Hey folks!
Just something I’ve been wondering for a little while…on the postage section of each item- it obviously asks for the price of postage, and then you can fill in (if you want) the postage if bought with another item.
I don’t know about you- but I find this quite hard to work out.
I sell a range of different sized items- and while I used to just do free postage I don’t anymore because it was costing me so much- but this means that the prices vary quite a lot - sending an A4 sized mounted print that fits in an envelope is a lot cheaper than sending a larger than A3 print in a frame all packaged up.
I never want to charge too much- I literally just charge what the post office charge me (sometimes a bit less) as I hate it when sellers try and score more money from the postage costs (usually seen on eBay)…but it means I’m never sure what to put in the ‘postage if bought with another item’ bit as this can mean I’m eating into my profit.
Does anyone have a simple solution for how they fill in this part of the postage costs?
I have given refunds when my postage was too high, and received them on here too, but do not think that there is a formula that can be used especially selling different sized items. Based on what you have said does the postage default to the highest priced item (postage wise not size wise)?
I have this problem too! My items are so variable in size. Sometimes I lose out on postage when someone buys several items, and sometimes they get charged more postage than necessary so I refund the difference. There’s no way of knowing what combination of items people will buy.
I have the same problem, but I just make an estimate based on an average cost. Sometimes it’s more, sometimes it’s less, but it generally averages out about right. I only refund if it’s materially over, most people don’t expect a refund of a few pennies.
And Rachel @Glehcar - yes, it would pick up the highest postage cost as the ‘main’ item, then the additional cost of all the other items in the order (assuming you have entered additional costs).
I always quote the postal charge per item and if someone buys more than one thing I immediately refund the extra via Paypal. Occasionally people have asked if they are expected to pay the high postal charge calculated by Folksy so I explain and they have been happy. It works for me anyway.
Obviously if someone is doing a “bulk order” and you know in advance you can set the postage accordingly.
Within the UK I charge a flat £1.50. Sometimes this a 57p too much but sometimes it isn’t enough so it generally evens itself out. The things I sell aren’t overly expensive so I figure the extra 57p covers the cost of petrol to get to the post office as well as the bubble wrap, address labels and return address stickers, gift bags etc.
I found the easiest thing to do was offer free shipping on additional items. It encourages multiple item purchases and I also like the fact that I don’t have to bother with refunding postage.
Because RM does pricing in weight bands most of the time I don’t pay more for shipping than the original charge. If I do it’s because the person has bought four or five items, which is fine because I’ve made more money! The price jump between weight bands is not that high so the extra cost to me is not usually much at all … less than £2.
I guess your frames would be quite heavy but within the UK the weight bands for posting are really generous so you could possibly still post two framed pictures for the same price as one. For parcels they go from 0-1kg then 1-2kg. Aside from the framed pictures your other items look like they could be quite light so if they were purchased in conjunction with a framed picture they probably wouldn’t bump the parcel up in to the next weight band at all.
It’s a bit trickier internationally as the weight bands are smaller (they go 0-100g, 100-250g then up in steps of 250g after that), but your smaller prints and light things like bags could still go multiple items to the same weight band probably. So potentially you could offer free additional international shipping for the smaller items and a nominal charge of a few ££s for additional heavier items like framed pictures.
Thanks guys!! All really helpful! I do appreciate it!! (Sorry I couldn’t get back on here yesterday to say thank you!)
I think I might just do free postage for additional items an just see how it goes.
And no- most of my items are light enough- it is just if people choose to have them framed- but I can maybe put a note about that if I sell a framed one- after all- people do understand that these things cost money- and I think most people also realise if they’re buying something from Folksy then it’s usually just a small part time/one person operation.
Anyway- thank you all! I really appreciate it!! Later today I shall get online properly and sort that part out!
