Free shipping question

[LifesMosaics]

I want to offer free shipping in the US, but not Canada as it costs more to ship there. Is there any way around this?

[thecheapskirt]

I've found it costs about the same to ship First Class mail to Canada as it does to ship to the US.

But you could always use the shipping matrix and put in 0 for all of the US destinations (US mainland, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, etc) and then fill out the dollar amounts you want to charge for shipping to other countries.

[LifesMosaics]

Without my shipping discount, or with it, with these items, its over 1.00 difference. So that's past what I want to spend. I was hoping for an easy fix like not including Canada. Doing the matrix would seem to be a nightmare, as I do ship around the world on my other sites too. Those prices range from 1.64 to 6.12 (I think) depending on the buyers country. Any other thoughts?

[cosmicray]

[MoonwishesStore]

Not sure what you sell, but I use the matrix exclusively and ship all over the world with it. It is possible and for me the absolute easiest of the shipping programs to use.

Do you really have a selling strategy that you feel that free shipping is going to be worthwhile? Have you calculated both the cost of the postage, packaging and delivery confirmation in the cost of free shipping? Have you run the numbers for yourself and your store? I think many sellers see threads or opinions that say you get whatever benefit out of using free shipping, but unless you are charging enough for your items, you will be making less money and not more. Even Amazon expects you to spend at least $25 to get free shipping unless you pay them $70+ a year for it for all your purchases. They are a big company and can swallow the costs of that on volume and if they didn't make more money that way, I guarantee you they wouldn't offer it. Just something for you to think about.

[SheilaDeesPostcards]

[thecheapskirt]

Actually when that connectivity goes down, you can end up shipping to the US free as well. Anything not filled out in the matrix.

And I disagree that it doesn't happen a lot. Last holiday season I had 10-20 orders in the course of 2 days default back from calculated to the matrix (I believe there were problems with the USPS site because I also could not get Express Mail delivery date info those dates either).

At $8-$25 apiece in shipping alone just within the US, that would have been a loss I was not willing to risk.

[SheilaDeesPostcards]

@ thecheapskirt ... The example I gave for the OP was based on the fact they want free shipping for all the US. If all the US is free shipping, there would be no need to complete the shipping matrix for the US since there are no domestic shipping methods listed for the USPS calculated shipping.

Thanks for your information regarding your experience with the USPS timing out during the holidays. I had been lead to believe it didn't happen that often and I've had limited experience with the calculated shipping. Almost all my orders have been based on the shipping matrix. I'm glad to have the additional information and I know you have had a lot of experience with the USPS calculated shipping. I think of you every time I'm out picking and see sweaters that would be great in your store.

[MoonwishesStore]

I sent a box of items to a missionary about a month ago and packed them in an Avon box. The PO had me cover up all the codes, etc. that showed the types of potentially problem products that the box had originally been used for, so that brings me to my question since this is what the OP is selling as well as other sellers.

Is it legal to ship fingernail polish, etc. via the USPS?

[SheilaDeesPostcards]

I would think it would depend on the country to which you are shipping. I think some countries might have restrictions on cosmetics. Also, a box that was clearly from Avon might be more likely to "go missing".

[MoonwishesStore]

I meant even shipping fingernail polish in the states. Their concern at the PO was covering up all the codes that showed what was in the box had contents that weren't allowed in the mail (toxic, fire, explosuon hazards, etc). So if an Avon box going to the Avon dealer had to go UPS, it makes me wonder which items that the Avon (and other makeup sellers) sale are not allowed to be in the US mail.

[thriftygalcollectibles]

[quote="thecheapskirt"]Actually when that connectivity goes down, you can end up shipping to the US free as well. Anything not filled out in the matrix.

This happened to me, I did not have anything filled out in the matrix and my first sale was zero shipping. I have since gone to the USPS site and printed out the current shipping prices for all of the zones and filled in the matrix with those prices. Took a while to click, but I got it!

[cosmicray]