Recently, we had a handful of debates with customers over the cost of shipping orders, especially when it comes to single, smaller items. We understand the frustration… I really do! Shipping costs are one of the most difficult parts of ours or any other small business. Customers often get a false sense of being taken advantage of when they go to purchase something small and the cost to ship the item is the same or more than the actual item.
Amazon (especially Prime Membership) and other mass online vendors make it appear that everything should be shipped for free or next to free. What many customers don’t realize is that these major online retailers have corporate relationships with shipping companies (USPS, FedEX, DHL) which allows them to ship at higher discounts, often 50-75% less than smaller business or the general public.
These major online retailers also often take losses on shipping charges and costs in attempts to increase order purchasing volumes, hoping that at the end of the day that the larger orders will make up for any losses they incur otherwise. It’s the same as a local grocery store selling a dozen of eggs for less than they pay for them… just to get you into the store!
Loss leader pricing is an aggressive pricing strategy in which a store sells selected goods below cost in order to attract customers who will, according to the loss leader philosophy, make up for the losses on highlighted products with additional purchases of profitable goods.
We use this philosophy when it comes to shipping our products. We typically eat $1-3 dollars on every order shipped in the US, more when they are shipped from coast-to-coast or outside of the contiguous 48 states. USPS raised their rates again this year as much as 45% which leads to even more losses, which is difficult for small businesses like ours.
For our order shipping, we use USPS Priority to ship our products rather than USPS 1st Class due to the delicate nature of our products, especially our candles and items made with wax. During the summer months, temperatures in mail trucks can reach 120 degrees or more... The wax we use begins to degrade and melt around 90 degrees. The same applies in the winter where extremely cold temperatures can cause candles to "frost" (white spots) or cause our bath & body products to separate due to our lack of chemical preservatives.
We also ship via Priority Mail to speed up the process of our customers receiving orders due to our handmade process. Typically, 99% of every purchase made from our website or Etsy store is handmade to order within a few days of receiving it. We want our customers to receive only the best products that we can provide them. Slowing down the shipping process by shipping with slower options like 1st Class Mail or Parcel Service on top of the 5-7 business days it takes to hand produce orders is untenable in our current culture of instant gratification.
We currently offer $7.95 Flat Rate Shipping for all orders regardless of size. We also offer Free Shipping on orders of $50.00 or more! For smaller items, like perfumes, we do give customers the option of ship 1st Class and refund any overages of $1.00 or more in shipping costs received.
For us, this flat rate shipping model works the best for our customers. Yes, it may deter some potential buyers who just want to try a small item, but there isn’t much that can be done about it. So look at it this way… Yes, ideally shipping costs wouldn’t be a thing… but if you were to purchase a product from a local larger retailer, you’d be spending a few dollars for gas, not to mention the time it take to get to the store and to search for that item. Most of the time, you are also supporting larger corporate ventures rather than independent businesses like ourselves. You are also getting a handmade product that you can rest assured won’t harm you or your family!