I'm new to Prority Mail and it asks for me to put the weight of the item..
How much does 1 shirt (2,3,4 etc) normally cost to ship?
The reason I ask is because I wanted to charge say $4.99-$5.99 for shipping but do "free shipping" for every additional item purchased. My worry is that I'm going to incur a very large shipping cost loss if I ship, say 3 shirts.
I'm new to Prority Mail and it asks for me to put the weight of the item..
How much does 1 shirt (2,3,4 etc) normally cost to ship?
The reason I ask is because I wanted to charge say $4.99-$5.99 for shipping but do "free shipping" for every additional item purchased. My worry is that I'm going to incur a very large shipping cost loss if I ship, say 3 shirts.
What does it normally cost for you?
Thanks!
All priority mail is based on weight and zip code, the heavier the package and the farther away the customer is from your zip code, the more it's going to cost for shipping. That is unless you use a flat rate box, then its the same cost as long as you can fit it into the box. Ebay is like many shopping carts, it makes calculating shipping costs hard to determine and make it fair for the customer and so that you dont LOSE money in the shipping process.
What you mention above is not sound business practice. Why do you want to offer free shipping anyway? Is shipping in itself free? I don't ship anything for free because it costs money to ship, see the logic?
Buy yourself a small digital scale and weigh your items with packaging materials for 1 shirt, 2 shirts...etc. That way you'll get an idea how much it costs, then go to USPS and use their postage calculator based on weight, type of package and zip code package is being sent to.
I use a standard 9x12 envelope for anything under 13 oz and use first class (normally under $3.00 w/delivery confirmation). Over 13 oz, use a tyvek priority envelope for 2-3 shirts. If it stays under a pound, it is normally under $5.00 (with delivery confirmation) anywhere in 50 states.
Once you graduate to a box, you ADD weight to your shipping, which could add to your postal cost ... so it better be worth it. Like E-dawg said, get a scale (lots of good priced ones on Ebay) and weigh every package ... you don't want to pay for flat rate if regular is less and you don't want your customer being billed for additional postage.
If you want to offer free shipping after a certain amount of items, then I would suggest that you use a Flat Rate for your shipping calculation instead of trying to do it by weight. You can ship up to 1 pound (about 2 shirts plus the envelop) Priority mail for $4.95. You can use the bigger Priority Mail Flat Rate box for $10.35. You can stuff as many shirts as possible in that box, up to 70lbs, and it will still cost $10.35. I don't think there's anything wrong with offering free shipping. I offer free shipping too, but only on orders that are over a certain dollar amount. I think that is safer because you don't get stuck with shipping 4 shirts at the cost of 2. On larger dollar amount orders, you should have cleared enough profit to spend a few bucks shipping the product.
I'm new to Prority Mail and it asks for me to put the weight of the item..
How much does 1 shirt (2,3,4 etc) normally cost to ship?
The reason I ask is because I wanted to charge say $4.99-$5.99 for shipping but do "free shipping" for every additional item purchased. My worry is that I'm going to incur a very large shipping cost loss if I ship, say 3 shirts.
Not to get off on another tangent, but since we are talking about shipping, costs and weights...etc
I have been sending emails back and forth with a company that offers a hosted cart with a monthly fee, they claim to have an industry best shipping calculator/engine, that's what I like.
Here's the problem. One t-shirt can be sent cheaply by First Class, but, once a customer changes the quantity to two, first class would no longer be an option because the 2 t-shirts and packaging will have exceeded the 13 oz limit. The problem is this shopping cart will keep offering First Class as a mailing option, it's cost is cheaper than Priority, so logically the customer would choose First Class.
So, I brought this up with the tech support guy and he said it's because of the logic of the cart, and he went on to say that the cart retains the First Class option because it will be cheaper to send two t-shirts first class in separate poly bags, than 2 t-shirts in one package Priority Mail.
Is this guy and this company utterly stupid or am I missing something here?? Who here send 2 tee's in separate mailers First Class?
Is this guy and this company utterly stupid or am I missing something here?? Who here send 2 tee's in separate mailers First Class?
I wouldn't call him stupid, but he may have incorrect information. Unless it was 6 ounces or less, 2 t-shirts shipped separately via First Class Mail would be more than 1 Priority Mail package with 2 t-shirts in it.
However, if you have 2 heavier t-shirts, then the weight might go over 1 pound, in which case the cost of Priority Mail goes up quite a bit (unless you're shipping within the same state). So if your 2 t-shirts weigh 1 pound 5 ounces, you pay the 2 pound Priority Mail rate. In that case, shipping them separately would probably be cheaper.
So the answer is "sometimes"
I don't know if it would be logical or common practice to ship 2 t-shirts in separate packages though.
What you mention above is not sound business practice. Why do you want to offer free shipping anyway? Is shipping in itself free? I don't ship anything for free because it costs money to ship, see the logic?
Offering free shipping is a very sound business practice.
Take two identical stores and assume all things are equal except one stores sells their shirt for $10 plus $2 shipping. The other store sells their shirts for $12 and FREE SHIPPING! ALL ORDERS, ALL THE TIME!
I would welcome it. Now I do it by hand to determine what the least expensive way to ship is.
I routinely split ship 2 shirt orders. Depending on the size combination, I can save around a buck per order in postage over shipping them Priority.
Really..? Ok, lets say my customer orders 2 t shirts which if together will exceed 13 ozs, but my cart allows the customer to choose First Class a shipping option. When I go to Paypal to print labels, is it going to let me print two labels for the total shipping price? Paypal isn't going to know that the order has been split.
I have good mind to bring this guys company to the attention of Paypal especially since he's listed as a prefered shopping cart provider. I consider this to be a large glitch which needs to be addressed.
Really..? Ok, lets say my customer orders 2 t shirts which if together will exceed 13 ozs, but my cart allows the customer to choose First Class a shipping option. When I go to Paypal to print labels, is it going to let me print two labels for the total shipping price? Paypal isn't going to know that the order has been split.
You can print 100 shipping labels on on the same order in paypal if you want/need to. You tell paypal how much your package weights, not the other way around.
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I have good mind to bring this guys company to the attention of Paypal especially since he's listed as a prefered shopping cart provider. I consider this to be a large glitch which needs to be addressed.
I hope they don't laugh at you like I just did.
Not sure what you think the cart software is doing wrong?
You can print 100 shipping labels on on the same order in paypal if you want/need to. You tell paypal how much your package weights, not the other way around.
I hope they don't laugh at you like I just did.
Not sure what you think the cart software is doing wrong?
This is hardly a glitch. It's brilliant.
Sweet! I'm glad you're happy, I'm good at that.
Ok, let's say the total for first class shipping came out to a total of $7.25, which would be for two t-shirts which have exceeded 13 ozs, which happens to be cheaper than using Priority Mail.
Now, the cart passes the cost of the t-shirts and the shipping cost to Paypal, but the shipping cost gets passed as one amount and not two. So how would I split the shipping cost named above so that I can print two labels for two first class packages.
Dude, this seems like the most convoluted hodge podge I have ever seen. I have bought about a 1000 items over the ineternet and have never received my items packaged that way. Not unless the items were huge and heavy.
Not only is it a waste of extra shipping supplies, labels, ink..etc
Best USPS Priority Box for Shipping 
. I don't think there's anything wrong with offering free shipping. I offer free shipping too, but only on orders that are over a certain dollar amount. I think that is safer because you don't get stuck with shipping 4 shirts at the cost of 2. On larger dollar amount orders, you should have cleared enough profit to spend a few bucks shipping the product.
