Postage Costs and Not Losing Money on Shipping

Postage is where new sellers quietly lose money. The item sells, the buyer is happy, and then the parcel costs eight pounds instead of the three you quoted and your margin has gone. Nobody notices this until they add up a month.

Weigh before you quote

Kitchen scales. That is the whole tool. Weigh the item, the bag, the tissue and the envelope together, because packaging weighs more than people think. Then check the rate. Never quote from memory, because the rate you remember is the rate from before the last price rise.

Thickness matters as much as weight

Large letter rates are decided by thickness as well as weight, and a bag of socks that fits a large letter slot costs a fraction of what a small parcel costs. Press the air out of the bag, use a thin envelope, and check it through a slot gauge. A tights order that fits large letter is a genuinely cheap item to sell. A shoe order never will be.

Tracked or not

Track anything over about thirty pounds. Untracked is cheaper and fine for small items, but on a lost parcel you refund from your own pocket and you have nothing to show. Tracked postage is not a cost, it is insurance against the dispute, and it makes the conversation about a late parcel a lot shorter. This connects directly to how you ship discreetly, since the service you choose changes what appears on the label.

Included or added

Both work. Included postage looks cleaner and stops the checkout surprise, but you must build it in properly and it makes bundles harder to price. Added postage is honest and flexible but you must state it in the listing, not at the end. Pick one and use it across every listing so your buyers know what to expect.

International is a different animal

Never guess international. Weigh, check the rate to that country, add customs paperwork time, and quote from that. International postage on a shoe order can exceed the shoes. Quote it before you accept, not after, and be willing to say no if the maths does not work.

Buy kitchen scales this week if you do not have them, and weigh a typical parcel of each of your categories. Write those numbers down. That is your postage sheet.