Flat rate shipping for clothing

[513threadsandmore]

For all the clothing sellers that do flat rate for clothing, how do you arrive at the price to charge?

Normally I do calculated but I'm thinking of trying flat rate to see if it'll trigger sales. 

In the past when I've tried it, I charged 8.99 for Womens Jeans, 9.99 for Mens and 6.99 for shirts. I've even seen some sellers charging the same regardless of weight/item.

My issue is that I'm in Ohio so shipping a pair of jeans to the west coast is in the 9-10 dollar mark so by charging 8.99 or 9.99 I'm not really gaining much of an edge to those buyers. I'm trying to trigger sales. Not alienate buyers. I feel that if I charged a higher flat rate it could alienate buyers closer to me. 

I was thinking of going item by item and charging a flat rate somewhere in the middle. But I'd like input from sellers that have been doing this longer. Thoughts? 

[inhawaii]

I'm in Hawaii but I assume this would work for anyone.

Figure out what the highest shipping would be to the farthest destination ... and charge your flat rate according to that. 

[kickin.assets]

@513threadsandmore 

For myself, I’ve found flat rate is what works. You need to think about the average. I sell denim from WI so I understand the West Coast expense, but you don’t sell everything to that area, so after all is said and done, come up with a system that works for you.

Price points from $6.90 - $9.90 is what I’m doing. All mens jeans, plus sizes, bibs, lined jeans, jackets or heavier weight clothing items such as a size 8 wide leg heavy weight denim $9.90, other jeans $8.90, skirts/denim bermudas or shorts over 1lb $7.90 and under 1lb $6.90.

Even with price increases, shipping to west coast and occasionally missing an item I should’ve charged more for, I’m not losing money. Even if someone buys an item in Oregon that they paid $8.90 shipping, I’ll ship priority padded flat rate for $9.55, but I’m still not losing out because more of my sales range from $5 ish to $7 ish (my shipping cost). Don’t over think it and worry if one day everything goes to CA, because more won’t than will.

Hope this helps you!

Happy selling!!

Kiks

[stainlessenginecovers]

Free Shipping; Free Shipping; Free Shipping. 

The 'average person is stupid, therefore 50% of this average are even stupider (thanking Mr. Carlin). 

So, what I'm saying is;

if you have $10 items, figure the shipping to the FURTHEST point and use that as your price, WITH FREE SHIPPING!! 

Especially for Clothes as there is only 37 MILLION Listings and you want to be 'better' than most.

[mamacassidy]

@kickin.assets 

I do a similar thing with the flat rate padded envelope. You probably already know this, but the price of that envelope is going up to $10.50 in a couple of weeks.

[kickin.assets]

@mamacassidy 

Yes. Definitely aware of price increases and if I need to make adjustments, I certainly will, but with that said, I’ve noticed keeping shipping prices generally under $10, I’m able to sell items for a little more, so it all plays out well in the end … for now 🤣

[513threadsandmore]

Yeeeah not doing that. Been there, done that. It just doesn't work. Especially since I do free returns for top rated plus. I got burned a few times with free shipping/free returns. And that was the nail in the coffin for me. People just abused the free returns too much. None of my clothing items are under $10. I have some non clothing inventory such as vhs tapes, dvds, eyeglasses, eyeglass cases. I'll do free shipping on those. Because I've never had returns on non clothing items. People are just too picky with clothes, return for not fitting and they've admitted they didn't look at the measurements. I had someone a few weeks ago return a shirt stating not as described and that it wasn't white. She posted a picture next to her white comforter. It was clearly white. I never stated it was OPTIC WHITE. 

[tobaccocardyahoo]

I use flat rate shipping. Shipping is not a profit center for me.

I have enough experience to set my flat rates so that over the course of each month, I am not losing money on shipping, even after the FVF on shipping is removed.

I will do nothing about the current postal rate increase other than check how I have done at the current rates at the end of July and again at the end of August.

I am experienced enough not to use ESE or FEDEX Ground for my shipments to save costs. They are unreliable. I will gladly lose a sale if the buyer feels my price + shipping is too high - he does not want the item enough and I can wait for a buyer who wants the item more.

[m60driver]

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@513threadsandmore wrote:

My issue is that I'm in Ohio

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I am sorry but being in the center of the country is not an issue.  Try being located in a corner of the country where using a flat rate for shipping is a guaranteed way to lose profits margins.

[christworks]

I do flat rate. I base my rate on shipping from the east cost to Los Angeles (Zone 8 for me). Whatever that rate is (e.g. $8.25), I round up to the nearest .95 cents. In the example, it would be $8.95. The rounding up helps me account for the fees on shipping and the supplies I use. I may very well sometimes lose a dollar or two. More often than not I make a small profit off the shipping.  I look at the big picture. 

When I made the change 18 months ago, I thought I would lose buyers closer to me. Wrong. I have truly been amazed that I get for more buyers on the East Coast or Plains then I do from the West Coast. I would like to set down and get the actual numbers. Maybe I'll work on that this weekend and come back to this post.

The thing to keep in mind is there is a set price someone is willing to pay for something. It does not matter how that price is broken down. If the market is paying $15 for a shirt, then...

$10 item + $5 ship = $15

$8 item + $7 ship = $15

$15 item +$0 ship = $15

How you split the cost depends on your business model (e.g. do you also offer free returns?), the type of buyer you want to attract and the psychology of said buyer, what you are selling, and to some extent what other sellers are doing. 

For Q2 this year I decided to switch back to calculated shipping for any item that would result in a flat rate over $15. Wowsers that hurt sales on those type of items. Halfway through the quarter, I stopped listing new things that way and went back to flat rate. Next week I plan to take all the old items back to flat rate.  

I use business policies and I do not select a carrier. I select a service, so that I can choose the cheapest carrier. This really only impacts larger items, when FedEx or UPS could be in play.