Teach Soap

I think the two issues I am struggling with the most when it comes to either of the craft sale sites is how to take care of the shipping & taxes. Am I overthinking it? It just seems like it's too complicated trying to figure out how to mark your shipping costs. This whole business of "Cost" and "With Additional Item" feels so constricting. In my case, I'm planning to use USPS priority standard flat rate so it will never change, but how can I convey that to the customer without feeling like I'm misleading them ? I feel like most will purchase at least 3 or more soaps, not this one or two item bit that they seem to be pushing. Does that make sense?

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- Stacey -

Anyone's life truly consists of work, sunshine, exercise, soap, plenty of fresh air, and a happy contented spirit. - Lillie Langtry

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- Stacey -

Anyone's life truly consists of work, sunshine, exercise, soap, plenty of fresh air, and a happy contented spirit. - Lillie Langtry

I believe that you can set that up in Paypal. Right now, mine is set up for my county.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Look at the shipping fee schedules from other sellers. You'll find some common themes.

You may also want to check your library or purchase this book: How to Sell Your Crafts Online: A Step-by-Step Guide to Successful Sales on Etsy and Beyond. It walks you through the etsy set-up process step-by-step.

I have a question about etsy shipping. I read through all the paperwork and forums and still cant figure out how people find the rates for the "second item shipping".

How can that be accurate, when you need to weight and measure your parcel afterwards.

I do not want to be giving wrong shipping costs to clients either.

So how do I calculate the second item shipping cost? (does this mean same item, or a different product?)


Do you charge tax as well? Or because you dont make over 30 grand a year you don't ask for taxes?

Need to clear up some confusion.
Thank You!

Since I mostly sell soap, it isn't that much more to ship another bar. My shipping for the second soap is $1.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

In WA state, they don't care how much you make annually - they want their share of sales taxes no matter what.

This is a great topic as I'm going to set up an Etsy store too. I'm trying to figure out the shipping and don't see how others are charging so little (i.e. $2.50) what w/ packaging plus postage. How do you who do this already package up your soaps? Padded envelopes? What is the most used size that I should get? Where do you get them on line (I don't live near a big box office store.)

Thank you all so much!

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On their own, my eyeballs are purely ornamental (Sweet Potato Queens)

There's a really good blog here

http://www.gotogreatpanes.com/blog/shipping/

http://www.gotogreatpanes.com/blog/sale ... istration/

She's a very successful Etsy seller and has the best blog posts about shipping and sales taxes and regular taxes that I've come across.

Connie

Oh, just found this one she did - specifically about calculating "second item" shipping.

http://www.gotogreatpanes.com/blog/2009 ... -shipping/

Connie

I placed 5 soap and bath & beauty orders on Etsy from within the top 20 highest volume sellers to see how they were packaged, shipped and wrapped. All arrived in padded envelopes with an average of 7 days delivery time, much longer than I expected. All were shipped USPS First Class mail. I adjusted my ship time policies to reflect longer package & ship times as a result. All except one took 2-3 days to ship the packages, not including delivery time.

Most post offices are no longer open on Saturdays so that might account for some of the slower shipping times. Doesn't Etsy urge you to try to ship within 24 hours? Taking 2-3 days is a long time unless it's a really busy time like the holidays.

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Linda

I learn so much when I can't leave well enough alone!

Etsy doesn't care about shipping turnaround. Some items (quilts or furniture, for example, can take a month or longer to make). They only get involved in a dispute if the time frame the seller has included in the listing is not met and the buyer files a claim with Etsy.

I think processing time varies dramatically between "decorative" (not loaf) M&P and Cold or Hot Process soap. For my decorative M&P soaps I don't keep any inventory. For my loaf M&P soaps I make eight bars at a time, so I may have limited inventory on those. My decorative soaps are made when an order is placed and paid for. On large custom orders (I just did 420 M&P hearts for an engagement party), my lead time was 30 days. And, for that order (buyer was in California), I sent samples first so they could select exact colors they wanted. I have found that especially for weddings and showers, sending already made color samples heads off lots of issues since computer monitors display colors so differently. And, when someone says, "shades of peach" color, it's hard to know what they really mean (that was my engagement party color).

I use the 3-5 business days choice for processing (it's one of the Etsy choices in a listing). That way I always have a weekend if I need it. If for any reason the order will be delayed (like now, because of the extreme heat), I am in constant touch with my buyers, making sure their order wasn't a rush or needed by a specific day. Most times, and I say it in my automatic note that goes to all buyers, soap will ship sooner than the listing says and they will always get a shipping confirmation with tracking number when it does.

It's all about customer service, in my opinion.

Connie