shipping to avoid negative feedback

[joliefran]

I bought a bunch of hand made lokta gift wrap out of Nepal.  I love  the stuff - you can practically iron it and it's a cottage industry for women over there.

I was initially offering 2 classes of shipping 1) First Class, in a plain plastic mailer OR 2)  Priority Mail in a shipping tube I had to purchase, which the USPS sees as "irregular size" and will only ship Priority Mail.  I live on a small island and don't have many shipping choices.

I am actually losing money on the Priority Shipping.  Obviously, the First Class is cheaper but buyers ignored the text I had written about the shipping method and it's possible consequences and in short order, I picked up a neg and a couple of neutrals.  eBay refused to remove the neg.  I hate to ship "defensively".  I'd love to offer my buyer's a cheaper option but it seems like nobody reads ANYthing anymore.  Anybody got a brilliant idea?  I just printed a shipping label for a gentleman in TX.  I am charging $11.00 for the tube shipping and my actual cost was $13.67, with the discount.  I'm sure they think I am making money on the shipping.  As if ANYONE could do that anymore.  Thanks!

[nobody*s_perfect]

I don't understand the issue. Tubes can be mailed as First Class packages.

[joliefran]

USPS sees the tubes as an "irregular shape", as they are 28 x 3 x 3" and refuses to handle them except for Priority Mail.

[richard1rst]

I don't see the problem either.

The paper seems to be 20" x 30". Assuming you roll it the short way across then you have a roll that is 20" wide.

WHY does it have to be a TUBE. What's wrong with a rectangular box measuring 22x4x4. Now you are under the +22" surcharges and, assuming it is light enough, you are within the 15.9 first class mail. Even if you are lover 1 pound you are still under the 22" surcharge which will reduce your shipping. I also suspect that a box is cheaper than a tube so you are saving still more money.

And frankly I would remove the whole comment about the problem with shipping. That just seems like whining since, as I mentioned above, a solution is available.  Occam's Razor is not always right.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@joliefran wrote:

USPS sees the tubes as an "irregular shape", as they are 28 x 3 x 3" and refuses to handle them except for Priority Mail.

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USPS allows tubes to be mailed as First Class packages, though there is a surcharge.  The Domestic Mail Manual page about First Class packages, Section 1.3 says, "A surcharge applies for parcels that are irregularly shaped, such as rolls, tubes, and triangles."

https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/283.htm#ep1012518

The surcharge is currently 25 cents, which you can see in footnote #4 on page 17 of the official USPS rates publication, Notice 213:

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

OTOH, for Commercial (i.e., online rates) First Class packages, there is a limit of 22 inches for length, so excess length, rather than tubular shape, is probably the reason that your tubes are upgraded to Priority. See section 8.3.2.d here:

https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/201.htm#ep1097318

Whether your package is being mailed via Priority or by First Class, there is a $4 surcharge for packages with a length over 22 inches.   So if you switch to tubes that are 22 inches or less, you should be able to mail as First Class package AND avoid the $4 surcharge.

[joliefran]

Part of the problem is that I bought really top quality shipping tubes that weigh almost a pound without any paper!  But I am trying to figure out the easiest way to change the shipping over to First Class.  I wanted to keep offering Priority as an option, but I could not figure out how to do so on the bulk editor.  It seems to only want to see one set of packaging measurements...

THANKS!

[richard1rst]

Well, since first class is limited to 22" can you cut the tubes down to 21". The paper roll should only be20" so 21" would cover it. And by cutting down the length of the tube you also reduce its weight.

Then in the listing just show 21" as the length for either method.

[baydistributionllc]

Make two listings for the same thing. One with Priority and one with First Class and charge what you need for those services. 

If you put two shipping options on one listing it will display the FASTER one not the CHEAPER one. Buyers need to expand the options to find the cheaper one and nobody ever does that. I had shipping policies with multiple options like that and it killed my sales. Your right, nobody looks deep enough to find the other options.

The shipping cost should be predictable since you are always sending the same thing. You should really roll that up in the price and make it free shipping. If you don’t want to do that making two different listings with two different SINGLE shipping options will solve the problem.