You may want to take a look at your current prices for shipping and make adjustments accordingly. I just had to nearly double my international shipping costs because I did not raise my shipping during the last postage increase.
Speaking of postage...
Have you figured in your cost for packaging? I buy a lot of my shipping materials in bulk so that I can save every penny for me and for my customers. For example, Bubble Wrap at Walmart is $17 for 150 feet. I was able to purchase 600 feet on eBay for around $35. 4x8 bubble mailers at Walmart are 3 for $1.97 and on eBay I got 500 of them for under $50.
It is a good idea to shop around for your packing materials. And be sure you are not giving the packaging away. Add it into your shipping cost or pad it into your product price.
I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them here or send me an email to: MarketMyShop@gmail.com
I've decided to use the "retail" postage rate rather than the "commercial" rate offered via Etsy or PayPal; the difference is what covers my "handling costs" (packing materials, gas to drive to the PO, time involved with packing orders, etc.). I'd be interested to know if anyone else handles postage in this way.
ReplyDelete* * * * *
As Eric mentioned, USPS international postage has had a HUGE increase, effective Jan. 27. This seems especially noticeable for items weighing 1 or 2 ounces (jewelry, for example!). International postage for this weight used to be around $3 or $3.50 ... it's now more than $6!
I see lots of people on various Etsy teams freaking out about how they fear that they'll make no more international sales due to the increased international postage. I choose to look at the possibility that international customers may now find it more worthwhile to purchase multiple items to ship together! :-)