How do experienced sellers handle their shipping fee?

[shoppersessence]

Using a shipping option without tracking number, a dishonest buyers may deny he or she has received the shipment. However, with tracking number, shipping fee sometimes is more expensive than my item for sale. This will make my item unattractive. I am wondering how experienced sellers handle their shipping fee. Thanks.

[ypdc_dennis · Accepted solution]

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@shoppersessence wrote:

Using a shipping option without tracking number, a dishonest buyers may deny he or she has received the shipment. However, with tracking number, shipping fee sometimes is more expensive than my item for sale. This will make my item unattractive. I am wondering how experienced sellers handle their shipping fee. Thanks.

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It depends on what you sell.  Some types of items tend to attract more fraudsters. I send a lot of stuff untracked with few problems. I self-insure (my loss rate is less than 1/200 packages).

For Canada:

If the item is more than 500g or 2cm thick, your only choices are tracked. My usual choice is Expedited for best cost.

For items under $50 (and under 500g an less than 2cm thick) I usually use oversize lettermail with discounted stamps (usually bought from stamp sellers on eBay).  No tracking, self insured.

Alternatives (if you are local, which I'm not): ChitChatsExpress.com (Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax) or StallionExpress.com (Toronto) both have discounted flat rate tracked shipping for the provinces.

To the USA:

Small Packet USA - has an internal trace number, doesn't count for tracking (but does make the package look like it is tracked), inexpensive, max of 1kg.

Tracked Packet USA - does have tracking, max weight of 1kg

Expedited Parcel USA -tracked, max weight of 30kg

Most of my cheap stuff goes Small Packet to the USA, over $50 or bulky usually via Expedited.

Alternatives (that let you use USPS cheap tracked domestic services):

ChitChatsExpress (Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax), StallionExpress (Toronto), RunninRed (Winnipeg), DYKpost (Calgary, Edmonton) -- as long as the package is under $800 they can take (for a small fee) your parcel across the border and mail it with the USPS.

To the rest of the world (effective 2018):

Small Packet Air for inexpensive, lightweight stuff (although the max rate is 2kg, I seldom bother with anything over 1kg).

Tracked Packet while it does have tracking, is not available for a lot of countries.

With my mix of products countries I'm quite willing to send untracked parcels to:

Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, UK

(there is more, but that's the top of my list)

For many of the items I sell I don't bother with the rest of the world. Some things are not valuable enough to be worth selling worldwide because of shipping.

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[shoppersessence · Accepted solution]

Thank you, ypdc_dennis. These are the answers I was looking for. I now have a better idea about how to handle my shipping fee.

[femmefan1946]

For you, the question really doesn't arise.

First, I agree that this kind of fraud is over-blown. Yes, there are fraudsters, but they hit certain categories (electronics, jewellry,horsetack, sportscards,sneakers) more than others.

And when you look at the complaints posted on dotCOM, there are a lot of sellers screaming FRAUD!!!! when all that is happening is a disagreement with the buyer. Often one that can be solved by a polite "return for refund".

However, looking at your current listings, I don't see anything that is less than 2cm thick.

So you will be using parcel rates and most of those are tracked.

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1

For Canada, all options are tracked.

For USA, Small Packet is the only one not tracked.

For International you have three tracked and three untracked options-- and two of the untracked are Surface, which you wouldn't use in any case.

So solutions:

Use SnapShip or Shippo mailing labels and get the discounts

Use discount postage stamps purchased on eBay (awkward for some parcels, but some reallynice savings)

Use Free Shipping.

DON'T PANIC!

Free Shipping means that you roll the cost of shipping into the asking price for your product.

Which is cheaper?

An $85 lot with $10 shipping

Or a $95 lot with Free Shipping?

And when you ship outside Canada, you already have the first $10 of your international/US shipping in the price, so those (flat rate) prices are immediately $10 "less".

And you get charged Shipping FVF on your first Canadian shipping charged even on international shipping.

Ten percent of nothing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdUD-jcr104

Has anyone mentioned the forwarders like chitchatexpress, yet?

[shoppersessence]

Thank you for your advice,femmefan1946. Yes. Someone has already mentioned Chitchat.

[mrdutch1001]

In all the years of selling online, I think I can still count on one hand the number of refunds given for item not received.

I don't sell items in the high risk categories...I don't have a lot of high value items that I list...anything that does have a value over $25.00 is sent with tracking...

 So much depends on what you sell.

I have learned over the years to trust buyers as most buyers are indeed good and honest buyers.

[shoppersessence]

Thank you too, mrdutch1001.