Unusual shipping dilemma

unspooledwi · ‎05-12-2017

Hello. I'm hoping to pick a few brains because I have a problem that I haven't seen discussed, at least not that I could find. And I'm sure I'm losing sales because of it.

In my online store, I ship kits so that people can make tuffets. This is what a tuffet looks like:

It's a footstool with legs. The legs are where my problem is.

It's bulky: about 18 inches across. I ship in a box thats 18 x 18 x 10. However, the box is fairly light, weighing about 13 lbs. I have found that the least expensive and most convenient way for me to ship is by USPS. In fact, if I'm shipping within zones 1 - 4 using Priority Mail, the shipping for a tuffet kit is quite low -- under $15. That's because the USPS has a special shipping rate for large, relatively lightweight boxes. But only zones 1 - 4. If it's outside of those zones, it's higher. That's dilemma number one. Because those zones are by zip code, not state. And the price gets slightly higher the further out I go, even within this special rate. If I'm shipping outside this area, the rate can jump up to $30 or more. I usually switch to parcel post then.

The dilemma comes in when someone just orders feet. Believe it or not, it's significantly more expensive.for me to ship just a set of feet than it is for me to ship the same feet with the rest of the tuffet kit. And I offer several different styles of feet, which can fit into boxes of various sizes. So the feet pictured above are quite small and I can ship them cheaply, but some feet are much bulkier, and they have to go into a bigger box.

I have a note on my store page that explains that I will refund shipping if the system calculates an overage, which I do refund. But I'm sure I'm losing sales because if people order an unusual combination of stuff, my system might calculate overages of $30 or more.

As it is, I have different codes set up for each state, which doesn't always work. Sometimes I end up with the system charging less shipping than I have to pay.

Any ideas? My store is at http://www.unspooledwi.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html

Queso · ‎05-12-2017

Hello!

One thing you may want to consider is checking out Real-Time Shipping. This sounds like exactly the kind of thing it's meant to help with.

unspooledwi · ‎05-13-2017

That would require an upgrade, correct?

Queso · ‎05-13-2017

It does require a Performance plan, yes.

mary896 · ‎05-15-2017

Why do Business plans have to upgrade further and pay more for real time shipping integration? It's a free service provided by USPS, etc. Everyone wants more money, of course Weebly does too. But in order for your clents to make enough money to pay YOU more money, we need access to basic services like email marketing and real time shipping quotes. It's understandable these services don't come with a free plan, but the Business plan?

unspooledwi · ‎05-15-2017

Agreed! My business is very small and the business plan I'm on is already more than I can justify. Perhaps Weebly would be willing to offer a trial of this plan? If it increased my sales, I would happily pay, but without knowing it will help, I hesitant to do so.

unspooledwi · ‎05-15-2017

It's also disheartening that the only response I got to this dilemma is to pay more money.

Adam7 · ‎05-16-2017

Sorry to hear that you feel that way. We could offer some coupons to mitigate the cost some if that would help. Also, if you've already upgraded to Business we pro-rate the cost of the upgrade to Performance based on the time remaining on your Business subscription.

unspooledwi · ‎05-20-2017

Here's my conundrum, Adam. It's going to take me hours of work to male this change and if it's not worth it, I'll be stuck at the higher rate AND I'll have lost all of those hours. Plus I'll have to redo everything if I decide to go back. And I don't even know if the real time shipping will work at all. Can you guarantee that it will work the way I need it to? So it will charge more to ship item A than it does item A plus item B?

Queso · ‎05-20-2017

Hey there! Where upgrading is concerned, you'll be able to refund the plan within the first 30 days, so if for any reason the shipping isn't working for you, you won't end up stuck with service you weren't looking for.