What do you charge for shipping this year?

[Doug Sheridan]

I know, I know, this has been hashed out many times before but now UPS and others keep raising costs to where it's hard to keep up. I'm not picking a fight here, just want to know how much others have raised their shipping fees for wholesale orders. Refer to the archives for battles about percent/order vs. charging what UPS charges.

Also, you can go nuts trying to keep these carriers honest about extra charges for any little thing. We have to pass those savings on to the buyer somehow.

[Kenny Pieper]

Doug I have never been able to use the percentage method. My work varies in price and size too much. I charge the carrier fee and shipping supplies (boxes, foam, and peanuts) The time or labor charge is built into the wholesale price of the glass.

[Brian Gingras]

we have packing labor figured into the wholesale prices...packing materials have always been recycled, including peanuts. We buy bubble wrap bulk and figure that in the operating expenses.

We ships via USPS priority mostly, and charge actual + $1 for the time spent processing it. Our wholesale website automatically calculates the shipping for me through the USPS server.

I dropped UPS because of all the hassles with extra this and that. I love flat rate boxes for small orders, and the USPS provides free shipping boxes for a good number of sizes.

[Kenny Pieper]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Brian Gingras
.
Our wholesale website automatically calculates the shipping for me through the USPS server.


Thats cool

[David Patchen]

I often ship on the gallery's UPS account and charge $20 packing charge per piece.

When I pay for shipping I just pass throught the actual UPS fee and add my $20/piece to it. Covers my boxes, bubble wrap and some time. Peanuts I get for free from a local photography store.

[Brian Gingras]

Originally posted by Kenny Pieper
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Brian Gingras
.
Our wholesale website automatically calculates the shipping for me through the USPS server.


Thats cool

it pays to have a background in Comp Sci as well...we run a zencart installation( with custom mods for our business), everything is weighed and the weights are in the system. We have an average ratio of packing material weight to piece weight figured in...we then setup an account with the USPS and the system calculates the shipping and puts it on the invoice. This assures us that the shipping costs are always accurate wince they come straight from the USPS database. The buyer then completes the transaction along with entering their CC info to be charged later. We service several dop ship accounts so this system works best for us.

[Marty Kremer]

All packing supplies and labor are in the wholesale price so I just charge what UPS charges me.

[Barb Sanderson]

I'm with Marty here although I use USPS - great door to door service in my opinion. I also get free foam from a neighbor - if anyone wants free foam in the seattle area let me know cause I have lots!

Barb

[Rich Samuel]

I don't know about other places, but in Seattle you can always find tons of free packing materials on Craigslist. Boxes, peanuts, foam, bubble wrap, etc. Yep, we are huge on packing materials.

(And broken concrete. I don't think anyone's got more broken concrete than Seattle. Also, fill dirt and particle board "entertainment centers" :D )

[Jordan Kube]

Originally posted by Rich Samuel

(And broken concrete. I don't think anyone's got more broken concrete than Seattle. Also, fill dirt and particle board "entertainment centers" :D )


:chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:

[Doug Sheridan]

Thanks for info so far.

We use the USPS some too, and is cheaper most times.

When someone tries to "charge what UPS charges", most times you don't know what that is until you get the bill, what with fuel surcharge, things they deem residential, etc. It's really a racket now more than ever before. They even charge extra if you don't ship four times a week. When you print out a shipping label, it never shows these charges, so that was my intended question, how do you make up the difference? Buyers are paid to trim shipping costs and most don't want to see extra charges added on to their bill. It's a squeeze from both sides.