Tee shirt designer chalk - Dean

free shipping or not?

posted about 1 month ago by chalk

hey there

what's likely to result in more web sales?

1. lower shirt price, with postage added at the end

2. higher shirt price but presented as having 'free worldwide shipping'

I've done some research on this on a music forum i frequent (it's full of music loving but tee shirt buying types) but I'm really interested what the opnion is from the vendors point of view. or any consumers here too.

ta

29 Comments

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  1. Tee shirt designer noFunk - Dan

    noFunk said about 1 month ago

    i always used to have free worldwide shipping, and people seemed to love it. i know myself that when i see something has free shipping i'm more likly to buy it!

  2. Tee shirt designer kyleisez - Kyle Crawford

    kyleisez said about 1 month ago

    its not really free shipping your still paying for it... its retarded

  3. Tee shirt designer {miles to go}  - greg kerr

    {miles to go} said about 1 month ago

    if you do free worldwide whipping then you have to account, at least in the us of it being maybe $3 here or accounting for a $6 charge to mail it overseas so youd have to be ok making less money on an overseas shipment

  4. Tee shirt designer Randomentity - Courtney Varner

    Randomentity said about 1 month ago

    3: badass design

  5. Tee shirt designer Half a Job Jeans - Lizzy

    Half a Job Jeans said about 1 month ago

    Don't know if you have heard of Seth Godin but here's his take on things:
    http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/08/shipping-and-ha.html

  6. Tee shirt designer sentimentaladam - Adam

    sentimentaladam said about 1 month ago

    kyleisez said: its not really free shipping your still paying for it... its retarded

    I disagree

  7. Tee shirt designer chalk - Dean

    chalk said about 1 month ago

    Half a Job Jeans said: Don't know if you have heard of Seth Godin but here's his take on things: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/08/shipping-and-ha.html

    thanks for that. interesting read but he seems to split the world into 'free shipping' and 'rip off shipping' - there is such a thing as 'fair and accurate shipping'

    the music forum i posted this same question to came out about 80% in favour of adding shipping price at the end, as 'it's too late to back out now' sort of thing, they expected it anyway and it makes the goods 'seem' cheaper

  8. Tee shirt designer suffoca - Boyce

    suffoca said about 1 month ago

    i do free shipping and it works fine for me, shipping hasn't cost me more then 2 pound yet an iv sent to france, canada and the us. If you set your self a minimum u want to earn on each t shirt then when it cost you 2 pound to send you still have that minimum but if you send it somewhere closer or by hand you save on it. I think showing people that they dont have to pay extra for shipping is a must when your just starting out. Im still prity brand new so this is just what iv learnt so far.

    http://suffoca.bigcartel.com/
    thats my store if you wanted to see it or www.suffoca.com for my site

    also the second picture on your site doesn't work just incase you didn't notice.

  9. Tee shirt designer chalk - Dean

    chalk said about 1 month ago

    suffoca said: also the second picture on your site doesn't work just incase you didn't notice.

    thanks man - my next step was to take a packaged tee to the post office to estimate shipping - good to know what it costs you

    yeah - my website - it's just a dumping ground of mock ups and ideas at present, but ta

  10. Tee shirt designer turoneatingpinoy - "Crazy" Mike

    turoneatingpinoy said about 1 month ago

    Yeah I myself need to pin down a shipping method. I'm just not sure which out of the choices of USPS, UPS, or Fedex is cheaper/economical for shipping. I mean I tried to take a wild guess by using their estimate system but I have no idea what the actual package would weigh . . .

  11. Tee shirt designer Randomentity - Courtney Varner

    Randomentity said about 1 month ago

    i work for fedex so i get a discount, so that's how i'll be sending mine. you can buy one here http://randomentity.bigcartel.com

    /hijack

  12. Tee shirt designer turoneatingpinoy - "Crazy" Mike

    turoneatingpinoy said about 1 month ago

    Well I live near a post office, a UPS store, and a Fedex Kinko . . . so I could pretty much do either or, so I just want to know which is better out of the 3.

  13. Tee shirt designer gameyy - Eric Terry

    gameyy said about 1 month ago

    Free shipping sounds good in principle, but in the end it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense unless the bulk of your buyers are in/around your country.

    For example, for Linty Fresh I offer domestic shipping ($3 for a single shirt) and international shipping ($7 a shirt). Now let's say I were to do away with shipping fees and just jack up my prices. If I jack it up by $7 (so I'm still breaking even on international sales), now my US buyers are being charged another $4 per shirt, so they get the short end of the stick, which is no good. But if I jack it up by just $3 (so that US buyers don't feel the change), then my international customers get a $4 price break, which hurts me.

    Just doesn't make sense.

  14. Tee shirt designer Hays - Chris

    Hays said about 1 month ago

    gameyy said: Free shipping sounds good in principle, but in the end it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense unless the bulk of your buyers are in/around your country.

    For example, for Linty Fresh I offer domestic shipping ($3 for a single shirt) and international shipping ($7 a shirt). Now let's say I were to do away with shipping fees and just jack up my prices. If I jack it up by $7 (so I'm still breaking even on international sales), now my US buyers are being charged another $4 per shirt, so they get the short end of the stick, which is no good. But if I jack it up by just $3 (so that US buyers don't feel the change), then my international customers get a $4 price break, which hurts me.

    Just doesn't make sense.

    Thats true, i never really looked at it that way. I somthinkg offer weeks that i do freeshipping 1 week only it boosts sales so i make money back that way.

  15. Tee shirt designer turoneatingpinoy - "Crazy" Mike

    turoneatingpinoy said about 1 month ago

    How are you doing $3 domestic and $7 international? Cuz I tried to estimate what costs would be for shipping so I could figure out what to charge and I seemed to get higher numbers than that . . .

  16. Tee shirt designer gameyy - Eric Terry

    gameyy said about 1 month ago

    Hays said:
    gameyy said: Free shipping sounds good in principle, but in the end it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense unless the bulk of your buyers are in/around your country.

    For example, for Linty Fresh I offer domestic shipping ($3 for a single shirt) and international shipping ($7 a shirt). Now let's say I were to do away with shipping fees and just jack up my prices. If I jack it up by $7 (so I'm still breaking even on international sales), now my US buyers are being charged another $4 per shirt, so they get the short end of the stick, which is no good. But if I jack it up by just $3 (so that US buyers don't feel the change), then my international customers get a $4 price break, which hurts me.

    Just doesn't make sense.

    Thats true, i never really looked at it that way. I somthinkg offer weeks that i do freeshipping 1 week only it boosts sales so i make money back that way.

    Yeah, I meant to address temporary/conditional use of free shipping. If you're doing it as a sales boost for a short time or you have a "minimum order" requirement (like Amazon), then it can be a useful strategy.

  17. Tee shirt designer gameyy - Eric Terry

    gameyy said about 1 month ago

    turoneatingpinoy said: How are you doing $3 domestic and $7 international? Cuz I tried to estimate what costs would be for shipping so I could figure out what to charge and I seemed to get higher numbers than that . . .

    USPS. Most single-tee domestic orders cost 2.20-2.40 to ship. Most international single-tee orders are 5.50-7.50. I just added options for Mexico and Canada, though, since it's pretty cheap to ship there (3.50-4.50).

  18. Tee shirt designer turoneatingpinoy - "Crazy" Mike

    turoneatingpinoy said about 1 month ago

    Is this priority or something else?

  19. Tee shirt designer Hays - Chris

    Hays said about 1 month ago

    gameyy said:
    Hays said:
    gameyy said: Free shipping sounds good in principle, but in the end it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense unless the bulk of your buyers are in/around your country.

    For example, for Linty Fresh I offer domestic shipping ($3 for a single shirt) and international shipping ($7 a shirt). Now let's say I were to do away with shipping fees and just jack up my prices. If I jack it up by $7 (so I'm still breaking even on international sales), now my US buyers are being charged another $4 per shirt, so they get the short end of the stick, which is no good. But if I jack it up by just $3 (so that US buyers don't feel the change), then my international customers get a $4 price break, which hurts me.

    Just doesn't make sense.

    Thats true, i never really looked at it that way. I somthinkg offer weeks that i do freeshipping 1 week only it boosts sales so i make money back that way.

    Yeah, I meant to address temporary/conditional use of free shipping. If you're doing it as a sales boost for a short time or you have a "minimum order" requirement (like Amazon), then it can be a useful strategy.

    Yeah. Shipping prices have gone up so much in the UK in the last few years . dont know about US. but everyone is use to paying shipping fees now. you wouldnt expect them for free because nothing in life is free. But if the customer likes your t-shirt and its at a higher price , its puts them of well thats what i think. evan if you are offering free postage

  20. Tee shirt designer Rik - Rik

    Rik said about 1 month ago

    If you pack a shirt well, it'll cost no more than 70p to send in the uk!

    ..and no more than 1.70 to send to the states..

    Just for a ballpark figure for you... just make sure it can fit through the royal mails "large letter" slot.

  21. Tee shirt designer Truman325i - Andy Meyer

    Truman325i said about 1 month ago

    Rik said: If you pack a shirt well, it'll cost no more than 70p to send in the uk!

    ..and no more than 1.70 to send to the states..

    Just for a ballpark figure for you... just make sure it can fit through the royal mails "large letter" slot.

    Hrmm, silly U.K mail peoples.

  22. Tee shirt designer Hays - Chris

    Hays said about 1 month ago

    Truman325i said:
    Rik said: If you pack a shirt well, it'll cost no more than 70p to send in the uk!

    ..and no more than 1.70 to send to the states..

    Just for a ballpark figure for you... just make sure it can fit through the royal mails "large letter" slot.

    Hrmm, silly U.K mail peoples.

    Once i sent a t-shrit of but the bag filled with air after a sent it. Then royal Mail charged the Buyer more ££ to recive it. becuase it didnt fit in the Slot !"Bastards"

  23. Tee shirt designer Rik - Rik

    Rik said about 1 month ago

    Hays said:
    Truman325i said:
    Rik said: If you pack a shirt well, it'll cost no more than 70p to send in the uk!

    ..and no more than 1.70 to send to the states..

    Just for a ballpark figure for you... just make sure it can fit through the royal mails "large letter" slot.

    Hrmm, silly U.K mail peoples.

    Once i sent a t-shrit of but the bag filled with air after a sent it. Then royal Mail charged the Buyer more ££ to recive it. becuase it didnt fit in the Slot !"Bastards"

    Check out my bag supplier.. www.polybags.co.uk - they seal so no air can get in.

  24. Tee shirt designer Hays - Chris

    Hays said about 1 month ago

    Rik said:
    Hays said:
    Truman325i said:
    Rik said: If you pack a shirt well, it'll cost no more than 70p to send in the uk!

    ..and no more than 1.70 to send to the states..

    Just for a ballpark figure for you... just make sure it can fit through the royal mails "large letter" slot.

    Hrmm, silly U.K mail peoples.

    Once i sent a t-shrit of but the bag filled with air after a sent it. Then royal Mail charged the Buyer more ££ to recive it. becuase it didnt fit in the Slot !"Bastards"

    Check out my bag supplier.. www.polybags.co.uk - they seal so no air can get in.

    Cheers dude i just orded some new ones now. Red/Green and Gold. They look great !

  25. Tee shirt designer chalk - Dean

    chalk said about 1 month ago

    Rik said:

    Check out my bag supplier.. www.polybags.co.uk - they seal so no air can get in.


    - what particular product do you use from polybag?
    thanks for the info - incredibly useful

  26. Tee shirt designer turoneatingpinoy - "Crazy" Mike

    turoneatingpinoy said about 1 month ago

    yeah in relation to polybags what size are you guys using for mailing?

  27. Tee shirt designer Half a Job Jeans - Lizzy

    Half a Job Jeans said about 1 month ago

    Just remember you have to factor in people who claim never to have received their items in the post.

    I send all t-shirt recorded delivery now (just like american apparel do here in the UK) so i know if someone has signed for them or not.

    Since i started sending recorded the amount of missing items has declined by about 60%. But i think that has alot to do with royal mail taking better care of them? On average my parcels cost to send with recorded mail to the uk £2.55.

    Also for anyhting over say £50 would you send by special delivery? Could you afford to loose that money if the shirts went missing in the post and you had to send again? There are alot of factors to put into things when deciding postage rates.

  28. Tee shirt designer Rik - Rik

    Rik said about 1 month ago

    Mailing Envelope

    Product code: MAILORDER/02
    Blue Mail Order Goods Delivery Bag with 'Peal n' Seal' Strip ( ref 02 - boxed in 1000's)
    Size: 305 x 406mm+ lip (12x16") 50mu
    [explain sizes]

  29. Tee shirt designer Rik - Rik

    Rik said about 1 month ago

    Special delivery is a rip off.. it cost someone sending me a camera £20.51.. just for a camcorder..

    It cost me less than £15 to send a 24 channel mixer via parcelforce 24, and that's a sign for service.

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