Didn't charge enough for shipping

[#1]

I've had very few international sales so I was surprised to see that this morning I sold a book to a lovely lady in Denmark. I packaged it all up and went to the post office to find that the cheapest way to mail it was going to be $8 more than what she paid for shipping. I sent her a messaged her giving her the option to pay the additional $8 or canceling the order all together.
Has this ever happened to you? If yes, then how did you handle it?

[Former_Member]

Issue has been resolved

[Former_Member]

People are not trying to make you sound like a terrible person. Bad business choice, maybe. Don't ask for opinions or advice and then act like the opinions you get were not what you wanted to hear.

[Former_Member]

And again, if you have very little time because of college, and that is an excuse for any mistakes or bad business decisions maybe rethink your decision to be having an Etsy shop.

[SweetAngelVintage]

I have not gotten a scale yet...but I heard Amazon sells one for 17.00. The postal service costs about 38.00. I agree with the Australia destination from US....that is where I lost money in the past, and I am careful about not listing too heavy an item.......I do NOT want to lose international customers, I have had a great number of sales from other countries by listing international shipping to the best of my ability and past experience at the cost.

[NakedRatDestash]

I've done that a few times during the learning process. I felt that it was my fault so I just let it go and learned a valuable lesson about shipping internationally.

[Former_Member]

I just want to say I am really glad I read through this discussion. I checked out the link on calculating shipping costs and just revamped all my shipping prices. When the international shipping prices went up earlier this year I really bumped my prices up. I've just made them much more realistic - and reasonable. I have never gotten any international purchases but hopefully someday someone will notice me and want to buy. now I am ready.

[PiecesOfMePaperCraft]

I underquoted for an international package last month. For the record, Australia is not the most expensive place to ship to. My package went to United Arab Emirates. I quoted $7.50 (what it would cost to Australia) and the actual shipping cost using Etsy shipping was $8.60. It was a $4.00 item so after fees I made nothing on my item. I just had another international sale on a large custom listing this past weekend. I had a hard time figuring out the weight and quoted the buyer what I thought would be a fair shipping cost for both of us. When it was ready to ship, I held my breath as I weighed the completed order with its packaging. Thank goodness my shipping quote covered shipping costs with a little bit left over to cover the packaging as well. Phew!!

[Former_Member]

I once had to ship to France using International Priority Mail. It cost $10 more than what my customer paid for shipping. I had no choice but to suck it up and eat the cost. Ouch!! That was painful though.

[Former_Member]

Business lesson number 1...never make assumptions ;-p

[Former_Member]

I just had a large order that was gong to Australia. I should have realized it weighed more than 4 lbs and therefore would cost a LOT to ship but my mother had just passed away and I wasn't thinking correctly. Sooooo. I went to print the shipping label and I had charged $25 LESS than the actual shipping costs which I had to eat. I still came out ahead because it was a large order but I would have never dreamed of asking the buyer to pay the difference. Live and learn.

[Rocksterize]

I sell my eyeshadows for around 7-8 dollars each, and for international shipping it's almost $8, which is RIDICULOUS! What I do is, instead of charging the full shipping price in the Shipping Price section, I balance it out into the price of my item, making sure I still make the profit on the item..if that makes any sense. It makes the price of your item go up a couple dollars but I think it's better from the buyers' standpoint, because they're not seeing a super high shipping cost up front.

[SpangGangDesigns]

Tisch - you pay commission on the selling price - not shipping. So you are essentially, by putting more of the shipping cost in the item price, costing yourself even more. Just a thought - but if it works for you, your customers, and your business - great :)

[Former_Member]

I'm wIth everyone else ~ definitely eat the cost and learn for next time!