10 Steps to Calculate Perfect Shipping Fees for Online Product-Based Businesses

Shipping can be a big roadblock to those who want to sell their products online.

Many people struggle to work out how to pack their products, and how to calculate shipping properly so they cover their costs!

And what about free shipping? Should you offer it?

Today I'm going to take you through a 10-step process that will make sure you calculate and charge the perfect shipping cost to every customer.

If you sell physical products online, don't miss this one!

💡 If you enjoy this video, please give me a thumbs up, and make sure to subscribe if you'd love more content on having a thriving and profitable handmade business, and a happy & healthy work-from-home lifestyle.

Thanks for your support!

Jess :)

#onlinebusiness #handmadebusiness #productbasedbusiness
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All of my sterling silver jewellery is available from my own website, and on Etsy.

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G'day!

I'm Jess Van Den - a former school teacher and science communicator - and I've wanted to make a living online since 1998. But it took me another decade to figure out how...

I've been 100% self-employed ever since.

I also love learning & sharing more about health, happiness, plants, and how to be more effective as a work-from-home, full-time self-employed creative - so I have all the time I need to do all the things I love.

You can follow me on instagram:

~ Jess

Affiliate Disclaimer - some links I include in my video descriptions may be affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission on sales made via the link.

0:00 Introduction
0:55 Choose shipping materials.
1:30 Calculate dimensions and weight.
2:20 Calculate materials cost.
3:17 Choose a shipping carrier.
3:52 Choose shipping classes.
5:50 Combine class & materials costs.
6:18 Should I offer free shipping?
10:11 Cumulative or Combined?
11:29 Create delivery profiles.
12:55 Apply your delivery profile to products.

[lifeveganized]

I don't understand how you can set the shipping costs to be a certain amount, when the shipping cost varies depending on how far it's being shipped.

[veronicabarba]

Thank you for the information, it gave me clarity on how to start and tackle the shipping cost process for my store. 💜

[RICDirector]

Really liking these quite helpful videos; great suggestion to make a playlist!

[lizjanevski]

Great tutorial..Finally a tutorial that explains the nuances when it comes to shipping, especially regarding Australia …I’ve been trying to find someone that explains this specific to Australia and that doesn’t specifically or only discuss using Etsy pay where you pay for the labels via Etsy.. this is something people would also need to factor into their pricing I suspect..I’ll be looking to set my own prices so won’t be utilising this but I just wanted to get some further guidance…

If I set up two delivery profiles and offer a flat rate, say $6 for items that require a small satchel (just over $9 that is prepaid & includes tracking) and I set up another deliver profile for my smaller items that fit into say a letter size envelope at $3 flat rate (say a medium size that’s prepaid and tracked and just over think $5), if the prices are different, what happens if someone purchase a small item (like a keyring that fits into a letter size envelope) and a trinket dish that requires a small satchel), how does this translate when they go to the checkout? What is the end price for shipping that will appear for them? This is what I’m confused about…

I’m thinking then what I’d best be doing is setting a flat rate that covers both of these situations so irrespective of what items they buy, the shipping is one standard cost…would I be on the right line of thought?…so sorry for the thesis and I hope what I’ve written makes sense 🥴

[katel.krauss]

Thank you! Beginning to sell products and your video is the first video I've watched on "how to" - so thank you!

[brittanysnow]

I have spent far more hours than I want to admit on figuring out my shipping costs haha. My items are small so it wasn't an option to put the full price of shipping into my items and charging the full price of shipping felt a little crazy. So I had to do some calculating to figure out the best ways to cover all the costs. Being in Canada is hard for shipping prices because my average cost for a small parcel is $18 domestic! That's with a slight discount from their small business program too.

[hikarujamiemasamiya]

Thank you very much! You're explanation was so clean and organised... The best summary :)
Arigatou gozaimasu! From Japan

[lovelyletter]

My thought might be to charge more for the product and roll all of the shipping cost into the product (especially when it comes to jewelry- because people tend to place a higher value on the product when it costs more) and then have the free shipping. Just a thought.

[SewFelicia]

Using this information and info from some of your other videos I started researching products similar to what I’m making to confirm the price I think I could charge would cover all fees and make a product. I was searching in Etsy and found someone selling them very cheap, as it was free postage. When I looked further there was no image of the person, and the manufacture information was ‘designed in Australia, made in China’ so I feel it isn’t a true homemade product. I’m surprised they are allowed on Etsy. But it was good information to help me confirm I’m not over or under charging.

[thehardlife]

I have a question how do you fill out the shipping profile correctly so you don’t lose money? I get you average out the cost of the packaging l, but how do you know what the shipping cost will be before hand to fill out the shipping profile if you don’t know what the prices are for each courier? Do you have to go on each courier’s website beforehand to check? That seems like a lot of work

[thehardlife]

This is what I’m worried about, not only you have to calculate shipping but you have to calculate how much the packaging costs, so basically there are two costa that could eat away at your profit

[gladiatormechs]

would just calculating the most expensive far distanced journey your product would have to make inside your country.. and just use that as a standard shipping cost ? And add this cost into your initial price, This way you dont get burned in the shipping costs... Your covered allready... Now you can offer free covered shipping.

[jrjsszp]

If I am shipping prepaid to from US to Germany envelopes for a product analysis. How do I set up for postage envelopes ...pre made? or ?

[Ajax-wogt]

Hi. Aussie here. Can't I write the material cost off as an expense for tax purposes?

[AZERBAIJANI]

I created website tried to find shipping company to transport internationally around the planet, and just for 3 kg shipping to Germany (in another country ot is even more) they charge 400$ the product is Art paintings not to big. Is it logical they charge so much?

[AQUARIUMFREAK]

i want to sell something that is heavy and will ship out in 5 seperate BOX sections, each one weighing aprox 22 pounds each box.. Am i going to be charged much more because of the 5 individual boxes as compared to just one large box ?

[crossbucklehomestead]

I will be selling personal care items in etsy and have been grappling with what to do about shipping. I hate comparing myself to others, but people are selling soap with free shipping and I dont see how they are making any money. I have seen other sellers put a note in their item that says "if you are buying more than one item, contact me and I can figure a total shipping cost." Is that a good way of doing it or is there a fee involved in the refund process. Also I have seen the "items over $35 ship for free" option so you can recoup some of the overhead buy selling more items (presumably). Does that still get you preferred placement on etsy?

[eml]

Hello Jess! I've spent hours and hours on Esty Help and on Google trying to find the answer to a question that is being asked by LOTS of Etsy sellers. Here goes... I sell Handmade soaps. That's it. 4 oz. bars of soap. When a customer buys 2 bars of my soap, Etsy treats it as 2 sales. It wants me to purchase 2 labels (doubling the postage) and it wants 2 tracking numbers for this single order. This seems pretty simple to me -- Customer buys 2 soaps, I put the 2 soaps into one padded envelope, place 1 shipping label on it and send it out. BUT, for some reason, Etsy says it's 2 sales. Can you please help me? PLEASE?

[jeannieclark]

Free untracked - what happens if the customer says they haven’t received the item?

[mixmodish]

Hi Jess, may I ask if I need to connect my etsy shop to auspost.