jezhawk Posted December 12, 2023 Share Posted December 12, 2023 Hi peeps, I'd love some help with shipping. I am a freelance illustrator and I sell primarily online through my own website. I sell prints and greetings cards, and also heavier items like card decks (which seem to randomly hit an expensive level of shipping due to dimensions and weight) and some other accessories. I take on average about 50 orders a month, but this can hit spikes of much more than that when I have a product launch. I'm based in the UK and my customer base is largely USA based with the second largest base being UK customers. I currently use weights to calculate shipping on Squarespace and most of the time this calculates out correctly, with only some product variations catching me out. Customers can choose to ship Standard Airmail or Tracked (if international) and all UK orders go 1st class Royal Mail. I send all my orders via Royal Mail / Post office, using the Drop and Go service. However, I'm starting to run into issues with clients choosing Standard Airmail, then contacting me when the parcel doesn't arrive on time (or at all) - this being International orders - I then have no recourse as there is no tracking. More often than not it is stuck in customs which I have found increasingly difficult to deal with since Brexit. As far as I know I fill the customs forms out to the letter but on busy launch months it can be a major pain to hand-fill out these forms and maybe errors do occur. I'm starting to look at options like SendCloud or Ship Station to see if they might suit but I feel I may be too small for them. I'd love to speak to someone about this, a consultation perhaps with an expert, I'm happy to pay for your time! I feel I'm at a point where I don't know what I don't know and I'm wary of trying a solution and doing a load of upfront leg-work to find it doesn't work for me or isn't cost effective. My 3 main issues are: Unreliable Standard Airmail International shipments and no tracking available. Cost of shipping being a barrier for international customers Figuring out parcel variations and not losing money on shipping If anyone can help, please respond. I really would like to get a handle on this for 2024! Thanks so much Jen Link to comment
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