International Calculated Shipping Errors

[LostArtifax]

I have a 1+ year, almost 500 sales hand-made shop which is doing well and star seller since last May.

I get a decent amount of international sales, mostly western EU and Canada.  

I offer free shipping on domestic but not International.  In the last several months, I noticed I am getting 'Adjustment for Globegistics shipping label' charges which eat into profits.  Today, Etsy support refunded the latest in that they were convinced that either the USPS or the lack of seller controls over calculated shipping was the root cause.

I spent a fair amount of time reading everything I could find and almost 30 minutes on the support call (smart fella, helpful) but was left without a clear solution to prevent this from recurring.

Here is the problem:

If I have weights and sizes set correctly in the items, a price is presented to the buyer which ends up being too little to cover multi-item packages. I do get a lot of people making multi-item purchases when it is international so they can get more bang for the buck in a single shipment.

The problem is that the system (etsy) is calculating shipping prices based on some weird box and weight that does not take into consideration the combination of differing weight items in a single box/order.

I am trying something new this time. I have created some custom package preferences  and unchecked 'use common etsy package sizes' and will change the weights to reflect packing material that would go with certain items based on their initial weight. I have two materials for my plaques - Plaster and Jesmonite which is 40% heavier than plaster so if a buyer buys the jesmonite versions, the weight will not be properly calculated because I don't think Etsy takes heavier material variations into consideration. It also cannot handle a packaging strategy that uses double wall boxes (may be prudent for international fragile items) 

My ask here is that if anyone has run into this anomaly and came up with a workaround or some clean way to present the correct pricing to a buyer based on accurate weights for multi-item shipments and the like, please share your thoughts and experiences.  Using PirateShip does not solve this issue. Sticking with USPS because it is the least expensive and going with any kind of international priority service puts the cost of shipping too close the purchase price of my items.

Thanks in advance

Steve

Lostartifax

[JMOldeVintage]

@LostArtifax  - Calculated shipping can only "accept" one set of data per listing. If your plaques vary that much in weight depending on the material used to make them, you need to enter the weight for the heavier material.

Double-wall boxes can be weighty so add in a cushion to take that into account.

When entering your package preference sizes, have a good variety of sizes with accurate measurements. 

When purchasing labels, be sure all the info is correct - weight & size of the package. Otherwise yes, you can see shipping adjustments. You can edit this info when purchasing the label.

[LostArtifax]

@JMOldeVintage

Thanks for the tips.  I will look into using the weight for the heavier material but I run the risk of being overcharged for the lighter ones when there is only those. 

I have already given up on double-walled boxes since packing paper does a good job for impact protection.

The real problem is that we have very little visibility into the calculated shipping algorithm and how to adjust it prior to a sale so the buyer is presented with an accurate price.  This is the conundrum.

Thanks

[JMOldeVintage]

@LostArtifax  - This is Etsy's article on Calculated shipping though I'm sure you've probably already read it:

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115013946647-How-to-Set-Up-Calculated-Shipping?segment=selli...

Actually calculated shipping is usually pretty accurate. It does the math based on the info provided on the listing. Definitely you need to be sure you have a good selection of box sizes &/or if you always use certain sizes based on an order size, include them all even if there's one size you only use once or twice a year.

The only caveat is that calculated shipping does not understand "nesting". If a buyer purchases two individual items, calculated will put the item "side by each" & bump up the box size to accommodate the items. At times this can cause the package to be charged for oversize &/or dimensional weight. When in actuality one item can be safely nested in the other & sent in a smaller & less weighty package. 

[BagmakerSupply]

@LostArtifax: Our experience with calculated shipping is that it is generally accurate but very much dependent on the data you provide. As long as the weight you use is the packaged weight, and your packaging uses the internal dimensions you should be okay. The only "issue" we run into is that the shipping weight may be over calculated for multi item purchases because the packaging weight is duplicated.

[LostArtifax]

@BagmakerSupply I am wary of the package weight doubling or tripling when there are two or three items of the same weight. If the product manager for the shipping calculator were to engage in this discussion, I am sure they could come up with a universal solution to this that could be implemented in their app and sites.  

Thanks for your insights.

[LostArtifax]

To the calculated shipping PM, we can go through the use-cases if you like. This is sorely complained about in the Reddit Etsy Seller group and it deserves some attention.  Thanks in advance.

[DorisJeansGems]

My question pertains to how to set up international shipping when I am offering Free domestic shipping over 35.00. 

I have been away from Etsy for quite a while and just came back to a lot of changes.  I am coming across issues pertaining to not charging the customer enough for shipping costs because I am facing the fact I have to send packages priority mail because global shipping USPS is getting lost in transit.  But I feel like I should only use this option for more expensive items.  I am not sure what to do. 

[LostArtifax]

I am still having problems with the price presented to the buyer at buy-time being too low for the weight of all the items he or she orders. This problem occurs with multi-item purchases. Also, there is the issue with USPS standard international where things over 4 lbs become exorbitant and it is too late to change what the buyer is charged.  I am not sure at the end of the day that this will be solvable so the right price is presented at buy time. Right now, I am eating the difference which results in a $94 shipping fee to the UK from the US where the buyer was asked to pay $72.   This just happened on a $428.00 multi-item shipment with $73.09 of that goes to shipping. The approximately $20 differences is paid by moi.