SKU's Weights all the same

[AgreeableAgony]

This is causing a massive issue in shipping calculation, especially for international sales.

We can setup items to vary by SKU, but there is no where to set a weight for each SKU.

This means even on a listing with small/medium/Large/XL    the XL and the small end up having shipping calculated as the same weight.

Domestically this usually is a variance of "only"  $3-6  but internationally it can be a huge variance in shipping prices between the small and the large depending on where in the world it is shipping and if  one of the items is under a lb.

(Before you suggest it, no making multiple listings for every single size is a horrible idea).

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This applies to Calculated shipping, not flat rate shipping. Obviously flat rate shipping applies to the whole listing.

[CappuccinoLace]

Yup. That's the way it works.

Etsy does not provide shipping costs per variation, only per listing.

[AgreeableAgony]

Technically shipping prices per variation is a different thing than weights per variation and calculated shipping for the whole listing. 

That said yes, I am aware that's how it works.

But that is a somewhat intrinsically broken way for Etsy to "work" 

It is contrary to every other Ecommerce platform and contrary to logic regarding how physical objects exist or are shipped. 

[audreytherese]

If it's in the same listing, it can not have different shipping profiles for the different variations, or SKU's. There is one shipping profile per listing. I don't believe it matters if it's calculated or flat rate. 

[AgreeableAgony]

Thank you for restarting the issue. 

Yes. This is the problem. 

That said, it should be totally possible for Etsy to both allow only one shipping profile per listing AND to accurately calculate shipping weight. 

By adding a "vary by weight" in the same area they have vary by price and vary by sku. 

Not having this is baffling. 

[PerpetualRibbons]

Audreytherese, Are you saying that the way Etsy has this setup is correct?

Because as far as I know, every other marketplace & every other website builder has the capability of having different weights on your variations in one listing.

[AgreeableAgony]

@PerpetualRibbons

Basically yes. A lot of sellers just accept it and work around it.

I work around it, but that doesnt mean I dont report it to etsy regularly as an issue. 

[AgreeableAgony]

Its disappointing how much so many sellers just accept that this is "how it works" rather than pushing for useful change.

I see a lot of folks sad about this on the forums,  but theres always a pile of comments saying "but just deal with it"  

Why? Why not push for it to be better?  find real solutions?

[PerpetualRibbons]

AgreeableAgony, believe me many of us have pushed, begged, pleaded, gotten angry and even cried to have some kind of positive change for numerous years. It never does any good  because we, the sellers are nothing but "CHURN" in Etsy's opinion

[AgreeableAgony]

@PerpetualRibbons

I wish it made any difference   

Its a shame. 

I will keep putting in a "ticket" for it once or twice a year. But it doesnt seem to have much effect.

[AgreeableAgony]

Ah, now etsy has noticed square photos are a thing (a bit late...)

but still. no shipping variations.

What customers are we polling exactly?  Because I know from experience on our website that international sales increased 400%  when we implemented better calculation of  variations by weight. 

[AAANativeArts]

That's the way it works, so you can either use it as is or list every variation separately. Personally, I charge for the smaller item and add the difference I need in postage to the price of the product for the others. For example if it costs $5.00 for the small one but $7.00 for the next size up, I charge $5.00 shipping on all of them and add the extra $2.00 to the price off the 2nd option's price for the product. But sometimes that can defeat the purpose of giving a small discount if they buy 2 or 5, etc. The other thing you can do is average the shipping cost and charge $6.00 for all of them. Then sometimes you collect a little extra and sometimes a little comes from  your profit, but over time it should even out.

[AgreeableAgony]

"thats the way it works"  Is a really sad answer?  I get that it works that way currently, but thats the problem. 

Working this way is hugely problematic to a lot of sellers, and that is clear from looking at the forums.   

This is something that etsy needs to fix.  

Your suggestion works kind of if we only ship domestically and use flat rate boxes, but we ship internationally.

The cost difference of an extra 8-16oz to australia can be as much as $10-20 more than the cost to the UK or Canada.

Etsy is already completely trash at calculating international ship prices, this just makes it ...way worse. 

It loses massive numbers of international sales.  

And it is something that is addressable.   

Sorry if my reply is a bit grouchy, I am a little sick of people saying "yeah just deal with it"   when there really isnt any functional solution for a lot of businesses.   

[audreytherese]

If I wanted everything to be how I think they would work the best, then I'd work with a programmer and set it all up on my own site. 

When I use someone else's platform, yes, I do just accept that I will have to work within the parameters they have set up. 

[PerpetualRibbons]

It shouldn't be this way. I have a bunch of 50 yd rolls of ribbon. Most people can't use that much of 1 particular ribbon? But some crafters can use that much. I like to offer both, 10 yd rolls which ship "ground advantage" & 50 yd rolls which usually ship priority mail. I don't feel right about adding shipping charges into my product price,  I don't feel it's an honest way to do business.

So I'm stuck making a 10 yd listing and a 50 yd listing for the same ribbon print.

[AgreeableAgony]

Yes, we also have our own shopify site.  But etsy is a marketplace that we make a lot of sales in and its nice for the customers on etsy to be able to buy our products.

Sorry for trying to improve the Etsy platform.  I didn't realize was a like it or leave it situation.   Thanks for being so very welcoming...

When I use a platform I give them feedback about what doesn't work to try to improve it for all parties.  On every other platform I have used they are willing to listen to merchant feedback.  

[PerpetualRibbons]

I believe every other platform truly cares about the people that put money in their pockets. Etsy seems to feel as if none of us know what we're doing, none of us could have any ideas that are better than any of theirs, so they don't bother to listen. We already know what they think of us, They actually called us "CHURN" in an interview a few yrs ago.

[BagmakerSupply]

@AgreeableAgony: I think that you might be seeing the suggestions from others in the forum in the wrong light. This is a seller to seller peer forum and all we can do is try to help within the framework of what Etsy makes available and within their concept of how it should work.

"On every other platform I have used they are willing to listen to merchant feedback." You are only speaking to other sellers here. This forum should not be considered a way to contact Etsy, if that is your hope (although Etsy does sometimes read and reply to posts). "I didn't realize was a like it or leave it situation." I doubt that you would get much argument from your fellow sellers that there is a lot of room for improvement, but no one on this forum has the power to change anything so the best we can do is suggest work arounds.

[AgreeableAgony]

@bagmakersupply 

Thanks for the thoughtful reply.  I do understand it is a seller peer forums, it is frustrating that there are very few good ways to actually give any feedback to etsy.

The reply from @audreytherese  was what I was referring to, as they pretty much did just say I should go somewhere else or deal with it. 

[AgreeableAgony]

@audreytherese I love that for you.

But telling me what you do isnt a useful or productive reply unless youre making a suggestion for me.

Have a lovely life and please dont comment on my posts ever again. 

[audreytherese]

ok. 

[PerpetualRibbons]

BagmakerSupply, I have been on Eysy since 2013 and it doesn't matter who you complain or suggest to. I have sent numerous emails, even sent a snailmail request. Nothing works, Etsy just doesn't give a crap about any of us.

[Hertfordweaver]

If Etsy had a suggestion box it would be full of wonderful ways to make it a better seller platform but in the meantime we have to use work arounds. You may want to think about setting up different listings for the sizes and, if possible, a link to the other listings for the size variance. Can you do that?

[AgreeableAgony]

A single listing for every item with any size variance gets a little bonkers for many of us.

We would end up with hundreds of listings. Customer nightmare and seller nightmare.  

Sadly, we have yet to find any work arounds that actually work.

Setting the shipping weight to the heaviest item or a high average is about all we can do.  It just loses us a ton of international sales. 

Honestly, the workaround that has been most effective is do everything in our power to migrate customers off etsy. 
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Every year we watch etsy post about all the customer research they have done, but they dont really take feedback from Sellers who actually use their platform.