Your Postage Terms Are Part of the Sale

Postage feels like admin, so it gets written last and written vaguely. It is actually one of the few things a buyer checks before deciding, and it is where a surprising number of quiet losses happen.

Say the number

Ask for postage and a buyer has to message you to find out what a thing costs. Most will not. A stated figure, even a slightly high one, converts better than a blank, because it lets somebody decide on their own without starting a conversation they may not want to have.

Say when it goes

Posted within two days sets an expectation you can meet. No statement at all sets one you cannot, because everybody assumes tomorrow. The complaint that begins with I thought it had already gone is almost always caused by silence rather than by slowness.

Say how it is packed

Discreet packaging is the single most reassuring line you can write, and it costs nothing because you were going to do it anyway. Plain outer, no branding, no description on the label. Buyers who care about this care a great deal, and they will not ask.

Decide about tracking before you need it

Tracked costs more and answers the question where is it without either of you guessing. Untracked is cheaper and means that question has no answer at all. Either is fine. What is not fine is deciding at the post office, because the choice is really about what happens in a fortnight if it never arrives.

Write it once and reuse it

These four lines do not change between items. Keep them somewhere you can paste from so every listing says the same thing, because postage terms that differ across a shop look like they were made up per order, which is exactly what a buyer is worried about.