How does everyone seem to be able to figure out shipping?

[Former_Member]

Everyone seems to have shipping quotes and all that etsy joining crap seems to make it look so easy to figure out an exact shipping rate, but I don't get it. Am I totally missing something here??

I'm in Canada, I go to the Canada Post website and I need a destination postal or zip code??

Well, If I don't have that, I can't get a quote. So how does everyone figure out shipping costs?

It also seems like it would cost more to ship some things than the Item sells for??

Shipping a plant stand Canada Post would cost a friggin' fortune!

Can anyone from Canada help me out?? I spend 99.9% of my (school day) time in the studio, figuring this stuff out is a nightmare...

Thanks,

C

[Former_Member]

Most people are estimating their shipping costs.

With Canada Post, I would look at the cost to ship to the farthest likely destination for you. I'm guessing that you are in Alberta (although your location isn't very specific) so I would look at the rates to ship to the Maritimes.

If you end up overcharging for shipping you can always do a refund but you cannot ask for more after the sale.

For shipping to the USA, do you need to use a zip code? If you do, you can always get an estimate with 90210 (california) and 10045 (new york).

Yes some things will be expensive to ship. But that's the nature of the beast. If you put a reasonable shipping charge, if someone really wants the item they will be willing to pay for the shipping.

[Former_Member]

hahaha, Thanks for the 90210...

I never thought of that. I figured that idea of charging for say PEI, but just finding these postal codes is driving the price of my stuff up... ;)

Thanks, good advise.

[Former_Member]

I think estimation is a part of it, but experience is another. Also, in the US at least, we have some flat rate boxes. Does Canada have those?

I agree that over-charging is better, at least if shipping is going to be expensive, as said above. I actually just under-charged something, but since it wasn't too much more, it wasn't a big deal to me.

You could also raise your prices and offer free shipping. Or limit where you send it (offer only Canada and the US or something).

[Former_Member]

I don't know about shipping within Canada in particular, so this might not be helpful to you, Studio52, but I made a notebook with all the shipping rates and info I could find for the USPS. I bought a digital postal scale on Amazon for under $30. Each time I'm writing a listing for a new type of item, I put it on the scale along with the box or envelope I'll be using and all the other items that will be in the package (thank you card, business card, bubble wrap, freebie item, etc.), and I use that weight to figure out shipping costs to US, Mexico, Canada, and Everywhere Else. For the Everywhere Else option, I just pick the most expensive shipping rate there is for the weight of my package and call it good.

I worried about the high cost of shipping for some of my heavier items, especially international shipping, but I just shipped out an order to Canada today where the item cost $20, and the shipping cost was $24. I guess when you want something, you really want it!

[Former_Member]

Also, have you asked for help on the Etsy International Team? I bet there are some experienced Canadian shippers on there somewhere!

http://www.etsy.com/teams/7654/etsy-international

[Former_Member]

I suppose you can easily track down various postal codes + countries to see what it costs. Use google maps.

usually, international is always the same.
So sending to Japan or France, would cost the same amount.

USA might be cheaper.

And Canada should be the cheapeast from 3.

SO you need to calculate 3 destinations:

canada
USA
everywhere else

For Paris, France, here's just one postal code: 75005