how I understood all that. Plus they likely have tweaked those laws and I haven't kept up with it so it may be different now. Never take my word on it, always research the info yourself as maybe it's different for the state you sell from or too. I just know that all the bigger platforms that I sell on collect and remit for me. 

Also got to watch your bookkeeping on this money that they collect and remit for you.. some of those sites count that tax withheld money into your income even though you never seen / had your hands on that money.. yet you'll be paying income tax on money you never received.. Get's pretty tricky keeping up with it all.. You should never have to pay income tax on money you never received.. but the way their system works calculates it.. If you're not one to keep good track of what's happening you may be paying taxes you don't need too.. LOL