LilFirecracker Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 Hi everyone! In the near future I'll be listing my melts on Etsy. I've hears pros and cons about how to list shipping. Some say they get more sales by including shipping in the cost and offering "free shipping." Others list the shipping costs separately. I'd like to hear your opinions! Which way do you find works best as a seller. And if you're also a buyer, which one stands out more to you? I'm the type of person that figures out total cost no matter how it's displayed, but I know a lot of people don't do that. Some do jump on free shipping. So what's your take on this subject? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Ov Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 I love buying from etsy. If im buying something i always look for the cheapest price. Some shops the more you buy the shipping goes up, some say spend 35.00 and shipping is free. If something is 10.00 with free shipping and something similar for 4.00 and 4.35 for shipping i might go with the cheaper one. I guess it just depends, for me anyways. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonshine Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 I’m not a seller on Etsy but I buy a lot from that site - various things I may not be the norm but for me I don’t even look at shipping …..shipping is life and shipping is expensive and if I want something bad enough it is what is I only look at quality, presentation and how well the seller responds to me if I have questions I have heard the buzz about sales being so competitive on there and shipping being a biggy for people so you might have to play around with it some and see what draws more interest 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 The free shipping for $35 orders is a gimmick for Etsy, not for the sellers. You might want to cruise the Etsy sellers subs on Reddit to see what others have to say. If you include shipping or free shipping with $35 you need to raise your prices enough to cover that. Basically raise your prices to recover about double the cost of the shipping in order to maintain a profit. Remember you pay fees everything with Etsy. They always make their money. Sellers are an afterthought. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asr Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 I sell crochet items on Etsy. I do offer the free shipping because it supposedly helps in the search ranking so I have an average shipping price built into the cost. I am not sold on this though, and I am open to changing my policies if I start to see it isn't working for me. On shipping I win some and lose some...someone buys a single scarf I don't make as much profit but I have had several sales with 4+ items. I make up the cost and then some! But I still have things priced to make sure I get a minimum profit I am comfortable with! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovejoy444 Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 Sorry, I'm not an Etsy seller either (yet... it's in the works), but as a buyer, I've got thoughts. 😃 I DO pay attention to shipping costs cuz some folks charge way beyond what is reasonable. Like you (the OP), I also take into account the TOTAL cost to me as a buyer, so all things being equal, I'm most likely to buy the thing that costs me the least overall (price + shipping)--given that the cheaper shop has good reviews. And yet... you can't discount the psychological impact of seeing "FREE SHIPPING!" Just because *I* don't fall prey to the free shipping marketing tactic doesn't mean it's not a good tactic. LOL As far as the $35-free-shipping thing, it might be a corporate gimmick on Etsy's part (and yes, you'll have to raise your base prices a bit to cover the cost of "free" shipping) but if someone has $31 worth of merchandise in their cart, they have two options at that point: stick with that $31 and pay the shipping, OR buy another item to bump them over 35 and NOT pay shipping. If they choose the second option, you stand to make a bit more profit. The trick here is to convince them that adding another item to their cart to trigger the free shipping isn't just a meaningless impulse purchase, but is value-added in some way. You're never gonna be able to properly trigger all the different shopping mentalities people have with one pricing/shipping strategy, so just do what feels most sensible to you--and tweak as you gain experience and data points. I feel like in 2022 (or whenever anyone in the future reads this!), consumers are pretty savvy about the pros and cons of free shipping. The seller/business isn't gonna screw themselves, they're not being altruistic, and people know this. As usual, TallTayl has very good advice. And yes, Etsy will be taking their cut. (Something to keep in mind as you build your business is to consider maintaining your Etsy shop, but also have your own web site later on. You can use your Etsy shop to drive traffic to your main site, selling in both places.) Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 1 hour ago, Lovejoy444 said: Sorry, I'm not an Etsy seller either (yet... it's in the works), but as a buyer, I've got thoughts. 😃 I DO pay attention to shipping costs cuz some folks charge way beyond what is reasonable. Like you (the OP), I also take into account the TOTAL cost to me as a buyer, so all things being equal, I'm most likely to buy the thing that costs me the least overall (price + shipping)--given that the cheaper shop has good reviews. And yet... you can't discount the psychological impact of seeing "FREE SHIPPING!" Just because *I* don't fall prey to the free shipping marketing tactic doesn't mean it's not a good tactic. LOL As far as the $35-free-shipping thing, it might be a corporate gimmick on Etsy's part (and yes, you'll have to raise your base prices a bit to cover the cost of "free" shipping) but if someone has $31 worth of merchandise in their cart, they have two options at that point: stick with that $31 and pay the shipping, OR buy another item to bump them over 35 and NOT pay shipping. If they choose the second option, you stand to make a bit more profit. The trick here is to convince them that adding another item to their cart to trigger the free shipping isn't just a meaningless impulse purchase, but is value-added in some way. You're never gonna be able to properly trigger all the different shopping mentalities people have with one pricing/shipping strategy, so just do what feels most sensible to you--and tweak as you gain experience and data points. I feel like in 2022 (or whenever anyone in the future reads this!), consumers are pretty savvy about the pros and cons of free shipping. The seller/business isn't gonna screw themselves, they're not being altruistic, and people know this. As usual, TallTayl has very good advice. And yes, Etsy will be taking their cut. (Something to keep in mind as you build your business is to consider maintaining your Etsy shop, but also have your own web site later on. You can use your Etsy shop to drive traffic to your main site, selling in both places.) Good luck! I am one of those that got bit with the someone who had $31 putting the cheapest thing in their cart which moved weight from first class to priority. I ended up losing money by making a bigger sale if that makes sense. That only Hass to happen once before you realize it’s not worth it. I put pen to paper one day when Etsy told me “congratulations you’ve given away $1000 in free shipping!” I realized holy shit that was $1000 of money that should’ve gone in my pocket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilFirecracker Posted January 27, 2022 Author Share Posted January 27, 2022 Wow...thanks so much for all of your input. It gives me a lot to think about. I can always change it, but I have to figure out the best way to get started to get noticed. Ugh.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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