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tigercreekgifts
Posts: 6293
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 Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 11:48 am Post subject: |
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| kerioproducts wrote: | | My fear is that if I overpriced Alaska and Hawaii to avoid shipping there, I could be hit with a shipping violation. |
A shipping violation? No, you are allowed to set your Hawaii and Alaska prices to whatever you want, even if you want to charge them an extra $15 in hopes that no one from those 2 states will buy from you. That's why they allow you to pick separate prices for those 2 states, because you can choose your price. But, you still have to be willing to ship to someone if they are willing to pay you the extra you are charging. Chances are you won't get any sales from those states as those buyers will back out of the checkout when they see the price but, if you have something someone really wants they may be willing to pay that ridiculous shipping fee anyway and you would still be obligated to ship to them.
May I ask why you don't want to ship there? As long as you mail those packages out in Priority mail flat rate boxes/envs then you won't have to worry about not charging them the right amount. With first class, it does cost a little extra to mail to Hawaii and Alaska but like I said, use Flat Rate boxes and charge buyers from those states for the flat rate prices and you'll always know exactly how much it's going to cost to ship there. I charge a little extra on all first class packages going to those states. |
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MoonwishesStore
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Posts: 17389
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| Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 12:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | With first class, it does cost a little extra to mail to Hawaii and Alaska but like I said, |
I beg to differ on that Tiger. Both first class mail and media mail have NO surcharge for Alaska or Hawaii. The cost the same as sending something across the street. No reason to charge extra for first class mail to them. |
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tigercreekgifts
Posts: 6293
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| Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 4:04 pm Post subject: |
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| MoonwishesStore wrote: | | I beg to differ on that Tiger. Both first class mail and media mail have NO surcharge for Alaska or Hawaii. The cost the same as sending something across the street. No reason to charge extra for first class mail to them. |
Then how come on two separate occasions I sold the exact same product to two buyers. One was shipped to Alaska and one to Florida, the 2nd time this happened one was shipped to Hawaii and the other sent to Missouri and both times the exact same item in the exact same packaging ended up costing about 20 cents more to ship to my Alaska and Hawaii customers. It goes by what zone you are in when you ship first class and the prices vary per zone. I wasn't saying there is an extra surcharge but, it does cost more for the basic rate to ship there.
I've also shipped an identical item one to a buyer in Pennsylvania and it cost $3.14 and one to a buyer in Arizona and it cost $3.27 so, it was a zone price variance. |
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cosmicray
Posts: 7286
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| Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 5:45 pm Post subject: |
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| tigercreekgifts wrote: | | It goes by what zone you are in when you ship first class and the prices vary per zone. I wasn't saying there is an extra surcharge but, it does cost more for the basic rate to ship there. |
uhhh .... No. Not correct. USPS First Class Parcel is not zoned. If I ship the exact same item across the street, or to Alaska, or to Puerto Rico, it is exactly the same cost for a given weight between 3-oz and 13-oz.
If you were using Media Mail, or something other than USPS First Class, then you may have encountered a zoned rate scale. |
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tigercreekgifts
Posts: 6293
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| Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 6:29 pm Post subject: |
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| The why did I check my receipts those times and it shows that both packages (which were envelopes, not boxes) were shipped via first class and it showed two different prices for them? They were not shipped media mail. My post office never tries to send anything via media mail unless I request it specifically for a book or dvd. I asked my post office why the prices were different and she said it was going by zone rates. I'm not hallucinating this so, either you all are just not using the same type of service I was using or my post office is charging by zone when they shouldn't be. This has happened 3 times. |
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SammysSupplies
Posts: 1631
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| Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 9:36 pm Post subject: |
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Tiger, you go to the PO to mail? I think that is where the difference is. I know when used to go there, each package was a different weight, so different shipping costs. Now that I am using Stamps, I get a fixed price for mailing. I was wondering why it was always the same, but this explains the difference.
You should switch, the cost difference is amazing. If you use tracking on packages, the fee alone would pay for a mail service. |
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MoonwishesStore
moderator
Posts: 17389
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| Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 8:51 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | If you were using Media Mail, or something other than USPS First Class, then you may have encountered a zoned rate scale. |
Media mail isn't set up by zones and neither is first class. First class mail does have a non-machinable surcharge price but neither of these classes of mail have anything to do with zones. I confirmed this by looking at the usps website just now.
I use endicia postage program and my scale and no matter where in the US they go, my first class mail only changes due to weight and the prices per ounce are always the same. (same with media mail when I used to ship that way regularly). PR is also included in the first class rates as well so no surcharge with them either. I mailed something there a few weeks ago for the same $1.69 that most of my things ship for.
tiger--didn't you once say you don't weigh anything or was that someone else? If you think something is 4 ounces but it really was 5, the price would go up. Of course if you are doing this at the PO they should be weighing your goods. You might like to speak to the postmaster there to find out why the prices seem to be changing on you as they certainly aren't supposed to be unless you are doing some real funky packaging that is creating a surcharge. |
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kerioproducts
Posts: 71
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| Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 12:24 pm Post subject: |
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| A couple of reasons. One is because a few of my items drop ship and my shipper does not ship to these regions, and getting them to ship to me then shipping to the buyer, in my opinion, would not be worth the hassle and delay. Second, if I try to convey the distinction that I ship some items to these regions and others not, Im worried about confusing buyers that will check out when they are not supposed to. Also, some of the heavy items I will be selling will make a whole lot of difference shipping through UPS for these regions. So basically, I would have liked to simplify matters and not ship there. But if that will make the difference between showing on google and not, then I'll ship to Antarctica if need be. I doubt that is the issue, however. Tracy from ecrater has not addressed this issue to me, and from reading their policy, google doesnt seem to frown upon it. Thanks. [/quote] |
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kerioproducts
Posts: 71
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| Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 12:54 pm Post subject: |
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| Got a question for you guys. For listings that I hide with the "hide this product" feature, will google take them into consideration for the feed? The reason I ask is because I intend to buy some time with the feature, and edit them one by one with the unedited hidden. Thanks. |
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dccollectibles
Posts: 2760
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| Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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| There is a small variance between the post office prices and stamps.com. It's not supposed to be there, but once in a while it happens. It's not huge and more of an annoying curiosity, but it's there and has been reported. |
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SammysSupplies
Posts: 1631
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| Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 3:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Kerio, eCrater no longer excepts drop-shipped items. I think you can have the items on hand and ship them. Did you read the terms? Here is a link to the drop-shipper rule: http://community.ecrater.com/viewtopic.php?t=33411 |
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MoonwishesStore
moderator
Posts: 17389
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| Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 4:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | There is a small variance between the post office prices and stamps.com |
The only postage variances that should be happening between the PO and stamps.com and endicia is on endicia and I suppose stamps.com we get the commercial rate for shipping so much, but if your prices are less at the PO that is a real problem.
Tiger indicated that these prices changes for her at the PO each time which means that someone there has no clue what they are doing and should be reported to the postmaster. Claiming different first class zones is the first clue since first class (and media) has no zones. Priority flat rate has no zones. Only Priority calculated and probably whatever they call parcel post. |
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kerioproducts
Posts: 71
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| Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 8:14 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the heads up, Sammy. I do not sell any items through drop ship service networks, however, or even "drop shippers" by profession for that matter. |
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tigercreekgifts
Posts: 6293
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| Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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| kerioproducts wrote: | | Tiger indicated that these prices changes for her at the PO each time which means that someone there has no clue what they are doing and should be reported to the postmaster. |
Exactly! |
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SheilaDeesPostcards
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Posts: 4620
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| Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 9:31 am Post subject: |
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@ tiger ... If you sell the exact item to two different customers and use exactly the same type envelope, same packing, same type label, same type and amount of tape AND the only difference is one went to Florida and one went to Alaska via First Class Mail there could be a 20 cent difference if you use the local Post Office. It sounds like you used First Class Mail Large Envelope and it was weighed at the Post Office. Starting at 4 ounces, there is a 20 cent increase for each ounce up to 13 ounces. So if the first package weighed 5 ounces, it would cost $1.72 and if the second package weighed 6 ounces, it would cost $1.92 to any of the 50 states, APO/FPO, and all US territories and possessions. (IOW, everywhere that has a US Postal System zipcode.)
Why would they weigh different?
1) You could have used different clerks with different scales that were enough different to read 5.5 ozs on one and 6.0 ozs on the other one.
2) If you used the same clerk and mailed the 2 packages at the same time, there could have been as little as 0.1 oz difference in the weight that caused the scale to show 5.9 for one and 6.0 for the next envelope which would caused the 20 cent difference because one would be charged the 5 oz rate and one would be charged the 6 oz rate.
3) This can also happen with Media Mail where one package may weigh 1 lb 15.5 ozs and the next package weighs 2 lb 1 oz. The first package will be charged the 2 pound rate and the second package will be charge the 3 pound rate. That 1.5 ounce difference can make a cost difference.
Use this link to see the rates for yourself. http://pe.usps.gov/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm#2203672 The retail prices are what you are going to be charged at the Post Office window. The Commercial rates (also referred to as online rate) is what you pay if you buy your postage online. Where 2 commercial rates are shown, the more expensive rate is the basic online rate you will probably be charged at USPS website, PayPal shipping, Endicia, Stamps.com, and maybe other places online. |
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