On 19 Jul 2005 19:48:54 -0700, wrote:

I'm having a real hard time trying to figure fair shipping costs for my
items. As many of you know I sell CLTL (Carpe Lignum, Torne Lignum)
items and now have a stainless steel bottle stopper. This is not an
ad for those items, my problem is how to charge for shipping and should
I add a handling fee? I hate handling fees, however, I'm learning
there is a cost to handling. I've been quoting exact shipping to zip
codes. After buying tissue paper, bubble wrap and tape, then there's
the PayPal fees, ..... well, you get the picture.

Am I making this a bigger deal than it really is? Could I add $1 or
more to cover these expenses? I'm driving myself crazy trying to be
fair but not lose money. Guess that comes from raising 4 kids alone
and struggling forever, sort of like people I know who lived through
the Depression and are still afraid of losing their money. My, I
hadn't expected to go off like this, I was just going to ask a simple
little question. Sorry.

Any opinions? advice? suggestions?

Ruth
www.torne-lignum.com

I don't think there is a really GOOD way to handle (no pun intended) those
expenses...
The best that I've come up with, from being on the buying and selling end
several times, is that Paypal is a way to get more sales, and I eat the cost of
that...
I try to figure out how much it costs to pack something, and take it to the post
office if UPS isn't picking it up, because if I don't, I burn up profit unless I
raise the item price or charge handling...

I hate the term "shipping and handling" and think most folks do... it doesn't
say how much is handling and is usually a way to make a profit on handling, like
a lot of the stuff on ebay..

I think for example, that on a small item, you state that the shipping will be
whatever the actual charge to you is, add a $2 (or whatever it costs you)
handling charge, state that it IS a handling charge, and mention that you care
enough to make sure that your items are well wrapped, folks will go along with
the charge... YMMV
Mac
03 Tahoe Widelite 26GT Travel Trailer
replaced 1958 Hilite tent trailer
99 Dodge Ram QQ 2wd - 5.9L, auto, 3:55 gears