O/T Shipping costs, How do you figure them out?

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 1/12/2007 8:59:49 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,

cjpearce writes:

 

How

do you figure out shipping fees on customers orders. All the things I

have in my on line store weigh different amounts and have different

dimensions, so I am stumped, how do I figure out shipping costs?

 

 

 

I used to send out separate invoices for shipping, but it got to be a

hassle, so I started looking through catalogs and such and realized that they

all

have a chart for shipping.

Most of them were pretty much the same prices and such, so I created the

same thing that I am now using.

It may be a few cents over or under here and there, but it's just a flat

rate per price group.

Like if the customer orders $1.00-$15.00 worth of stuff, then the shipping

is $4,95 and so on.

But here's the thing that I noticed too.

I went back through all my PP invoices and receipts from the PO, and it's

pretty much the same.

Most of the orders that I had in those price ranges were about $4-5 in

shipping.

So that made me feel better about doing a flat rate per price group.

HTH!

))

Michelle

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 1/12/2007 8:59:58 AM Eastern Standard Time,

cjpearce writes:

 

Does anyone know of a nice piece of software that can figure this out

for me and automatically apply it to my order? I do know the weight and

dimensions of everything I carry,

 

 

A good shopping cart has the option of putting the weight in for every item

and will figure out the weight total....Then depending on who you ship

with...USPS, UPS, etc you can set up an account on their site that then

figures

total shipping based on weight. That's what our cart does.

 

Maureen Rogers

 

The Herb Growing & Marketing Network

PO Box 245, Silver Spring, PA 17575

717-393-3295; FAX: 717-393-9261

herbworld.com and herbnet.com

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 1/12/2007 9:28:16 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,

chrisziggy writes:

 

I can get

an order from one customer for a few grams of Rose Otto whose retail

cost is over $50, while another customer may order 2 lbs of Almond Oil

that retails for under $10 ...

 

 

Augh!!! Thankfully I don't have that problem! I'd be up the creek if so!

))

Michelle

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

If you have a paypal shopping cart, then the paypal site offers a few different

ways of doing it.

You can enter shipping cost per item .. which gets tricky because if someone

orders 2 essential

oils then you don't want t ocharge them two shipping fees.

 

Search the paypal help area for answers... paypal is limited in their shipping

solutions. I am sure

someone on paypal has the answer

 

wendy

www.gardenplum.com

 

 

-

Carol

Friday, January 12, 2007 11:55 AM

O/T Shipping costs, How do you figure them out?

 

 

Thought I would get a discussion going on here about shipping fees, How

do you figure out shipping fees on customers orders. All the things I

have in my on line store weigh different amounts and have different

dimensions, so I am stumped, how do I figure out shipping costs?

 

Right now, I invoice separately for shipping, which makes me feel guilty

frankly, and gives paypal a bigger slice of my pie. No-one wants to pay

twice for an item, however, I don't want to either be ripping off Mr.

Consumer or myself.

 

Does anyone know of a nice piece of software that can figure this out

for me and automatically apply it to my order? I do know the weight and

dimensions of everything I carry, This will be my weekend project, so

any suggestions would be great.

 

Carol

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Carol,

 

I weigh each item, then the weight gets added to the database in the shopping

cart software. It then connects with usps and calculates the postage

automatically.

 

What kind of database are you using?

 

Judy

Green Dragon Herbals

 

 

 

TV dinner still cooling?

Check out " Tonight's Picks " on TV.

 

 

[Guest guest]

Carol wrote:

> Thought I would get a discussion going on here about shipping fees, How

> do you figure out shipping fees on customers orders. All the things I

> have in my on line store weigh different amounts and have different

> dimensions, so I am stumped, how do I figure out shipping costs?

>

> Right now, I invoice separately for shipping, which makes me feel guilty

> frankly, and gives paypal a bigger slice of my pie. No-one wants to pay

> twice for an item, however, I don't want to either be ripping off Mr.

> Consumer or myself.

>

> Does anyone know of a nice piece of software that can figure this out

> for me and automatically apply it to my order? I do know the weight and

> dimensions of everything I carry, This will be my weekend project, so

> any suggestions would be great.

>

> Carol

>

>

Hi Carol,

 

You are correct that is a pain in the arse to send out a separate bill

for the shipping costs on every one of your orders. That, and it is a

inefficient use of time. To use a phrase that Butch always drums into my

head (and I have to drum back into his head sometimes *lol*) - work

smarter not harder

 

My cart lets me set up shipping several different ways. One is to put in

a weight for each item (and don't forget to figure in some weight for

packing material and another is like Michelle mentioned - rates by

order total: $1 - $15 is X amount while $16 - $35 is y amount, etc ... ).

 

Choice #2 doesn't work so well though for someone like me. If all my

stuff weighed relatively the same it would be an option, but I can get

an order from one customer for a few grams of Rose Otto whose retail

cost is over $50, while another customer may order 2 lbs of Almond Oil

that retails for under $10 ... so I use the weight method ....

 

I do have a little disclaimer telling customers that the cart shipping

cost is an estimate so it MIGHT have to be slightly adjusted either way

(more or less), say if a box is going to be excessively large, or if I

can fit the order into a flat rate envelope, or if insurance needs to be

added ... but at least they get a pretty close idea, if not the actual

cost, of what shipping is going to be.

 

*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

http://www.alittleolfactory.com

[Guest guest]

I feel the best way, but it does take some time up front is to get

all your product weighed and list all the weights with your shopping

cart. Then UPS, FedEx or what ever shipper you use can compute the

shipping. I am still in the process of setting this up but I am sure

it will be worth the time.

John

 

 

 

, Carol <cjpearce wrote:

>

> Thought I would get a discussion going on here about shipping fees,

How

> do you figure out shipping fees on customers orders. All the things

I

> have in my on line store weigh different amounts and have different

> dimensions, so I am stumped, how do I figure out shipping costs?

>

> Right now, I invoice separately for shipping, which makes me feel

guilty

> frankly, and gives paypal a bigger slice of my pie. No-one wants to

pay

> twice for an item, however, I don't want to either be ripping off

Mr.

> Consumer or myself.

>

> Does anyone know of a nice piece of software that can figure this

out

> for me and automatically apply it to my order? I do know the weight

and

> dimensions of everything I carry, This will be my weekend project,

so

> any suggestions would be great.

>

> Carol

>

[Guest guest]

Hi,

 

I use canadapost - in fact they come to my warehouse and pick it up. Yes, you

have to have the dimensions and the weight of each package before you can

calculate shipping.

 

Sometimes a very large box that weighs hardly anything will cost you

considerably more than you would think.

 

What we do, is pack the box and then weigh and measure it. Its not just the

popcorn, its also the weight of the box, and the weight of say, bottles -

 

Canadapost is considerably more difficult to work with than USPS is - however,

with the hassle beginning shortly in that we have to report electronically all

items we would wish to ship from the us, we have decided to use Canada Post.

 

I swear a lot when I am using Canada Post's program.,

 

Mary

Well, Naturally

 

 

 

 

 

-

Carol

Friday, January 12, 2007 11:02 AM

Re: Re: O/T Shipping costs, How do you figure them

out?

 

 

Thanks, I have actually done all that, my problem or confusion is with

Canada post, to get the correct shipping with them, I need to include

the size of the box, that I will be shipping the items in. And once you

include packaging materials, (those silly little foamy things) my box

size increases dramatically and this will often change the price I am

charged, this is what I have been led to believe from my local Canada

Post Rep.

Canada post tells me that in order to set up a link with them as they

will be my main shipper, I need the weight and dimensions of each item,

so should I weigh each item wrapped to figure out the shipping? See my

confusion, Canada post have no idea. Thats why I put this line of

questioning out there, I need to see how others deal with this.

 

Thanks to everyone who has contributed answers, you are certainly giving

me lots to think about and thanks to those who have answered off line.

Time for a tea now I think, lol..

 

blckfox wrote:

>

> I feel the best way, but it does take some time up front is to get

> all your product weighed and list all the weights with your shopping

> cart. Then UPS, FedEx or what ever shipper you use can compute the

> shipping. I am still in the process of setting this up but I am sure

> it will be worth the time.

> John

>

 

>

>

 

[Guest guest]

Thought I would get a discussion going on here about shipping fees, How

do you figure out shipping fees on customers orders. All the things I

have in my on line store weigh different amounts and have different

dimensions, so I am stumped, how do I figure out shipping costs?

 

Right now, I invoice separately for shipping, which makes me feel guilty

frankly, and gives paypal a bigger slice of my pie. No-one wants to pay

twice for an item, however, I don't want to either be ripping off Mr.

Consumer or myself.

 

Does anyone know of a nice piece of software that can figure this out

for me and automatically apply it to my order? I do know the weight and

dimensions of everything I carry, This will be my weekend project, so

any suggestions would be great.

 

Carol

[Guest guest]

Carol,

The Post Office, UPS and all the other shippers have those price lists and

will give you one if you ask for them. They have to tell you how much they are

charging you. You will have to call them all though as they charge differently.

Call them and ask what to do. If you get that you can figure the cost by

measurement and weight.

Lynn

 

Carol <cjpearce wrote:

Database? LOL, I don't have one of those, but I'd love to hear what

one

you use.

See, I knew this was going to be a good topic, lol..At the moment I am

just a tiny little business with big hopes and dreams, so I'm not yet

that advanced but hope to be by Monday.

 

Carol

 

Earthfinds wrote:

>

> Carol,

>

> I weigh each item, then the weight gets added to the database in the

> shopping cart software. It then connects with usps and calculates the

> postage automatically.

>

> What kind of database are you using?

>

> Judy

> Green Dragon Herbals

>

> -

>

>

> -------------------------

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels

in 45,000 destinations on Travel to find your fit.

 

 

[Guest guest]

Database? LOL, I don't have one of those, but I'd love to hear what one

you use.

See, I knew this was going to be a good topic, lol..At the moment I am

just a tiny little business with big hopes and dreams, so I'm not yet

that advanced but hope to be by Monday.

 

Carol

 

Earthfinds wrote:

>

> Carol,

>

> I weigh each item, then the weight gets added to the database in the

> shopping cart software. It then connects with usps and calculates the

> postage automatically.

>

> What kind of database are you using?

>

> Judy

> Green Dragon Herbals

>

> -

>

>

>

--\

-------------------

[Guest guest]

This sounds like me, lol.. I received and order before Christmas, for

one item a small dragon knife, and shipping was $7, did an order two

days ago, box was 300 times the size, order was for over 100 bucks,

shipping was 6.95.

 

It drives me insane, lol..Not like I need anymore help in that department.

 

Carol

>

>

> In a message dated 1/12/2007 9:28:16 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,

> chrisziggy <chrisziggy%40earthlink.net> writes:

>

> I can get

> an order from one customer for a few grams of Rose Otto whose retail

> cost is over $50, while another customer may order 2 lbs of Almond Oil

> that retails for under $10 ...

>

>

>

--\

-------------------

[Guest guest]

Thanks, I have actually done all that, my problem or confusion is with

Canada post, to get the correct shipping with them, I need to include

the size of the box, that I will be shipping the items in. And once you

include packaging materials, (those silly little foamy things) my box

size increases dramatically and this will often change the price I am

charged, this is what I have been led to believe from my local Canada

Post Rep.

Canada post tells me that in order to set up a link with them as they

will be my main shipper, I need the weight and dimensions of each item,

so should I weigh each item wrapped to figure out the shipping? See my

confusion, Canada post have no idea. Thats why I put this line of

questioning out there, I need to see how others deal with this.

 

Thanks to everyone who has contributed answers, you are certainly giving

me lots to think about and thanks to those who have answered off line.

Time for a tea now I think, lol..

 

 

 

 

 

 

blckfox wrote:

>

> I feel the best way, but it does take some time up front is to get

> all your product weighed and list all the weights with your shopping

> cart. Then UPS, FedEx or what ever shipper you use can compute the

> shipping. I am still in the process of setting this up but I am sure

> it will be worth the time.

> John

>

 

 

 

 

>

>

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Thanks to everyone for their help, I need somehow to be able to

invoice my customer before they actually pay at paypal. I have looked

at Mal's e-commerce and can't see where I could do it there. I have

written to paypal asking them for suggestions.

 

If I come up with a solution, I'll post it.. Thanks again everyone and

have a great weekend.

 

Carol

[Guest guest]

HI Carol,

 

Canadapost will send you the software to use - you put in the address etc. and

then the weight and dimensions, and it will calculate shipping and give you a

label and then a manifest at the end.

 

There is an alternate option, where you fill in forms and then go to the post

office and they will put the postage on. In this case Canadapost will provide

you with a table, and you can estimate the postage etc.

 

Mary

Well, Naturally

 

 

 

 

-

Lynn Rivarde

Friday, January 12, 2007 8:55 AM

Re: Re: O/T Shipping costs, How do you figure them

out?

 

 

I used to do the shipping for a company I worked for. What we did was get the

package ready to go, THEN weigh it and get the dimentions of the box, say as an

example 4x2x6 " . Then I would call UPS or whoever I was sending it by including

the Post Office and they would tell me how much it would cost to send, also

sending a package out of the US you have to fill out a Bill of Lading this tells

the what is inside the box, and the value of the products

Lynn.

Carol <cjpearce wrote:

Thanks, I have actually done all that, my problem or confusion is with

Canada post, to get the correct shipping with them, I need to include

the size of the box, that I will be shipping the items in. And once you

include packaging materials, (those silly little foamy things) my box

size increases dramatically and this will often change the price I am

charged, this is what I have been led to believe from my local Canada

Post Rep.

Canada post tells me that in order to set up a link with them as they

will be my main shipper, I need the weight and dimensions of each item,

so should I weigh each item wrapped to figure out the shipping? See my

confusion, Canada post have no idea. Thats why I put this line of

questioning out there, I need to see how others deal with this.

 

Thanks to everyone who has contributed answers, you are certainly giving

me lots to think about and thanks to those who have answered off line.

Time for a tea now I think, lol..

 

blckfox wrote:

>

> I feel the best way, but it does take some time up front is to get

> all your product weighed and list all the weights with your shopping

> cart. Then UPS, FedEx or what ever shipper you use can compute the

> shipping. I am still in the process of setting this up but I am sure

> it will be worth the time.

> John

>

 

>

>

 

[Guest guest]

Thanks to everyone for their help, I need somehow to be able to

invoice my customer before they actually pay at paypal. I have looked

at Mal's e-commerce and can't see where I could do it there. I have

written to paypal asking them for suggestions.

 

If I come up with a solution, I'll post it.. Thanks again everyone and

have a great weekend.

 

Carol

[Guest guest]

> In a message dated 1/12/2007 8:59:49 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,

> cjpearce writes:

>

> How do you figure out shipping fees on customers orders. All the things I

> have in my on line store weigh different amounts and have different

> dimensions, so I am stumped, how do I figure out shipping costs?

 

My shopping cart software does it for me. OSCommerce (it's free) has you list a

product weight for each item. Then you also

set the packaging weight (tare weight), your shipping preferences (for instance,

I downloaded a module from the Post Office

for OSCommerce) and then it does the work.

 

OSCommerce was one of a few free shopping options from my hosting company but a

lot of places use them. I think their site is

www.oscommerce.com. They also have paid versions but I don't need those

features. The free version is more than sufficient

for running a robust e-commerce site.

 

Beth

--

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-- Jeremy Schwartz

" If you can DREAM it, you CAN do it. Always remember, this whole thing was

started by a mouse. " -- Walt Disney

" You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come

true. You may have to work for it, however. "

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Clicking on http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com helps abandoned and abused

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[Guest guest]

Hi Carol,

 

I have Mals and with the free cart you have several limited options for

it to calculate shipping (including tiered & weight options) ... if you

have the paid version of the cart you can set up all kinds of shipping

options including Canadian, International, etc .. and have it set up

directly with the USPS, Fed Ex and UPS calculators ...

 

*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

http://www.alittleolfactory.com

 

 

nessie1_1999 wrote:

> Thanks to everyone for their help, I need somehow to be able to

> invoice my customer before they actually pay at paypal. I have looked

> at Mal's e-commerce and can't see where I could do it there. I have

> written to paypal asking them for suggestions.

>

> If I come up with a solution, I'll post it.. Thanks again everyone and

> have a great weekend.

>

> Carol

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Carol,

 

If the shipping total is different than the cart calculated, and the

customer paid already through PayPal, then I either refund them

difference if applicable, or I have to *sigh* go through that extra

redundant step of sending them an updated invoice and a payment request

for the shipping difference.

 

If they paid by CC then I just e-mail them an updated invoice and tell

them I'm charging them the adjusted total.

 

If the shipping was grossly more expensive than the cart calculated I'd

of course contact them about it.

 

Dunno what to tell you though about what you mentioned in the other

message about using the Canadian Post as your main shipper and needing

to figure in box sizes .....

 

*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

http://www.alittleolfactory.com

 

 

Carol wrote:

> So what do you do, do you re -bill them? I think my problem has to do

> with my shopping cart set up, I use Mal's. and the last order I received

> , I found out about through paypal, because I received a payment for it.

> I do know that this just isn't working and it needs fixed, this is my

> weekend to do it.

>

> Carol

> Christine Ziegler wrote:

>

>> I do have a little disclaimer telling customers that the cart shipping

>> cost is an estimate so it MIGHT have to be slightly adjusted either

>> way (more or less), say if a box is going to be excessively large, or

>> if I can fit the order into a flat rate envelope, or if insurance

>> needs to be added ... but at least they get a pretty close idea, if

>> not the actual cost, of what shipping is going to be.*Smile*Chris

>> (list mom)http://www.alittleolfactory.com

>> <http://www.alittleolfactory.com

>>

[Guest guest]

John wrote:

I am still in the process of setting this up but I am sure

it will be worth the time.

John

 

Speaking as a customer, let me give that

a big Thumbs Up!

I don't know how often I have backed

out of buying something online because

the shipping cost to Canada is prohibitive.

It is nice to know those things ahead of

time.

 

Ien in the Kootenays

http://freegreenliving.com

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Ieneke van Houten wrote:

> John wrote:

> I am still in the process of setting this up but I am sure

> it will be worth the time.

> John

>

> Speaking as a customer, let me give that

> a big Thumbs Up!

> I don't know how often I have backed

> out of buying something online because

> the shipping cost to Canada is prohibitive.

> It is nice to know those things ahead of

> time.

>

> Ien in the Kootenays

> http://freegreenliving.com

>

Hi Ien,

 

One thing I hate about the shopping cart shipping calculators,

especially when it comes to international shipments, is there is really

no good way to factor in the " Flat Rate Envelope " option until the order

is reviewed by a human.

 

Perfect example .. I shipped a package to Portugal a couple weeks back.

Looking at the " standard " international shipping options, this package

was going to cost her about $25US to ship! Yikes! But it was all able to

fit into a Global Priority Flat Rate Envelope for only $9.50.

 

Also, I had a domestic US customer place an order that came to about 5

lbs. To ship it in a box would cost her more than if I put it a Priority

Flat Rate Envelope (which it did fit in), so I did that for her and it

saved her a few $$$.

 

So boys and girls, the moral of the story is ... don't always back out

of that order .. if it isn't a particularly large order (actual product

mass) e-mail the company and see if it can possibly be shipped via Flat

Rate Envelope!

 

*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

http://www.alittleolfactory.com

[Guest guest]

While on my quest to find answers, I came across a web site that had a

link to this article. I found it very interesting and thought I would

share it.

 

http://www.marketingexperiments.com/improving-website-conversion/shipping-charge\

s.html

 

Enjoy..

 

Carol