what this blog is all about...

Do you sell stuff on-line? Interested in it? Well, this blog might be for you. Don't expect lots of news stories or other stuff you can easily get. I want to give you the ugly side...the practical, the-stuff-they-don't-warn-you-about side of on-line retailing for the small seller.

I've been selling on-line for about 9 years. And I'm happy to share some of my experience and knowledge with anyone who has the patience to trudge their way through my random ramblings!

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Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Shipping and handling: model 4 - flat rate

What's flat rate?

In the days of catalog shopping (who remembers getting one from Speigel or Montgomery Ward?) flat rate shipping was the only way to go.

Buying $1 to $50 in merchandise? That will cost you $5 to ship. $50 to a $100? That'll be $9 for shipping, please.

Flat rate holds a lot of promise for sellers because you can get buyers to buy tons of your stuff but not get reamed on shipping. So your sales could be fantastic...but you may have to eat a bit of the postage.

You therefore have to be careful with this.

Use it only if the following is true: your profit margin on a multi-item order is great enough that you can eat the additional postage and still profit enough for you to justify using flat rate shipping. If you can't sleep at night knowing you lost money with flat-rate shipping, this model isn't for you.

But for some people (especially those in the small electronics or jewelry business) it's a godsend.

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