Hello.

I wish I could help more. I do not do calculated shipping, but I’m 99% certain I read where a seller here said that there is no way to do calculated shipping on first class mail.

What I’m doing first and foremost on low weight items is thinking if there is room in the item price to offer shipping the same as I have had for first class (some items I have had some wiggle room to go up on the item price). Then for middle of the road, I’m starting to up the first class by about .50 and then on the high end I’m upping by about a dollar….but again, it also depends if there is room in the price of the item so that I do not have to raise the shipping price as least as possible. It’s harder to do the latter on heavier weight first class items though.

I also figure, items do go up over time (or at least they are supposed to) anyway.

I hope this makes sense.

I’m curious to see how others are doing it and looking forward to some ideas.

Thanks for posting.

Sharon

I always do a flat rate for all first class items and I set a price in groups..

ie 4 oz or less
4-8 ounces
8-12 ounces
12-15.99 ounces..

The prices I set are slightly higher than the commercial rates but lower than the retail rate, the slight wiggle room helps offset associated shipping costs, ie envelopes/boxes/labels

Based on commercial rates, it looks like if set 1-5 ounces flat rate of $3.75 will take are of all zones
6-12 ounces to $4.50 will take care of all zones
13-16 ounces $5.50….

The highest I have set at present is 5.00 anyway so only the heaviest end will have to be changed…ie those in the 13-15 ounce range…

If you do not think it is fair…break it down to smaller ranges

1-4 ounces 3.25
5-8 ounces 3.70 or 3.75
9-12 ounces 4.35 or 4.50
and over 12 ounces 5.50

I am basing my charges on Commercial base rates that are charged through paypal, since bonz shipping calculator gives the retail rate which is higher and only goes to 13 ounces for first class..

My new listings..last week or two have already been adjusted using the higher rates..

The priority ones are going to hurt…the increase is even greater and again I will have to pull the items I selected for international shipping as that increase is just way beyond the value of the small items

I posted a answer or comment about this change for First Class a while back but sometimes it gets deleted by the elves. (I may be on double secret probation for doing this). I mentioned that hope Bonanza is working on a calculation for F/C shipping (and also Parcel would be nice too) not just Priority mail. I still think calc for Pri, the buyer needs to give their Zip location first otherwise it calcs at the farthest rates which could be much higher than actual cost and can make or break a sale. Many peeps come into Bonz who are not signed up or signed in to determine location for calc of costs, and if they see the high price, we possibly lose the sale. To get a REAL ship cost, they need to give a ZIP but buyers are so accustomed to FREE shipping, that if you dont have that, they just move on. They dont realize that if Free, the cost of shipping (of which many who do not ship haven’t a clue), is NOT cheap and getting more expensive. This change coming in Jan of 2019 is going to be substantial for some classes as PO is also changing the DIM divisor in their calc this time around. Shipping will never be cheaper than it is RIGHT NOW.