Newbie question: How do I determine shipping cost when selling something?

[sebezsales]

I have an electronic scale at home. I want to know how to determine ship cost on both USPS and UPS without having to drive to either. 

Thank you

[swenson8781]

Yes, you need the box to add to the weight of the actual item.  Also, any packing materials you might need (bubble wrap, padding, etc).  

Right in the listing page, towards the bottom, it will ask you what shipping method you would like to offer (a box will drop down and you can see your options and select one).  Below that, it will ask for the package dimensions, which you enter manually.  Below that, it will ask you the weight of the item.  Like others said, the shipping charges will show up automatically for your buyers on their end, based on going from your zip code to theirs.

I feel that using the calculated shipping method is the easiest way when you first start selling.  After you become familiar & comfortable with selling & shipping items, then you can decide if you want to add 'free shipping', and will know better how to 'add/figure' the shipping costs into your listing price, without taking a loss on the sale amount.

[siayan]

I try to keep my shipping rates fixed rather than calculated.  In order to do this I try to use the flat rate shipping box as a standard. For example if it fits in a Large Flat rate box it is about $15.50 shipping, that's the worst case scenario. I may add a buck or two to the price and put shipping at $12.50. If it ships close I win, if far away I may loose a couple of bucks. Medium flat rate would be $8.50 and small $5.00. First class is $3.50 or $4.00. 

That may be a little too much information for a new seller but it may make sense later. 

[klassic*kids]

Also wanted to add -- Depending on what your what your widget is and it's size you may be able to fit them what's commonly called a poly bag therefore it will be lighter and potentially cheaper to ship. If it;s under 9 ounces it will ship for $2.60 and if it's under 16 ounces less than $4.00. Anything over 1 lb must be calculated by weight and zip.

It all can sound very daunting, I remember when I first started selling, but it all becomes old hat fairly soon.  Good Luck and Happy Selling!

[david*42]

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@siayan wrote:

I try to keep my shipping rates fixed rather than calculated.  .... If it ships close I win, if far away I may loose a couple of bucks. Medium flat rate would be $8.50 and small $5.00. ...

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Hmm, that approach sounds much more complicated AND less accurate than just setting up calculated shipping with the package weight and dimensions (which you have to know eventually in order to ship).

Commercial Plus price for a small flat rate box is $5.90, so if you charge $5 that's a guaranteed loss. Likewise, Medium FRB is $11.60 so why are you charging $8.50? 

[siayan]

Ok, I will explain. Lets say I have a 4 pound package that fits in a flat rate medium box.  If I use calculated cost it will show about $25.00 to CA. If I ship to Chicago it will cost $7.00 (est). I add $3.00 to the BIN and list at $8.50 shipping. Shipping looks cheap all way around. 

[penguins_dont_fly]

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@siayan wrote:

Ok, I will explain. Lets say I have a 4 pound package that fits in a flat rate medium box.  If I use calculated cost it will show about $25.00 to CA. If I ship to Chicago it will cost $7.00 (est). I add $3.00 to the BIN and list at $8.50 shipping. Shipping looks cheap all way around. 

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And now we have completely confused the newbie OP 🙂 🙂

@sebezsales

Calculated shipping is the easiest way to go until you are comfortable with shipping.

Stick to USPS shipping too, unless you are selling oversized/heavy items.

UPS and FedEx labels re "quotes" only. Final cost to you isn't determined until delivery ... and can be a shock when billed to you .... The Calculator for USPS is spot on if there are no errors or guesstimates in the data entered (no surprises).

Always know HOW you are going to ship BEFORE you list an item. Have your packing materials in hand. There's nothing worse than having to scramble when something sells.

Until you get an idea about what different sized boxes and bags weigh, including packing materials like bubble wrap/styro/paper/other, place your item in the box that you will be using, add packing material to the pile and weigh the whole shebang.

Select Calculated Shipping.

Select the carrier/method

Enter the dimensions of the box

Enter the total weight of the box and contents

Once you are comfortable with what things will ship for what cost, you can start getting "creative" with free or flat subsidized shipping costs ... but don't worry about that yet 🙂

Keep it simple for now and there shouldn't be any surprises for you or your buyers 🙂

Good Luck

[luckythewinner]

OP, 

For me, your question is slightly backwards. Part of my decision about whether to sell something is based on what the shipping cost will be. 

Using my standard mailers I can ship two pounds by media mail for $3.09, and eight ounces by First Class for $2.60.

If an item cannot ship using my standard mailers and shipping rates, the potential profit from the item must be enough to dwarf the postage cost and my time to package and ship it or I generally do not consider it. 

Lucky

[timemachine777]

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@david*42 wrote:

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timemachine777 wrote: ... find a town in the US that is the farthest from you, and use that towns zip code to calculate your average shipping cost. Now...go to the USPS site, and run some rates using that zip code. Start at 1 pound 1 oz. and 12" or more for your package size. Get a note book and make a list, 1lb 1oz, 2lb 1oz, 3lb 1oz. etc. and fill in the shipping rates for standard, and priority fees. ...

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Or look at the USPS's published rates rather than hand-generating your own chart.

http://pe.usps.com/cpim/ftp/manuals/dmm300/notice123.pdf

If you print your shipping labels online (e.g.,  through eBay), the weight limit for First Class packages is 15.999 ounces.

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That would work also as a quick reference. I forgot about those, since I've hand weighed everything for the past 25 years, and than I just add another pound or more for the box and packing material that I know will be used. One of my lister's has gotten into the habit of doing the same thing. As for labels...I don't use them. Too many headaches with them and (eBay), and it's faster to just hand write the buyer's address. My boxes alone send me over a pound, since I don't use thin cheap ones.

[david*42]

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timemachine777 wrote

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 ... As for labels...I don't use them. Too many headaches with them and (eBay), and it's faster to just hand write the buyer's address. ....

I doubt it's faster, and I KNOW it costs more. I  have had no headaches at all using eBay shipping.

[timemachine777]

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@david*42 wrote:

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timemachine777 wrote

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 ... As for labels...I don't use them. Too many headaches with them and (eBay), and it's faster to just hand write the buyer's address. ....

I doubt it's faster, and I KNOW it costs more. I  have had no headaches at all using eBay shipping.

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Try it. It only takes a few seconds to write down an address. Every morning and a few times during the day we pull items that just sold and initial the box contents. Later in the day we do all paypal payments first, and jump from email to email to write down the shipping addresses, which takes a few minutes, each. Then we do the same for the other forms of payment, since we don't just sell on eBay. 

I'm not paying for ink, labels, glitches online, jam ups, PO issues, etc, etc. Yeah, the customer will save a couple of bucks. But, we have to deal with more headaches, which always seem to happen when every second counts that day. 

[lintbrush*]

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@timemachine777 wrote:

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Try it. It only takes a few seconds to write down an address. Every morning and a few times during the day we pull items that just sold and initial the box contents. Later in the day we do all paypal payments first, and jump from email to email to write down the shipping addresses, which takes a few minutes, each. Then we do the same for the other forms of payment, since we don't just sell on eBay. 

I'm not paying for ink, labels, glitches online, jam ups, PO issues, etc, etc. Yeah, the customer will save a couple of bucks. But, we have to deal with more headaches, which always seem to happen when every second counts that day. 

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Ebay shipping labels are a breeze.  Your way takes a whole lot more time.  I go to awaiting shipment (meaning they have been paid), check the ones I want to buy shipping labels for and click purchases USPS labels.  The next screen gives me a full accounting of all the labels I'm about to purchase.  The weights are filled in based on the info I put in the listing.  I verify they are accurate.  Then I click Pay or Buy.  I can also select to print a SCAN form for those items and packing slips at the same time.  It's all done for me.  Takes less than 5 minutes total. 

If they aren't eBay sales, you can multi-order ship through PayPal instead. 

I've rarely hit a glitch in 2000 shipments.  I'm confident that the address is correct (or at least based on the information the buyer provided) and I didn't transpose a number. 

Who says the customer saves a couple of bucks?  Many sellers charge the retail rate and use the difference towards handling.  But there are items it does save money for the customer - when it's 14-15.99 and I can ship them first class rather than priority.

[timemachine777]

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@lintbrush* wrote:

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@timemachine777 wrote:

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Try it. It only takes a few seconds to write down an address. Every morning and a few times during the day we pull items that just sold and initial the box contents. Later in the day we do all paypal payments first, and jump from email to email to write down the shipping addresses, which takes a few minutes, each. Then we do the same for the other forms of payment, since we don't just sell on eBay. 

I'm not paying for ink, labels, glitches online, jam ups, PO issues, etc, etc. Yeah, the customer will save a couple of bucks. But, we have to deal with more headaches, which always seem to happen when every second counts that day. 

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Ebay shipping labels are a breeze.  Your way takes a whole lot more time.  I go to awaiting shipment (meaning they have been paid), check the ones I want to buy shipping labels for and click purchases USPS labels.  The next screen gives me a full accounting of all the labels I'm about to purchase.  The weights are filled in based on the info I put in the listing.  I verify they are accurate.  Then I click Pay or Buy.  I can also select to print a SCAN form for those items and packing slips at the same time.  It's all done for me.  Takes less than 5 minutes total. 

If they aren't eBay sales, you can multi-order ship through PayPal instead. 

I've rarely hit a glitch in 2000 shipments.  I'm confident that the address is correct (or at least based on the information the buyer provided) and I didn't transpose a number. 

Who says the customer saves a couple of bucks?  Many sellers charge the retail rate and use the difference towards handling.  But there are items it does save money for the customer - when it's 14-15.99 and I can ship them first class rather than priority.

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I use flat rate shipping. I don't add a weight to my listings. I don't like calculated shipping. Just visit the tech board, and you'll always find sellers PO'd about shipping labels not working, etc. In the same time it takes for me to login, and get to the page I need to print labels, a few packages will already be hand addressed. 

[david*42]

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@timemachine777 wrote:

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 ... . I don't add a weight to my listings. I don't like calculated shipping. Just visit the tech board, and you'll always find sellers PO'd about shipping labels not working, etc. In the same time it takes for me to login, and get to the page I need to print labels, a few packages will already be hand addressed. 

How is that possible when you have to log in and then go "email to email" to access each address? I suspect that you have been scared off by the tiny percentag of sellers who have problems due to carelessness or inattentiveness. Most sellers who print their USPS shipping labels through eBay wouldn't dream of going back to hand procesing.

[timemachine777]

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@david*42 wrote:

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@timemachine777 wrote:

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 ... . I don't add a weight to my listings. I don't like calculated shipping. Just visit the tech board, and you'll always find sellers PO'd about shipping labels not working, etc. In the same time it takes for me to login, and get to the page I need to print labels, a few packages will already be hand addressed. 

How is that possible when you have to log in and then go "email to email" to access each address? I suspect that you have been scared off by the tiny percentag of sellers who have problems due to carelessness or inattentiveness. Most sellers who print their USPS shipping labels through eBay wouldn't dream of going back to hand procesing.

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I don't have to login to my emails. I don't use a third party service like yahoo, or gmail. We just click on my email link on my desktop tool bar. All paypal emails go into a separate folder, so we just click the folder and work top down and just click and write, click and write, click and write, over and over again, until we're done with the Paypal payments.

At the most, a minute is spent handling each package. We do everything in an assembly line process. 

[david*42]

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timemachine777 wrote:...  .. we just click the folder and work top down and just click and write, click and write, click and write, over and over again, until we're done with the Paypal payments.

But as lintbrush explained, he just clicks, doesn't have to write anything.

I think we should stop arguing defending our individual systems and let the poor confused newbie decide for himself.  One way he could decide is to just count up how many posters support each system.