Etsy is a great platform to sell handmade goods. Of course the selling process also involves managing shipping. It is quite easy to manage shipping on Etsy if you understand the basics and set your settings right. Today we are going to explain in detail everything you need to know to ease the shipping process.
Types of Shipping
The first step is to decide what kind of shipping type you will use. It has to be easy for you and understandable for the customer. You need to take into consideration the country your goods will be shipping to, the price of the product and the package dimensions. Here are the three main options to manage shipping on Etsy:
Calculated shipping
This type of shipping combines the price, dimensions and weight of your product together with the country to which it will be sent. Even if you sell multiple products, Etsy will add up the costs accordingly. The shipping management program will also suggest the appropriate box for the packaging. You can set this if you follow these steps:
- Go to your shop’s Listings Manager.
- Choose the product for which you want to set the shipping price.
- Enter the weight and dimensions of your ready to pack product. The product must be measured when it is prepared for the last packaging part – boxing and shipping.
- Select Default Shipping. It means that you will be using Calculated Costs shipping.
- Click Publish. That is it, now you can do that with all the other products.
Flat Rate shipping
This type of shipping lets you charge the same amount for shipping regardless of the size, weight and country.
For example, when you use flat rate shipping and your customer from Singapore buys an item, you will charge the same amount as the person who buys from the same country as you are. So if you charge $5 for shipping, everyone pays 5 dollars.
With this option you can also use a stacking flat rate. This means that if one customer buys multiple items, you can charge full price for one and then reduce shipping price for other items. If you ship worldwide, you can set shipping rates for each country individually. You can set this shipping method if you go here:
- Go to your shop’s Listings Manager.
- Choose the item to which you want to adjust the shipping settings.
- Select Enter Custom Shipping Options.
- Pick and enter your chosen flat rate costs.
- Click Publish. Here you are, the shipping is done.
Free Shipping
This type of shipping is getting more and more popular among sellers. This is because customers like to see the final price and have no additional fees added on the checkout. It also helps reduce the amount of cart abandonments.
This option allows you to choose countries to which you will deliver for free and the ones that the shipping will be paid. For example, if you are a seller from UK, you can ship for free to your local customers. As for the other countries, you can set the desired amount to be charged at checkout.
You can set this type of shipping by following the same steps as for Flat Rate shipping. Just select the box which says Free Shipping.
How to manage shipping on Etsy like a pro
To make it easier to manage shipping on Etsy you can use Shipping profiles, which will allow you to update settings for products easier. You can create a Shipping Profile by following these steps:
- Go to Listings.
- Go to Shipping Settings.
- Click Add a Shipping Profile.
- There you need to enter the details of your packages and shipping rates.
- Enter the name of your Shipping Profile.
- Click on Create Profile.
After completing these steps you will probably want to update your listings with it. Here is what you need to do:
- Go to Listings Manager.
- Check the box next to items that you want to apply the Shipping Profile.
- Find More Actions and click on Shipping Profile.
- Select the Shipping Profile that you have just created.
Keep in mind that only one Shipping Profile can be applied to one listing. However it is possible to create unlimited Shipping profiles and then you can apply them accordingly. For example, if you are selling bracelets, necklaces and stones, you can create a different Shipping Profile for each of those.
If you own more than one store or sell on other platforms too, you can use Multiorders shipping management software to manage shipping on Etsy and other platforms at once.
With Multiorders you can add unlimited amount of couriers, create shipping labels in a few clicks, merge orders in order to optimize shipping flow and even automatically get USPS Commercial Plus Pricing together with the best possible rates.