question/help

lihughes44805 · Posts: 16

if i ship to uk and australia how much should i put for shipping?

cosmicray · Posts: 7286

If you go to the last entry in the site FAQ, there is link to a document that explains many things.

http://www.ecrater.com/help.php?faq_gid=3

Please review that document, then come back and ask questions. Smile

lihughes44805 · Posts: 16

this and didn't say anything about how much to price for shipping charges

MoonwishesStore · moderator Posts: 17389

Well you have to charge enough to cover at least the cost of the postage and the cost of any new packing supplies that you have to purchase, plus gas to ge to the PO if you have to buy your postage there. WE can't tell you what that will be as we have no clue how much your products weighs. You need to get aquainted with the USPS rates for shipping internationally, also decide which countries you are willing to sell to and while at the USPS web site read up and become knowledgeable about what you can and can't ship to the different countries.

Your shipping rates will vary depending on the weight of your product and how it has to be packaged so you may have to do some dry runs of pretending to get an order, pack it up and weigh it on YOUR scales (pretty much a necessity if selling on line, you have to know what something will weigh as packed for being sure your shipping is correct when listing), calculate the shipping cost using the USPS web site rates. It sounds like you have never sold before, but if you get to the point of frequent sales you should use a postage program of some kind that will give you postage discount and free delivery tracking which is expensive when buying at the PO but also really a necessity when selling on line. Until you are more familiar and comfortable with shipping packages, you should probably use the PO so they can be sure that you are shipping items correctly.

SheilaDeesPostcards · moderator Posts: 4620

If you want to sell online, it's your job to determine the amount you need to charge for shipping. No one can do that for you because we don't have all the information related to the way you want to conduct your business.

For a starting point, take an item you want to ship and package it like you will when it is sold. You have to decide what type of package you want to use to get each item you sell safely to your buyer. Once you have the package, you have to determine the weight of the package. If you don't have a scale yet, you could take it to the post office and ask them to weigh it for you. Once you have the weight, here's a link to the post office's chart showing the cost of shipping. http://pe.usps.gov/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm. You have to decide if you are going to purchase your postage online or if you are going to take your package to the post office. It's cheaper online, but if you don't have a printer that may not be an option for you. If your item is very light, you could even use postage stamps, but without USPS tracking, you'll have no way of proving you shipped or that your buyer received their package.

Until you get your store ready for sales, you probably should just go to Accounts->Options in your store admin and check the box for "Do not auto convert prices in other currencies" and remove (or don't select) any international sites. You have a lot to learn about shipping based on you questions and you really are not ready to deal with international shipping.

The link cosmicray gave you will help with the setup of your store. However, the decisions about the terms of your business and the questions you think buyers may have about your store as well as the method of shipping you want to use and the price you want to charge your buyers are not questions someone else can answer for you. These are questions you have to decide for yourself.

You have been posting on the forum since Nov. 2012. I think you need to do a little study of the forum, the USPS shipping information, and the tutorial provided by eCrater before you actually start selling online. We are all sellers ourselves and the sellers who post here regularly are most willing to help you, but you have to do the basic work yourself.

cosmicray · Posts: 7286

@lihughes44805

Some of your photos are still too small. This was mentioned to you quite a while back.

lihughes44805 · Posts: 16

how do I make the pictures bigger ?

elpereles · Posts: 3430

theartsandlettersofmaggiethecat · Posts: 2099

Lilhughes, I suggest you forget selling outside US and Canada for a while till you get comfortable with US selling and shipping. Don't try to take giant steps before you can crawl. You can always add UK and AU or other countries once you feel good about what you are doing. Get your listings fixed up first.

lihughes44805 · Posts: 16

ok thanks for the help everyone