Your Website and Shipping Charges

Baby Talk
#1

To those of you who have websites and sell your dolls off them, how do you calculate the shipping. In otherwords: If you have a 6 pound doll, a 4 pound doll and a 2 pound doll - how do you price the shipping? Since you will not know where the doll is going to find a home until someone buys you could be shipping in your own state or clear across the country.

Do you charge to the most distant area in which you ship? I live in NY and if someone buys from me and they live in NY it certainly is not going to cost as much as it would be to California. I don’t feel comfortable charging maybe $25 to New Jersey, Connecticut or Massachusettes as I would be to California, Oregon or Washington State. Am I making sense here?

Judy

#2

$14.95 Large Flat Rate Priority Box in America.

Thats what I do for my newborns & preemies. I havent sold out of the country yet.

#3

Katie -

Can you get a 22" doll with 3/4 limbs into that size box? Do you put the doll on it’s side or on it’s back? I should have been thinking of that - “If it fits, it ships”.

Judy

#4

Hi Judy- I have them lay corner to corner, one time I had one laying on its side. They are have made it home perfectly too! I am not sure what to do with a Cuddles, etc. maybe someone has advice on those bigger babies>?

#5

Thanks Katie -

I am going to try that size box. I want to try and keep the shipping down as much as possible and with the Large flat rate box I wouldn’t have a problem shipping in the US.

Judy

#6

I have the large flat rate boxes and there is no way to get a standard 19" baby in there without folding the baby up, the box is not 19" long so i dont know how you do it
I have seen negatives from buyers whos sellers used those boxes and they complained that the babies were squished, its just not a good idea IMO
I charge one rate of 20 dollars on babies between 3 & 5 lbs, parcel post with delivery confirmation no matter where its going in the U.S, if the baby is over $200 i will get insurance
Sometimes it goes over 20 dollars and i have to eat the shipping…but it rarely goes over 18.00
now one has to consider the box plus baby and accessories weight is usually about 6 lbs. I have a scale and print the shipping label from paypal
Overseas i charge 65 dollars and i dont care where their from its 65 no matter what lol…to ship to australia it cost me 68, so again i had to pay from my own wallet…usually its about 55 or so to the UK and i keep the rest to go towards packaging, tape, bubble wrap etc…since those arent free
I see UK sellers charging americans sometimes up to 80 dollars to ship to us…so its just how the business works
I just shipped a 2 lb preemie to GA from PA, it cost 18.79 with insurance just to give you an idea

#7

Thank you kittiekuddles -

I don’t mind when I have to position the baby on it’s side, but if I have to fold the legs up towards the head then I don’t like that un-natural position, plus the clothing gets all wrinkled - so I was wondering just how they could fit in that large box.

I understand what you say about charging a flat rate but I often wonder what the buyer would think if they had to pay $20 and the actual shipping was (for instance) $12. Is that ethical? And is that something I feel comfortable with!

Judy

#8

— Begin quote from “judy”

Thank you kittiekuddles -

I don’t mind when I have to position the baby on it’s side, but if I have to fold the legs up towards the head then I don’t like that un-natural position, plus the clothing gets all wrinkled - so I was wondering just how they could fit in that large box.

I understand what you say about charging a flat rate but I often wonder what the buyer would think if they had to pay $20 and the actual shipping was (for instance) $12. Is that ethical? And is that something I feel comfortable with!

Judy

— End quote

When I first started out I used to feel bad charging 20 and like you said what if its 12, and at times it was 12, but then when i saw how much the packaging material was adding up to i figured out that i was losing alot more money on shipping than i was gaining. I use a ton of packaging material and larger boxes so it takes more inside to keep the baby from shifting around, i buy the fat bubble wrap which i get two times only out of, box tape i get three times out of if im lucky, i buy my boxes at wamart, and i purchase peanuts and packaging paper as well…so you can see how it adds up and i consider this in with the cost of shipping…and now i dont feel bad anymore

#9

All righty then - I’m feeling much better already!!! But on a serious note - you are correct when you begin factoring in the packaging material, tissue or peanuts, tape, etc. Sometimes you don’t realize how those costs can add up (at least I didn’t).

Judy

#10

I ship UPS. I send a 9 or 10 pound package for around $10. It gets there fast, tracking is included and insured up to $100. I buy boxes at Walmart or re-use boxes.