I've only really been actively selling (stocking more than just sets and
minifigs) for a few months but can't decide what is a fair minimum fee.
I'm in Canada and for example to ship a single minifig in an envelope the
post office charges $2.61. I used to charge $2.75 as I mostly reuse Amazon envelopes
but brought that up to $3.50 to help pay for labels, ink, tape etc. For sets
I would add maybe $1 to the shipping fee to cover packing as I would wrap sets
in brown kraft paper. Now that I sell parts I get lots of smaller orders, parts
are stored in tiny ziploc bags which re-order often & I've have to buy packs
of padded envelopes. The big thing I never considered is the time it takes to
pack orders... I just got an order of 68 lots and it took me 2 days of after-work
time to find it all (I've since added a maximum lots per order).
Long question short how much do you add, if anything, to cover packing materials
on a minimum order and do you charge a pick fee for multiple lots at a certain
point? Is there a way to automate that fee if so so the buyer sees it when ordering
and I just have to add a shipping fee?
Thank you again to all who take the time to read these things and reply, you've
all helped me several times before.
Craig
I've only really been actively selling (stocking more than just sets and
minifigs) for a few months but can't decide what is a fair minimum fee.
I'm in Canada and for example to ship a single minifig in an envelope the
post office charges $2.61. I used to charge $2.75 as I mostly reuse Amazon envelopes
but brought that up to $3.50 to help pay for labels, ink, tape etc. For sets
I would add maybe $1 to the shipping fee to cover packing as I would wrap sets
in brown kraft paper. Now that I sell parts I get lots of smaller orders, parts
are stored in tiny ziploc bags which re-order often & I've have to buy packs
of padded envelopes. The big thing I never considered is the time it takes to
pack orders... I just got an order of 68 lots and it took me 2 days of after-work
time to find it all (I've since added a maximum lots per order).
Long question short how much do you add, if anything, to cover packing materials
on a minimum order and do you charge a pick fee for multiple lots at a certain
point? Is there a way to automate that fee if so so the buyer sees it when ordering
and I just have to add a shipping fee?
Thank you again to all who take the time to read these things and reply, you've
all helped me several times before.
Craig
In general .50 combined into the shipping cost is somewhat normal. In general
it’s best to never charge % fees or fixed fees, put any % fees into the items
price and any fixed fees into the shipping cost.
The 68 lots order taking 2 days free time to pull sounds like it might more so
be a storage issue. With a good setup you can pull that in 30 min or less, so
perhaps try reworking your setup to speed things up
I've only really been actively selling (stocking more than just sets and
minifigs) for a few months but can't decide what is a fair minimum fee.
I'm in Canada and for example to ship a single minifig in an envelope the
post office charges $2.61. I used to charge $2.75 as I mostly reuse Amazon envelopes
but brought that up to $3.50 to help pay for labels, ink, tape etc. For sets
I would add maybe $1 to the shipping fee to cover packing as I would wrap sets
in brown kraft paper. Now that I sell parts I get lots of smaller orders, parts
are stored in tiny ziploc bags which re-order often & I've have to buy packs
of padded envelopes. The big thing I never considered is the time it takes to
pack orders... I just got an order of 68 lots and it took me 2 days of after-work
time to find it all (I've since added a maximum lots per order).
Long question short how much do you add, if anything, to cover packing materials
on a minimum order and do you charge a pick fee for multiple lots at a certain
point? Is there a way to automate that fee if so so the buyer sees it when ordering
and I just have to add a shipping fee?
Thank you again to all who take the time to read these things and reply, you've
all helped me several times before.
Craig
In general .50 combined into the shipping cost is somewhat normal. In general
it’s best to never charge % fees or fixed fees, put any % fees into the items
price and any fixed fees into the shipping cost.
The 68 lots order taking 2 days free time to pull sounds like it might more so
be a storage issue. With a good setup you can pull that in 30 min or less, so
perhaps try reworking your setup to speed things up
It's for sure a storage issue, I don't have the space to devote to nice
drawers for each type of part in each possible size which is my dream when i
get a larger place. I've improved a lot since getting that order though.
Do sellers in general take the time to pack larger orders into account or just
price a few percent higher to cover it across the board?
I've only really been actively selling (stocking more than just sets and
minifigs) for a few months but can't decide what is a fair minimum fee.
I'm in Canada and for example to ship a single minifig in an envelope the
post office charges $2.61. I used to charge $2.75 as I mostly reuse Amazon envelopes
but brought that up to $3.50 to help pay for labels, ink, tape etc. For sets
I would add maybe $1 to the shipping fee to cover packing as I would wrap sets
in brown kraft paper. Now that I sell parts I get lots of smaller orders, parts
are stored in tiny ziploc bags which re-order often & I've have to buy packs
of padded envelopes. The big thing I never considered is the time it takes to
pack orders... I just got an order of 68 lots and it took me 2 days of after-work
time to find it all (I've since added a maximum lots per order).
Long question short how much do you add, if anything, to cover packing materials
on a minimum order and do you charge a pick fee for multiple lots at a certain
point? Is there a way to automate that fee if so so the buyer sees it when ordering
and I just have to add a shipping fee?
Thank you again to all who take the time to read these things and reply, you've
all helped me several times before.
Craig
In general .50 combined into the shipping cost is somewhat normal. In general
it’s best to never charge % fees or fixed fees, put any % fees into the items
price and any fixed fees into the shipping cost.
The 68 lots order taking 2 days free time to pull sounds like it might more so
be a storage issue. With a good setup you can pull that in 30 min or less, so
perhaps try reworking your setup to speed things up
It's for sure a storage issue, I don't have the space to devote to nice
drawers for each type of part in each possible size which is my dream when i
get a larger place. I've improved a lot since getting that order though.
Do sellers in general take the time to pack larger orders into account or just
price a few percent higher to cover it across the board?
Generally many stores aims to reduce high lot low $ orders, so we usually try
to minimize inventory that would lead to sales like those, in part by raising
prices and aiming for qty of items rather then qty of lots (for specific items)
I've only really been actively selling (stocking more than just sets and
minifigs) for a few months but can't decide what is a fair minimum fee.
I'm in Canada and for example to ship a single minifig in an envelope the
post office charges $2.61. I used to charge $2.75 as I mostly reuse Amazon envelopes
but brought that up to $3.50 to help pay for labels, ink, tape etc. For sets
I would add maybe $1 to the shipping fee to cover packing as I would wrap sets
in brown kraft paper. Now that I sell parts I get lots of smaller orders, parts
are stored in tiny ziploc bags which re-order often & I've have to buy packs
of padded envelopes. The big thing I never considered is the time it takes to
pack orders... I just got an order of 68 lots and it took me 2 days of after-work
time to find it all (I've since added a maximum lots per order).
Long question short how much do you add, if anything, to cover packing materials
on a minimum order and do you charge a pick fee for multiple lots at a certain
point? Is there a way to automate that fee if so so the buyer sees it when ordering
and I just have to add a shipping fee?
Thank you again to all who take the time to read these things and reply, you've
all helped me several times before.
Craig
Keep it simple. Decide what amount you want/need to cover materials/ supplies
and add that to the shipping you are paying. No per lot fee, No % based fee,
No paypal fee, etc. These variable somewhat hidden fees really turn off buyers.
Some orders take more time to pack than others. If that is a problem raise your
prices or handling cost per order.
Canada, Quebec
USA, Michigan