Asking about offering free shipping

[wheel4716]

Hi, I am seriously considering offering free shipping on the items I want to sell (scrapbooking supplies/rubber stamps) The main reason I want to do so is because I think it would just be easier in the long run. I have had issues in the past with using a shipping calculator to determine the shipping cost, only when I go to mail the item it either costs more or less. I am assuming that when a seller offers free shipping that they include a certain amount to cover their shipping costs?

I was planning on calculating an average cost to ship the items, as they will mostly be the same size package. Also, they will be small parcels for the most part. That way I think it will even out in the long run. I don't have plans to start make a business of this but I do have a lot of inventory to sell.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

[ricarmic]

Hi Wheel, I am almost 100% free shipping.

Generally I figure on an above average rate when I apply the shipping amount, and yes it is just added onto the price I would charge if I was adding shipping afterward, that way on average it works out ok.

I sell on .COM so technically the Canadians get overcharged on the shipping but in my (stamp) world our customers are used to not paying taxes so I'm absorbing them which offsets the extra I'd get from the shipping. 

I only charge folks overseas for extra shipping (the amount over the built in amount).

I am a firm believer that free shipping results in higher placement in search results......

[reallynicestamps]

I understand that sellers of scrapbooking supplies tend to get multiple orders from each buyer.

If that is your experience, then the amount you have to add for a multiple order would be less than for several single itemorders.

Just another thing to throw into the mix while you make your postage cake.

I sell mostly small items with low enough value (most of my items sell for about $10) that the drop in the loonie covers my shipping costs. I'm buying in Canadian and selling in US.

Being able to ship LetterPost/LightPacket makes a big difference too, since those rates are based on dimensions and not on distance.

You can mark your domestic shipping as Free Shipping, but your US shipping would be $0.00. Sorry if that's obvious, but some sellers have been confused about how to ship from Canada with Free Shipping to the USA.

(Actually, you can charge for shipping from Canada, and still offer $0.00 shipping to the USA, but you don't get the useful FS icon.)

Don't offer Free Shipping overseas, but do massage your overseas shipping rate since part of the S&H is already in the asking price.

And don't be afraid to keep charging shipping on items that will require high shipping, like a very bulky album.

[pierrelebel]

Yes, "free shipping" (meaning shipping charge included in the selling price) is the way to go.

" I want to sell (scrapbooking supplies/rubber stamps)"

I do not want to rain on your parade but this is a very difficult category to sell into if you offer quality items.  The market is saturated with low priced items imported from the Orient.

Before you finalize your plans, I suggest you spend a few hours (that is all it will take) checking "completed" listings in that category.  See what your competitors offer.  Try to understand what percentage of listings actually sold and the price (and shipping charge) at which they sold.

http://www.ebay.ca/sch/Stamping-Embossing-/3122/i.html?LH_Complete=1&rt=nc&_trksid=p2045573.m1684

Prices in green means the item sold; prices in black indicate the item did not sell

Good Luck

[ricarmic]

As a suggestion added to Reallynice's, I also sell albums etc of a different stamping kind, but they are heavy.

I experimented with free shipping and shipping built in on heavier stuff going in boxes, and to my amazement they sell as well with the built in shipping, if not better than they did with shipping added (I think because of the increased visibility).

It might be worth trying experiments for the heavier stuff with free shipping and shipping added to see what happens....

[ricarmic]

Hmmm after Pierre's comments, I took a look at what you last sold and I think Pierre's advice is very good. (I was thinking of the stickers and thin stuff moreso than the thick stamps themselves)

Looking at your last item, the total price was over $25 but almost 80% of that was the shipping ($6 + $19 ship).

That lot would never go with free shipping with a ratio that high.

What I do in my world is combine enough stuff to make the value vs the weight good enough to merit the shipping charges. Using the example of yours, you would need likely 50 to 100 stamps as a boxlot to drive the shipping price low enough to help.

The good news with Canada post is that once you need a box, having a box twice the size/weight doesn't increase the postage cost in a linear way, ie the total cost is much less than twice the shipping cost of the smaller box.

You will have problems trying to compete with China as their shipping costs are a fraction of what it will cost you to ship the same.....

[mr.elmwood]

I first tried the move to "free" shipping about 5 years ago when it was on the horizon of eBay initiatives.  That did not work well for me.

Fast forward to Jan 2015 and I re-visited the concept. My how the times have changed. A particular line of widgets ($21.99 + $8 shipping = $29.99) sold one in five months. Switch to free shipping and put the price at $29.99 and I sold five in one month.

This one gets me but good. A line of widgets at $16.99 + $8 = $24.99 sold poor. I went to free at $27.99 and sales went up dramatically.

[wheel4716]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I've already done that.   The  rubber stamps I will be selling are collectible, have been retired, and are not manufactured in the Orient, so I don't believe that will be an issue for me at this point.

I don't plan on having a store. I am only going to sell a few items at a time because I have MS and I don't want to get overwhelmed. My brain doesn't work as well as it used to and I have a lot to sell! LOL!

The stamps are in sets, and some of the sets I will separate and sell the stamps individuality because I have seen that other sellers have done this at a fair profit. I sold one set, and discovered much has changed since I last had sold anything! With being able to do more on line in terms of the shipping process I think free shipping would make the process easier and hopefully less stressful for me.

 I will take any advice I can get!  Thank you for your comments!

[wheel4716]

I plan on selling on .COM as well. What about multiple items? Most of my stamps are in sets (retired) and I am considering splitting up some sets and selling the stamps separately because I have seen other sellers do this for a decent profit. Thanks for your comment! I will take any help/suggestions

[wheel4716]

Thank you! I do have a few new Albums I was going to sell at a yard sale, but maybe I will sell them here instead

[wheel4716]

Thanks! When I used the shipping calculator on line on the last item I sold, that's the price it gave me! Obviously I did something wrong because when I got to the post office the actual shipping was like $8.16 so I refunded the buyer the difference. That is the main reason I started to consider free shipping.

But I don't think I will be competing with China? The items I will be selling are mostly collectable, and retired and not manufactured in China. I could be wrong but I've done some research and so far I haven't seen anyone from China selling what I am going to be selling. But like I said...so far LOL!

[ricarmic]

Hi Wheel!

Regarding the albums and splitting sets up, the important part will be to keep the cost of shipping the overall batch low enough to make free shipping feasible.

In the case of my albums, the value of the album/box I'm selling is usually $100 or more, and shipping relatively is lower, in the $20 range, so a $120 free shipping is ok..... having said this I have sold items where the item value is $25 and the shipping is $10 and the $35 total free shipping price works, even though many competitors are selling the same stuff $25 plus shipping (usually $10 too so the total works out the same anyway). That is the experiment that quite surprised me I did not expect it to work.