Shipping

HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO SHIP MY ORDERS?

Preferably orders are shipped on the same day or within 24 hrs on an order being placed in-line with our seller standards.

Made-to-order, personalised and custom-made items can be shipped within the timeframe you have indicated on the product description. The maximum delivery time for items is 20 days, unless otherwise stated.

WHAT SHOULD I INCLUDE WITH MY PRODUCTS THAT I SHIP?

You should include:

  • a shipping docket which confirms the order is checked off and correct.

To grow repeat business it is worth including:

  • inexpensive novelty or sweets, depending on the type of product and international customs requirements, or
  • a sample of any of your other products, or
  • an inexpensive cultural item

Please ensure that your order is shipped with care and attention to detail everytime. The small (and inexpensive) things such as beautifully and carefully packaged items make a huge difference to customer perceptions of your brand, generate positive feedback and create repeat customers.

HOW MUCH SHOULD I CHARGE FOR SHIPPING?

The following is our standard site-wide shipping policy:

  • Because customers are more likely to purchase products with free shipping, we request that vendors work out the domestic shipping cost of the item and add that to the product price and therefore offer FREE domestic shipping, because the shipping cost is added to the item.
  • If the full free shipping is not suitable to absorb in the price of your product, because:
    • the product cost is less than the shipping cost
    • the item is heavy or bulky and the shipping cost is significant
  • Then we recommend incorporating the standard shipping for a product into the product price and adding any additional cost through an additional shipping fee. eg. If an item was $100 and the cost of the shipping is $29. Then add $9 into the cost of the $100 heavy product, making it $109 and add $20 in an additional ‘heavy-item’ shipping fee.
  • Some products may be cheaper than the shipping cost eg. a soap may be $7, but the shipping is $8. We recommend making the cost of the soap $9 and the shipping $6 (as an example). The other option is to sell the soap at $7 with shipping at $8, but have a buy-one-get-one free offer which then makes the shipping per soap only $4 each (and you sell more soap) or using a discount code for buying more than one item.
  • International shipping – we ask that for international shipping you add the cost of the International shipping on top of the domestic shipping. eg. g. If an item was $100 and the cost of domestic shipping was $9. Then add $9 into the cost of the $100 product, making it $109. So then if shipping the product to NZ normally costs $19, charge $10 shipping to NZ to cover the additional cost to deliver internationally.
  • In all other cases, we recommend charging a flat-rate of no more than $10 for your domestic shipping. A flat-rate works where the majority of your products consistently fit into a similar weight and size package across product ranges or across your store. It also works in that products ship across Australia for the same price no matter where your product is being sent to.
  • Sometimes you will need to offer table-rate shipping. Table-Rate works out the rate of the postage based on your location, the customers location, the dimensions and the weight of the products and give the customer a custom shipping price. This will work best for heavy or bulky items. This shipping makes it cheaper for customers who are near you, but more expensive for customers far away from you.

You should ideally not charge a flat-rate of more than $10 for domestic shipping, but can charge less. While flat-rate shipping is useful for many products, it may not work for all your products and you may be better using a table-rate shipping system for specific products.

We request that vendors only charge the actual shipping cost plus any nominal packaging costs. Customers are likely to purchase from stores where costs reflect actual shipping costs or less than actual cost.

Ideally, the best shipping strategy is to incorporate the packaging costs within the product cost and at least a portion, if not all of the shipping cost within the cost of the product you sell. Consumers are more likely to purchase products where the cost of shipping is low or free.

You should research different delivery providers in your area to find the one(s) that best suit the products you sell. We use Australia Post for domestic shipping and Australia Post and DHL for international shipping.

Please read our Help with Shipping guide to help you with setting shipping costs.

HOW DO I SPECIFY REDUCED SHIPPING WHEN CUSTOMERS BUY MULTIPLE ITEMS?

If a buyer purchases more than one item from you, you can create a ‘Multi Item Shipping Discount’ by creating a discount coupon code.

Alternatively, you can activate a discount when creating product by editing the listing for your items in Shipping settings. You can check the box ‘Charge once per product for national shipping, even if more than one is purchased’ and this will offer the customer a flat shipping rate for the product, even if more than one product is chosen.

WHAT DO I DO IF I’VE SHIPPED AN ITEM THAT WAS CANCELLED BY THE BUYER?

Orders may be cancelled by the buyer, or the seller, up until the point when they are marked as shipped by the seller. If you have already shipped an order, the customer will need to return the order and receive a refund of the order if offered.