I just looked at my feedback and somebody totally trashed my postage stars! I only sell dolls on this ID, and only sold 2 in the last 4 months so there are only 2 options of who done it. And one of them I have a good reason to believe she would not have done it. I only charge the actual postage. It costs me another $4 for a box and if I do not have any recycled bubble wrap, it can easily cost another $10 to safely wrap the doll. If somebody thinks that they were charged too much, they can weigh the parcel and look it up on line at the post office calculator. So WHY? Are people so stupid that they do not understand that the seller does not set the postage? Or do they think they are rating the PO?
My all 5* rating dropped down to 4.8 for shipping so she must have really rated me low.
I hear ya on that. That is the only lower star area for me too. People just blame us for expensive postage I guess.
Happened to me too. People don’t understand that each item is a different amount. One reborn might not weigh as much and and would cost less.
That’s unfortunate. As long as the seller charges the actual shipping price I’m happy.
I don’t charge actual shipping. I charge a flat fee that includes shipping plus all the packaging and handling, gas to the post office, etc. Do you think that’s wrong? I think it’s logical. Other places charge shipping and handling…
postage really is nuts and the materials box paper tape bubble wrap etc gets expensive too people really need to take into consideration what it really does cost to mail something out properly
It makes sense to me, @honojane. I think the key is knowing what the shipping amount is ahead of time. If she assumed it would be around $25, but was shocked by an invoice that said $50, I can see being upset. That may not be the case here. I really don’t know. I was going to order a few supplies (not BB) and had the items in my cart, but when I saw that my shipping was going to be about $20 for $40 worth of supplies, I quickly deleted my order. I know I would have been very upset if I had placed the order, THEN found out what the shipping was. I would have called to have it cancelled, had that been the case.
I buy tissue, bubble wrap, tape, boxes, labels, pens, little bags and other packing up stuff and it all adds up. I charge a $30 flat fee for shipping and a little more for a toddler. Do you guys think that’s unreasonable? Should I be charging just the postal fee and eating all the other costs?
@honojane no i think what your charging is jsut fine i have to change all my shipping costs too especially since i charge just a little over the cost to make a doll in the long run im lucky if i make very little off a sale is anything at all
Thanks Christine. That’s reassuring. I try to keep my prices down too and don’t really make anything. I just reborn so I can keep reborning, if you know what I mean! 
If you don’t feel like you can add in the cost to the shipping, I would add it in to the price of the doll, at least. You have to get something out of the deal, even if you are just covering your costs so that you can continue to fund your hobby. You certainly don’t want to lose money.
That’s pretty smart lol.
I used to do the flat shipping rate. Now that I don’t do international shipping, I offer free and just add it into the price like UF.
I think $30 is pretty reasonable. I always expect to pay around that on shipping for a baby because of the weight and so on and so forth.
Is it possible if it is for shipping stars that it didn’t have to do with cost of shipping, but perhaps the time of transit? Maybe she thought it would arrive faster?
I don’t know, I’m just throwing it out there as a possibility. When I rate for shipping as a customer, I would only rate for shipping it quickly (or within agreed time for customs, etc.), and not cost because if the cost was indicated before purchase, why complain after agreeing to pay?
Sorry this happened to you. I can understand why you are angry since you worked hard to maintain you rep. It probably won’t affect sales very much. Personally, as a buyer, if someone has negative reviews, I always read them first and if it is very rare it happens I take it with a grain of salt. I figure you can’t please everyone all of the time.
Disclaimer: This is just my 2 cents and of course, everyone does what works for them.
If you aren’t covering your variable costs (kits, mohair, other materials, clothes, shipping materials) within the price of the doll and also making a bit more to at least cover some of your fixed overhead (lamps, bulbs, ovens, brushes, sponges, etc.) you won’t be able to continue making the dolls on sales alone. It will cost you money out of your pocket each time, so you will essentially be paying someone to buy from you. (Taking a loss)
Personally, I also think we should be paid something for our time, but because I take a long time for each doll, I think I’d make more money per hour delivering papers . 
I keep hoping I’ll speed up someday, but I swear I think I’m getting slower. 
I weigh the box with the baby, all accessories and wrapping material and then charge by their location. I have added the allowed handling fee to cover the box and tape. I get air bags for free from all my friends that get Amazon shipments. (and build in a bit extra when you price the doll) I think it’s always a good idea to state where ever you sell that you don’t make money on the shipping and you aren’t responsible for the length of time it takes the baby to get to them. Some people just don’t understand how expensive parts of this process are.
I include the cost of packing materials and box in the price of the doll and charge actual cost for shipping. That way, people don’t think I’m trying to profit from the shipping fees. It’s kind of a touchy area for a lot of people.
Unfortunately, postage in Australia is expensive, and while I can send a doll for about $12 in my city, one doll went to Darwin, which is almost 4000km from here, and postage was $76.85. To other places on east coast it comes usually to about $20 - $30 something, to set flat rate such a way that it would average out it would be unfair to the people near me, and if I get several buyers from west or north, i would be seriously out of pocket. . On ebay you suppose to charge only the actual cost plus reasonable cost of wrapping, therefore if i charged flat rate, the person in my city, who can get their doll for only $12 would be rightfully upset. However anything that can go in prepaid satchels, which cost the same to deliver anywhere in Australia, i do use them and list as FREE postage. 
There are 2 categories for stars, one for how fast it was posted, and other Postage and handling charges.