Shipping (out) cost.

[DWinMadison]

no it isn't magic but I guess I gotta admit it makes me proud that he thinks so highly of the soap I make

Well, I mean, it's not $2.50/bar worth of magic.

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

Well, I mean, it's not $2.50/bar worth of magic.

I have a hard time with the $5 a bar I charge--my son told me I am definitely not my target market. I was going to say cuz I am cheap but there really isn't much cheap about making soap

 

[DWinMadison]

I have a hard time with the $5 a bar I charge--my son told me I am definitely not my target market. I was going to say cuz I am cheap but there really isn't much cheap about making soap

And I feel guilty taking $$$, so I give it all away.

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

And I feel guilty taking $$$, so I give it all away.

I probably give more away then I sell--or I give a lot of deals

 

[DeeAnna]

...My issue is the cost of shipping compared to the price of the product....

I'm really sensitive to it too, but I can't see how to ship small orders for much less than about $8 per package, unless you get into shipping via USPS first class and ignore incidental expenses related to shipping. To be honest, it doesn't make sense to ship a single bar or two of soap.

I totally agree it's painful to see a person spend $15 on merchandise and pay another $8 for the shipping, but that's how it is. I don't make a lot of profit on $15 items and I ship a lot of those, especially around Christmas time. I can't realistically discount shipping on small orders and expect to stay in the black. I ship about 500 packages a year, so I need to know what it costs me to ship all those packages and make sure that expense is covered.

When I order supplies, I estimate my shipping cost will be 20-30% of my merchandise cost for orders under a few hundred dollars. For orders above that, the shipping is more like 8% to 15% of the merchandise cost. Buying larger amounts makes shipping a lot more economical, but it's hard to apply this "buy big" model to bars of handmade soap.

 

[Lin19687]

FYI, all of my sent boxes cost about $7.60 to send, and I charge $8.
And like I said before I do not use padded envelopes. Mailmen toss these things all over and I don't want to have a customer complain about the product being damaged.

 

[earlene]

As a customer, I have learned that the shipping costs are part of the cost of ordering online, (or by catalogue, before online ordering even existed.) When I want a product enough, and can only get it by having it shipped to me, that's what I do. That doesn't stop me from shopping around for the best deal, but when I find what I want, if I have to pay a little more and no one else has it, that's what I do or I go without.

Remember that shipping costs offset the cost of me having to drive somewhere (or take public transportation when & if that is an option, which it's not very often considering where I currently live) and all the hassles of shopping in person for whatever product I want. When I do travel a fair distance to purchase what I want, it tends to be quite costly and can really cut into a huge chunk of time.

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

As a customer, I have learned that the shipping costs are part of the cost of ordering online, (or by catalogue, before online ordering even existed.) When I want a product enough, and can only get it by having it shipped to me, that's what I do. That doesn't stop me from shopping around for the best deal, but when I find what I want, if I have to pay a little more and no one else has it, that's what I do or I go without.

Remember that shipping costs offset the cost of me having to drive somewhere (or take public transportation when & if that is an option, which it's not very often considering where I currently live) and all the hassles of shopping in person for whatever product I want. When I do travel a fair distance to purchase what I want, it tends to be quite costly and can really cut into a huge chunk of time.

What she said!!!!!!

 

[SideDoorSoaps]

Shipping costs are the reason I don’t like to sell online. I’ve set up a local pick up or flat $7.95 rate option. Most people pick up. People who do buy online buy enough that I can ship usually for $7.95 either flat rate or regular mail cost. I’ve only eaten a few overages.

I’ve also tried a subscription box. It didn’t really go well. I spent more time figuring out the schedule of what goes in the box than what paid off.