Revising Your Etsy Shipping Costs May Increase Your Sales

!±8± Revising Your Etsy Shipping Costs May Increase Your Sales

I have a background in journalism and media planning and have always believed that when you are selling a product there has to be more than one platform. There needs to be a multitude of platforms from Facebook to Twitter to YouTube to SEO integration and in order to grow you have to get in bed with a few of the one thousand options available and counting. But, last week I was reminded of how important it is to speak with your customers. They are your greatest asset and overall contributor to your company's growth. A fellow Etsy vendor from Canada messaged me and asked why my shipping to Canada was so high.

I was taken back. My shipping is too high? I thought. So, I decided to do some research and see what other US-based wood bangle sellers used as their shipping costs for Canada. I only searched for a short time but I found very few that had a separate line item for Canada. Everyone including myself coupled it in with the "Everywhere Else" tab. And, the "Everywhere Else" tab is normally double what it would cost to ship the bangles within the United States. International shipping can get tricky and being mindful of it can save you and your customer some money.

Ironically, that same day I received a bangle sale from a different Canadian customer. Therefore, the next day I shipped the bangles from the post office. And, then, I realized that the shipping cost was only .00 extra than the US based shipments. It made sense. Why is this the first time I paid attention to this? The "Everywhere" else tab did not apply for Canada and I am sure many other countries. Although I am a small business I have to remind myself that I am an online business which opens me up to a much larger global market place. And, in order to compete in a global market I have to start thinking more globally.

So, the next day I changed all my shipping tabs for my posts to reflect a separate Canadian shipping fee. And, I wondered: how many Canadian and beyond customers have I lost due to my inaccurate shipping costs? So, now I make it a point to pay attention to my international customers shipping costs so I can make corrections as they come in.

Again, having open communication with customers and listening to them is imperative to truly understand your business and to increase sales. Companies pay millions of dollars for market research for a reason. And, as an Etsy seller our customers are only an email away.