Shipping

You might be asking yourself, "How do I know how much it will cost to ship this item?".

Since this blog is mostly dedicated to Canadians, I will let you know the best way from the Canadian Postal system: Canada Post.

One simple way of finding out if you do not have a scale at home would be to take a few of your items in a variety of sizes and weights to your local post office. Have them ship it to a postal code within Canada but the furthest away from you, then do the same with the US, and then pick somewhere internationally. Now, I will say that internationally the prices can vary which is why it's important to try to test ship it to a few places and get the average or more expensive option and use that one. You can always refund extra later but it can be awkward to ask for more money. 

From my experiences if you can ship something in an envelope or bubble mailer envelope it will be slightly cheaper than if you ship something in a box. So if you have the option, use an envelope. I've also come to realize that size only plays a small part in the price but mostly relies on the weight. If anything is over .5kg it will trigger higher prices. 

If you are sending anything that can fit in a mail slot, it will also be cheaper and has a different mailing option.

INSURANCE!

The importance of insurance or at least letting your customers know ahead of time that they will not be receiving insurance:

-You do not want to have to pay for a mix up at the post office. If the item you ship does not make it to the customer or gets damaged along the way, you want the post office to pay for it, not you!

-If you let your customers know ahead of time that it does not come with tracking / insurance and you do not take responsibility for lost, stolen, or damaged packages then it becomes their responsibility. Just remember that some people will still argue that and have the upper hand when leaving feedback and so on. 

For smaller and cheaper items like cards or small prints, it's a little bit less important to have insurance. For larger more expensive items, it definitely becomes more and more of something to think about. 

Tracking is also nice for customers to feel secure about knowing where their orders are while it's in transit. 

The post office will have many different types of envelopes and boxes for shipping, you can also try bulk shipping suppliers, or the dollar store for some cheaper options. Remember to factor in the cost of packaging and the mailer you use in your shipping price.

Canada Post's online site also has a place where you can look up shipping prices if you know the weight and size of the item once packaged. 

Next we will go over packaging: how to, what to include, and how important it is!