Brandyanne Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 Hello- I will soon be opening a website for selling candles & melters but I have no idea how to dermine shipping charges - do most of you charge flat rate? actual rate? Offer special rates for large orders? Any help will be appreciated- Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelaVA Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 First, try a search on here and the old board since this has been discussed before. But, it's really up to you. Do you want to weigh your products and have the shopping cart use that to set the shipping (I think this is the most accurate)? Or do you want to have a flat fee per amount - customer spends $0-$20 - shipping is $5, etc . . . I do the latter because I am rather lazy and have not yet updated my site to ship by weight instead of flat rate. Shipping flat rate makes you lose money, if you're not careful. I also offer free shipping on orders over a certain amount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandyanne Posted March 12, 2006 Author Share Posted March 12, 2006 Thanks Angela- I think I probably will weigh but I need to purchase a bigger scale! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crafty1_AJ Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 Since jar candles tend to be heavy, I use the USPS flat-rate Priority boxes. They cost $8.10 each, and since my jar candles weigh about a pound apiece, shipping would be much higher on most of my customers' orders if I did NOT use flat-rate. They really save money with those boxes. I love 'em!Most orders can fit into one box, but if they order 10-20 candles or more, of course I have to use a 2nd or 3rd box. I just charge for exactly however many of boxes they need ... no handling charges or hidden fees or anything like that.HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandyanne Posted March 13, 2006 Author Share Posted March 13, 2006 Thanks - I did not know about flat rate shipping- I think I have a lot to learn yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soygirl Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Since jar candles tend to be heavy, I use the USPS flat-rate Priority boxes. They cost $8.10 each, and since my jar candles weigh about a pound apiece, shipping would be much higher on most of my customers' orders if I did NOT use flat-rate. They really save money with those boxes. I love 'em!Most orders can fit into one box, but if they order 10-20 candles or more, of course I have to use a 2nd or 3rd box. I just charge for exactly however many of boxes they need ... no handling charges or hidden fees or anything like that.HTHI find that when I add enough packaging to properly protect fragile jar candles, I can only get three 16 oz. jar candles in a flat rate box. That doesn't end up saving me much money on shipping. The flat rate boxes usually aren't big enough for me. Shipping is just expensive. My advice would be that if you go with flat rate shipping, make sure you either mark up your product or your shipping charges enough to compensate. Otherwise you will end up losing money every time you ship to zones 5 - 8. I configured my websites shipping calculator. It's really time consuming, but you don't end up overcharging people who live near you to make up for those who live far away. It just seems more fair to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Whatever method you choose, it is helpful to keep track of how much you spent mailing each package versus how much you charged. Later on if need be, you can revise your shipping fee based on this data you've collected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crafty1_AJ Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 I find that when I add enough packaging to properly protect fragile jar candles, I can only get three 16 oz. jar candles in a flat rate box. That doesn't end up saving me much money on shipping. The flat rate boxes usually aren't big enough for me. Shipping is just expensive. My advice would be that if you go with flat rate shipping, make sure you either mark up your product or your shipping charges enough to compensate. Otherwise you will end up losing money every time you ship to zones 5 - 8. I configured my websites shipping calculator. It's really time consuming, but you don't end up overcharging people who live near you to make up for those who live far away. It just seems more fair to me.Yes, the 16 oz. jars don't fit as well -- that's true. I should have mentioned that 95% of my website candle sales are the 8 oz. square mason jars, so I can comfortably fit six in there, each individually bubble-wrapped and surrounded by a cushion of peanuts. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane42 Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Has anyone tried using Fed Ex or UPS? I know when I was Ebaying a few years ago, I would get a better price on the heavier items if I shipped through these companies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 If you are shipping jars and they don't fit in the USPS flat rate box, then Fed Ex Ground is likely to give you a better price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorrie Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 I am probably the odd ball here. I use dhl because UPS and FED EX wanted way to much money for shipping my items. I also use the real time calculator that is build in with my store. But I also am shipping cases of wax. Hope this helps~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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