I'll tell you what's up with that for my shops, Nancy's Fabric Shop and Custom Designs by Nancy. I learned the hard way how the shipping expenses can reduce my profit to nothing, and sometimes even go into negative territory, after I did the math. First, my goods are heavy. The shipping isn't minimal as it can be for jewelry, it can be quite serious, especially when sending a comforter or bedspread. And then there are the etsy and paypal fees. Etsy may only charge $.20 to list, and 3.5% doesn't sound like a lot until you do the math on a $50 piece, which is $1.75, plus the .$20 and paypal's fee and we're over $2.00 in fees and I haven't packaged and shipped it yet.
I know there's always a lot of discussion in the forums about how to price your pieces. I want to be competitive, and to tell the truth my material costs are minimal. In Custom Designs by Nancy I want to be paid for my labor. Even simple potholders or placemats can take time to make, and my etsy stores ARE my day job. So I use the shipping charges to pay the etsy and paypal fees, figure about $.60 for the packaging (envelopes or box), and guesstimate how much the post office will charge to ship to Alabama (whereever) from New York.
For example, I sent a potholder to Georgia in May. The potholder itself sold for $5 and I charged her $2 for shipping. The actual post office cost was $1.56, the envelope cost maybe $.30, the paypal fee was $.50, the list fee was $.20 and etsy's 3.5% was $.18, totalling a$2.74. So, out of the $7 she was charged, I actually received $4.25, and it took maybe 1/2 hour to make the potholder.
I don't mean for this to sound like a rant. I'm just putting it out there into reality. Because of my own experience I don't question people's shipping charges, and I realize that free shipping from a seller is a big deal.
Maybe I should increase my prices to include the fees, and offer free shipping...
Beautiful fabrics, if only I could sew :(. My mother didn't pass that down to me. I love the flower patterns.
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