Pricing postage on website

[stephelen]

I have free postage on my current website, which has been the cause of many sleepless nights, trying to price it right to be far to the customer as well as myself.
So I have decided I may try something different on my new website.
What do you thinks best flat rate postage, by weight or by value?

Thanks

[judithbl]

Hi

I had the same dilema. I offered free postage, but I was really shooting myself in the foot as I had to increase the prices to cover the postage. Therefore I wasn't getting people interested enough.
I have now got my products on at true prices and have put a postage rate on which is based on value of the order. This is fine - you win some and you lose some on this way but it does balance out.

I didn't want weight orientated as I wanted people to know precisely what they were paying before they checked out.

Also on a flat rate - bear in mind that if people only have a small order - say £5, they won't pay and extra say £5 postage, so I kept a low rate for small orders.

HTH

Judith
x

[MerrilyMe]

Yep - it has been my dilemma too, i've been fighting with it for years. I started off having 4 postage bands, changing in £10's by 50p-£1. last year i changed it so that very small orders (under £10) were charged £2.50 and over that (up to £70 where i make it free) was £3.95.

But since Christmas, now that the big orderrs are gone, i've noticed people actively reducing their baskets to get under £10 worth of stuff and because i sell lots of £1.25 type stuff. My average order had gone right down.

So last week i changed it to a flat rate of £2.95 - it isn't perfect, but i can do it because my packet post rate is normally £2.35 and most of my boxes cost about 70p. What i've noticed straight away is that my average order cost is going up but it doesn't seem to be putting people off. I feel a bit bad about finally abandoning my lower rate, but i think i've found a happy medium.

Personally, and i order online for 95% of my purchases, i don't even question p&p rates under £3.50 - i know it will cost that and if the prices are competitive, i think it is fair enough. i do have a cheerful little note on my site that says that i'll chuck in a freebie with a very small order that is dwarfed by the postage cost - could you try that?

[Mary Poppins]

Deciding what to charge is a difficult one. On the site I have got running at the moment, I have included postage costs within the price because I have numerous items of different weights. On the downside to that, people see the cost and it puts them off as they think it is quite expensive but they don't consider packaging materials and postage costs.

I have another site which will be going live shortly and that will have a sliding scale for postage costs as the items will be of similar weight, so easier to work out fairly.

[judithbl]

I offer 2nd and 1st class postage - but I don't know whether to do away with the 2nd class altogether or whether it gets more people to buy because the rate is pretty cheap.
What do you think?
x

[Tanya]

I offer free postage at the moment but to be honest it's not working for me when the new PIP came into force last year. I have been thinking about a flat rate postage charge but can't get my head around it.

I am launching a new site soon and that will have flat rate postage just can't decide what to do with the current one.

As a buyer I don't mine paying postage on top of the cost of the item but I like it clearly displayed before I get to the checkout and then find out I have to pay an extra £4.95 or something, that's when I jump ship!

[Tanya]

I offer 2nd and 1st class postage - but I don't know whether to do away with the 2nd class altogether or whether it gets more people to buy because the rate is pretty cheap.
What do you think?
x

to be honest Judith, I think that whenever I have bought from you I always choose 1st Class and not 2nd.

I'm a first class type of gal :cheesy:

[judithbl]

Hmm...going back to Merry - I have increasing scales for UK and I wonder if that puts people off from buying more - it's something to think about.

Whether to put under £10 at £1.95 and over at £2.95 for first class????

I have a Heavy item postage for the Dolls at £4.95 but they do cost me more than that to post as they are quite heavy.

I am free over £50.

Thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Also, do you send out recorded?
x

[judithbl]

to be honest Judith, I think that whenever I have bought from you I always choose 1st Class and not 2nd.

I'm a first class type of gal :cheesy:

:clapping:

[Tanya]

I don't send out recorded but most of my items are low cost, if it was a higher cost item then I probably would

[Lemon]

It is a real dilemma. I am thinking of a similar thing to you Judith, £1.95 for up to £10, £2.95 up to £25 and possibly free after that. Or my other option is simply adding the postage costs as the customer shops ie the more they buy the higher the cost. This way is quite a fair way from a customer point of view, for example they only want to buy one t-shirt then the costs would be very small for postage. The big stores seem to do a flat rate though and that is what people would be used to paying.

[HannahBanana]

I am having a dilema with post at the moment too.

I am running a trial to see how it goes and offering free delivery as a special offer for february.

I think once i have finished i will actually lower my flat rate delivery or say free when you spend over £50.

I literally changed it yesterday and this morning I have 2 orders! (that's good for me!haha)

[Lemon]

Has this been discussed on UKBF ? Off to find out.

[Tanya]

It is a real dilemma. I am thinking of a similar thing to you Judith, £1.95 for up to £10, £2.95 up to £25 and possibly free after that. Or my other option is simply adding the postage costs as the customer shops ie the more they buy the higher the cost. This way is quite a fair way from a customer point of view, for example they only want to buy one t-shirt then the costs would be very small for postage. The big stores seem to do a flat rate though and that is what people would be used to paying.

I think you and I are having the same dilemma, £1.95 up to £10 is reasonable.

I seem to be shooting myself in the foot by offering free postage! I can still keep my item price low by not offering free postage

I often order from Next and that's a flat rate of £3.75 and to be honest I don't mind paying it and it usually makes me buy more than one item to justify the p&p cost.

[Nestle]

Hi there I was in the sticky possition this week and did not know what to do but thanks to the help of sadie I have managed to work out some price bands for postage, but only on the basic place cards i sell, this is what i did from 1-50 place cards I charge £1.40, 50-100 I charge £1.95, 100-300 place acrds I charge £3.50 and above that £4.99, also bigger and more delaecate things that have to be sent ina box for example I have given them the rate of £4.99.
This i fell is a good balance to work with it means the small customer does not have to pay the bigs customers postage etc.
gd12

[Nestle]

Hi there I was in the sticky possition this week and did not know what to do but thanks to the help of sadie I have managed to work out some price bands for postage, but only on the basic place cards i sell, this is what i did from 1-50 place cards I charge £1.40, 50-100 I charge £1.95, 100-300 place acrds I charge £3.50 and above that £4.99, also bigger and more delaecate things that have to be sent ina box for example I have given them the rate of £4.99.
This i fell is a good balance to work with it means the small customer does not have to pay the bigs customers postage etc.
gd12

[chris]

I think you and I are having the same dilemma, £1.95 up to £10 is reasonable.

I seem to be shooting myself in the foot by offering free postage! I can still keep my item price low by not offering free postage

I often order from Next and that's a flat rate of £3.75 and to be honest I don't mind paying it and it usually makes me buy more than one item to justify the p&p cost.

Good to hear what others are doing. I started the business with free postage to grow the business and not put people off buying but, like others, find to keep prices competitive my profit margins are diminishing especially when Royal Mail keeps putting their prices up.
I have been thinking what is best ready for the next price increase in April. My problem is that it is not always the more expensive products that cost the most in postage.
It was interesting that I added 'Guaranteed Next Day Delivery' as an option for an additonal cost just before Christmas and decided to keep it on - people still opt for it.

[Tanya]

I think getting the balance between item cost and postage cost is a tricky one. I suppose you only know when you've got the right balance by the amount of orders you have :unsure:

[Lemon]

I often order from Next and that's a flat rate of £3.75 and to be honest I don't mind paying it and it usually makes me buy more than one item to justify the p&p cost.

But would you buy just one pair of jeans or something ?

[judithbl]

Good point - I wouldn't
x

[Tanya]

But would you buy just one pair of jeans or something ?

depends how much I wanted them :cheesy: but probably not

[Lemon]

I wouldn't either. I tend not to purchase on the net unless my order is about £25, then I would be prepared to pay £3.50 or so for Delivery (maybe I am just a tight wad !) OR if the value of the goods is extremely low, very cheap I would think I was getting the saving there and so am prepared to pay Delivery for a smaller amount.

So, I suppose the dilemma is not only with Delivery costs but also pricing the items right to balance the equation out. If your prices are cheap, then I would think people wouldn't mind paying a flat rate of postage.

[Tanya]

I often order from Next and that's a flat rate of £3.75 and to be honest I don't mind paying it and it usually makes me buy more than one item to justify the p&p cost.

just realised, what I said in the above post doesn't mean I'm setting my postage costs at £3.95!! lol

what I meant was that people expect when they order from certain companies that they are going to be charged a certain amount

I'll shut up now and go away :laugh:

[Tanya]

So, I suppose the dilemma is not only with Delivery costs but also pricing the items right to balance the equation out. If your prices are cheap, then I would think people wouldn't mind paying a flat rate of postage.

I agree

[sadierhianne]

I would.

Petrol, parking, stress, muggers etc etc - versus £3.75 - £3.95 wins.

xx

[Tanya]

I would.

Petrol, parking, stress, muggers etc etc - versus £3.75 - £3.95 wins.

xx

well if you put it like that :laugh:

[sadierhianne]

I love nmet shoping - obviously it is better to get as much as you can for your postage if you can.

I went shopping once Xmas presents, i got 99.9% of everything on the net, i spent about £25 on postage.

I work out that if i'd have had to go shopping in town i'd have spent about £16 in parking, about £15 on fuel and hours and hours and hours of my time.

I got stuff on the net that i wouldn't have been able to get in the shops and i shopped in the warmth of my own home, i was able to go to the loo when i wanted, and did it all with a glass of wine in my hand - no moaning kids, no trips to the bakers to keep them fed and happy -

GIve me the internet anyday.

[Chell]

I don't like paying postage costs. If I order from NEXT I trawl the net for a free postage code. I have my shopping ordered from Tesco to come tomorrow, if I hadn't have found a discount code to cover the postage cost then I would have shopped in Asda myself (its cheaper than Tesco anyway!).

I order from the net to get things cheaper or to get something that I can't get locally. I didn't order from ELC at Christmas as they delivery charge was high, I shopped in town instead. I did order an order from Botos too, free postage and the bonus of advantage card points.

I do have a £1.50 charge on my site but it is clearly stated on the home page. In some cases I am cheaper than Amazon as my postage is less.

Lemon, I think free postage over £25 is better than the increasing scale. I would order more clothes to make it up to £25 to get the free postage. The postage method you mentioned would make me order less.

[sadierhianne]

I don't like paying postage costs either but prefer them to going out shopping.

Chell i order from Sainsburies - free delivery on tuesday, wednesday and Thursday if you spend over £70 ( i think) It shows postage to start but then removes it as soon as you have spent enough. I spend less online than i do in the actual shop and sainsburies is better quality and cheaper than Tesco i think - more expensive than Asda though, i trawl the offers first and make huge savings, i wouldn;t see all the offers if i was actually shopping.

I forgot to place an online order for Tuesday, the cupboards are bare.