Should I Ship for Free?

[Former_Member]

I've just read some earlier posts on free shipping and it appears that those of you that have tried it decided to incorporate some of the costs into your prices.
For those that have done it, have you stuck to it? Has it worked?
And are we allowed to add in the title, or tag with free shipping?

[ForgedMettleJewelry]

I tried it for all of a nano second and felt I was losing money, or overcharging people where it was cheap to ship to.

Anyway, if you do offer free shipping, yes, you can add "free shipping" to your tags and title, though I don't recommend using it in your title as google doesn't link links with Free shipping in the title...

[Former_Member]

That is a very interesting post, although I can't comment because I have never used "free shipping" coupon or similar.

[Former_Member]

i have tried it, actually some of my listings may have free shipping still. i didn't get any more sales from it.
I don't understand what you mean by adding to the cost? you mean adding some of the shipping to the actual item cost?
i would never consider doing something like that, its a bit dishonest imo.

[Former_Member]

I did the whole free shipping in my tags once. I didn't get any more views or sales.

[WilliamsGiftshop]

It is a good strategy if you sell within one country only.
But Etsy is an international selling platform and if you joined them and sell international, you don't want to overcharge or undercharge most of your customers.

[Former_Member]

Lindsay Cheesewright from FaerieMajikk says

I don't understand what you mean by adding to the cost? you mean adding some of the shipping to the actual item cost?
i would never consider doing something like that, its a bit dishonest imo.
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Making up for the cost of free shipping in your prices is part of covering business expenses. Big box companies that offer free shipping don't eat the cost and neither should a seller on Etsy. Just keep in mind that when you add the cost of shipping into your item price your Etsy fees will be higher.

[AtHomeWithLolly]

I have read that adding FREE SHIPPING to your titles, hurts in Google, that they do not like it. Having said that, I see plenty of it around!

I tried on a few items, it did not change the sale. They sold later without that embedded in the title or description.

If you add your shipping cost to the sales amount remember that Etsy takes a % of the sale as well as PayPal. So when you increase that amount, you get a bit more deducted.

I don't think it is dishonest to do it, Pottery Barn, and other big name online stores do it all the time. Most of us know that Free shipping is written in somewhere.

Market studies have proven that consumers like to see a big fat 0 in the shipping box!

If you read the trends and forums, Etsy will suggest tags and occassionally Free Shipping has been mentioned. I think it is a personal decision. It does not have to be across the board.

Choose a few items and try it , don't forget to mention FREE SHIPPING IN THE CONT'L US ONLY, otherwise you will be mailing to Lithuania or Hong Kong and have to eat a bundle on it!
Track the views from when you started it and see what happens!

Good Luck!