I have had some terrific advice from fellow Folksy crafters following my whinge about poor sales of my handmade little boxes. Some of this was about the cost of mailing items out to customers. I protect my boxes inside other packaging, usually made from recycled cardboard (Amazon boxes for example). Following the advice I got, I have now started creating boxes which would fit in a large letter envelope, reducing postage costs. But I would be very interested in other Folksy members views on P&P in general. I apologise if there is already a category on this but I couldn’t find one.
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I charge what I get charged by Royal Mail, print off the labels from home and put in PIP boxes. Those orders that are larger now go through RM but with the Postie collecting.
I have some postal scales and all organised in my post room, with different sized boxes etc.
I also refund if the postage charged is more than I pay. I normally put a price against the item plus 50p for every other item per order, so if they ordered 5 items would pay another ÂŁ2 on top, if too much will refund. The 72p extra for collection I am swallowing that into my own costs.
If you offer free P & P everyone knows included in the price, postage charges do not bother me on anything ordered online and believe me I order everything online. Weighing it up getting the car out of the garage, driving paying a parking fee, mixing with crowds, NO not for me would rather pay for delivery.
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Thanks for your input Caroline. It’s really useful to find what other, more experienced and successful crafters do. There appears to be one camp that says you should offer free postage and another which says you should charge postage. I guess the actual sale price has a lot do with it. The postage on a single box I make is higher than the price of the box, so I obviously need a different approach, eg. selling multi-packs as I was advised by a crafter in another category. The one positive i have discovered is that you don’t actually have to go to a post office to send anything these days. Royal Mail Click and Drop online system for buying postage, coupled with their Post Boxes for parcels has made life so much easier. Thanks again.
Chris
Are you sure your boxes will fit into a large letter PIP box? They would have to be very thin. I make tiny dolls clothes and even my jumpers are sometimes too thick to go as a large letter. It’s not enough to fit in the envelope or PIP box, they also can’t cause the slightest bulge or they would be classed as a small parcel. Amazon sell a plastic ruler with a slot so that you can see if your package is a large letter or not. I find mine really useful for checking before I go to the post Office. I think it only cost a couple of pounds and has been well worth having.
I just wondered because I can’t imagine a box flat enough to go large letter post.
A lot of my items are cheaper than the postage but people often buy two or three things at a time so I wouldn’t worry about that.
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Thanks for responding. Other Folksy crafters have recommended that a box shouldn’t be thicker than 17mm to be confident it could be sent as large letter post. I have now experimented with prototypes of 17mm, 19mm and 22mm and I think they’re right. Of course there are only a limited number of things you can put inside a box of this thickness but it would be OK for something like thin pendants on a thin chain. I have now ordered one of the plastic letter size checkers you mentioned and I think this will be very useful. Thanks again.
Chris
I sell glass, so I have to pack a box within a box. I buy my boxes on line, or I recycle boxes I receive. I print off the labels and go drop them off at our local sorting office, which means I don’t have to queue up at the post office. All my stuff is posted out signed for. I’ve learned the hard way what happens when you don’t.
Many thanks for your response. Given the value of your beautiful products, I can well understand why you have your mailings signed for. In products of this price, I would think the postage tends to be less of a problem as it is a much smaller pecentage of the sale price. As a box maker myself, I’m natuarally always interested in where people get their boxes. Of course, a lot of people prefer not to say and that’s fine, but I always ask in case there may be interested in supplying their work in a handmade box. Thanks again. Chris
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I send the majority of my items 2nd class signed/tracked…the £50 insurance on this doesn’t always cover the cost of my items should something go astray but if I sell international I always make sure I charge for adequate cover.
Everything is wrapped in tissue and put into a postal box…I have 4 sizes in stock, currently I don’t add this in to my costings as I changed over to them mid year but may have to add £1 plus to items next year to cover it as I recently spent well over £100 on packaging (it will last me a while though​:blush:) I know postage is cheaper to buy online but I still like to go to my village post office as it is their livelihood and our only teeny tiny shop so wouldn’t want to be without it 