postage and packaging

[Emmalou]

Hi all
Just a quick question. When selling cards,jewellery,gifts etc from your own website,how do you work out p&p? Do you do it based on price of order ie under £x p&p £x orders over £x p&p £x or per individual item?

A very confused Emma xx

[Caroleecrafts]

I do free P & P, I know that this is a difficult area and found the calculations a problem as to what to realistically charge, which is why I opted for free
P & P. Most of my items are quite light so the cost is minimal and I get cert of posting in case things go astray. Also felt that in this competitive market and with the likes of Amazon and Joanna Sheen etc not charging would follow the same route in the hope that customers would order from me as no extra charge would be applied. I also save all jiffy envelopes, boxes etc to be able to recycle.

[Fontastic]

Hi Emma

I am currently just a 'hobby' crafter but I do have a photography business and post out items regularly.

The way I do it is I add up cost of envelope/bag/packaging etc and then the cost of postage itself. It's mainly based on weight so you need to have a rough idea of this. I don't weigh anything at home but I have a rough idea of what things are going to cost.

Also if you are planning to send recorded delivery this will bumf the price up to.

If you have a local postoffice you can take several different packages to them and get them to tell you the cost of posting.... then you can work out your posting charges based on that.

When you have a rough idea add say 50p on and then you should cover yourself. I have had a couple of items that have cost me more but the majority are under...(if that makes sense)

I am sure that some one has a more 'simpler' method but thats what i do anyway. Over time you will get to know what things will cost.

Good luck
Karen x

[greannancrafts]

If you have a local postoffice you can take several different packages to them and get them to tell you the cost of posting.... then you can work out your posting charges based on that.

Hi

You can always go on www.royalmail.co.uk to get the prices - don't forget the cost of your packaging, the cost of your time to pack, the cost of driving up to the PO etc - if you were paying someone the min wage - how much would all that add up to?

Jane

[craftynclothy]

My website has a tool built in to work out the Royal Mail postage charge (based on weight) and I can add it an amount for packaging etc. I do find though that I have to set it to not allow letter sizes as some stuff won't go as a letter but I do state that I refund the difference if it goes as a letter size.

If all your stuff would go as a letter size then I'd work out the cost of sending that plus cost of envelope plus any other costs involved in packaging and posting the letter then use that.

[handcrafted]

Because the Mr Site package i have is so basic i can only offer one set postage fee for each item. I wanted to offer 2 sets of prices, one for normal 1st class, the other for recorded.

In the end im just charging 50p per item. But then i always send recorded so even the lightest pair of earrings cost me about £1 odd to send. Im thinking of revising my postage but il wait a bit i think. Iv not been spending as much time on my website these days! Need to get back into it and start getting more customers.

[Emmalou]

Thanks guys.

With items such as jewellery,gifts and the likes do you think it is wise to have a recorded delivery option as some things have a habit of going astray!!! and how do you deal with customers who claim they haven't received their goods?

Thanks again, Emma

[Moonbeam Angel]

Recorded delivery is the better option for peace of mind as you have some insurance and they can't say they haven't received it if it has been signed for (I think you can trace Rec. delivery online on the Royal Mail site and also see who signed for it)

If you don't opt for recorded, ALWAYS get proof of postage and then you can claim back from RM for any item lost.

Also I have found second class is just as fast as 1st and that bit cheaper.

[craftynclothy]

Just so people know, Royal Mail Recorded Delivery doesn't cover jewellery (see the Compensation section on the link below).

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/c...7&catId=500201

[Ger]

Thanx for that, I never realised that