Go To Great Panes

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Google Merchant Center seems to be a bit glitchy at the moment–three issues:

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For some sellers shipping internationally means careful checking of import restrictions. Plant & animal products, food products, precious jewelry, leather and more are restricted or prohibited from being imported into in certain countries. Often when customs finds a prohibited item, it is confiscated without notice.

To help minimize your risk, use the USPS website’s list of countries on the following page, each has a link to their prohibited and restricted items:

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You can insure international First Class Mail!

Not all packages need shipping insurance–I find that the vast majority of our shipped goods make it to their destination just fine. If you ship fragile, expensive or irreplaceable goods though, buying insurance might be a good idea. When to insure is a decision you need to make for yourself–every business will have different points at which insurance is the way to go.

If you insure a lot of packages, the fees can add up. If you ship internationally, you can’t even insure some of your through packages USPS and that is a problem for many sellers.

It’s easy to add USPS insurance while you are paying for postage whether you are buying postage online or at the post office:

When shipping internationally, the prices for Priority Mail International shipping is often cost-prohibitive–add insurance and the high prices might turn buyers off.

First Class International and the small flat rate Priority Mail International boxes are a more affordable shipping method but USPS doesn’t offer insurance for these services, which can be risky if you are sending items that are pricy/fragile/irreplaceable.

That’s a tough hurdle for lots of folks who want to sell internationally, until they learn you can purchase insurance through third-party shipping insurance companies.

Not only is third-party insurance available for International First Class Mail, it less expensive than USPS’ insurance to boot–even for domestic shipping.

The two companies I’ve learned about and tried have different restrictions–one doesn’t cover jewelry, the other doesn’t cover stained glass. Since we sell both, I made a point of bookmarking each of them, including the pages where they list their rates and restrictions:

I haven’t needed to file a claim with either company, but purchasing the insurance through their websites was easy enough. I’ve only read about one seller who needed to file a claim with these companies–they insured using U-Pic (through Endicia’s postage/label service) and they said the claims process went well.

How was your experience with these companies?

Go To Great Panes, Kathryn Maloney ©2009
(This post is copyrighted–you do not have permission to repost this content elsewhere but you are welcome to link to it if you’d like to share the information.)

I finally got a treasury spot for our Hoarders Unite Team Treasury! We gladly hoard new members too–so please come join us!

See our profile on Etsy here: Hoarders Unite

See our blog here: http://hoardersunite.blogspot.com

Go To Great Panes, Kathryn Maloney ©2009
(This post is copyrighted–you do not have permission to repost this content elsewhere but you are welcome to link to it if you’d like to share the information.)

I get lots of requests for help with getting sellers’ website items up on Google’s Shopping search. Some websites & shopping carts have feeds you can use to supply your goods to Google Merchant Center, but if yours doesn’t you can use a file you upload to your website to submit your products.

For a nominal fee I’ll provide a digital file I’ve created that should help get your started and basic instructions for getting your feed up.

If you are interested in receiving the file and directions by email please use the Paypal button below and I’ll get it to you as soon as possible, usually within 48 hours.

You’ll need Microsoft Excel to open it, or something like Open Office–a free-ware program that can open & edit Microsoft Excel files.

These are my original documents, I have put my time and effort into creating and providing them for you. When purchasing, you agree not to share or sell the file or the accompanying instructions with others.

Order the Sample Google Merchant Data Feed File & Instructions:

$5.00 delivery service charge Pay with Paypal

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Shipping Service Choices

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You need to choose what service works best for your business, I can only speak to what works for us. We use First Class whenever possible–it’s fast and inexpensive.

When a domestic package is over 13 oz (the First Class rate cut-off), we generally ship Priority Mail. International First Class goes up to 4 lbs, we rarely have an international package that goes over that, but when it does the package has to go Priority.

First Class is generally handled the same as Priority Mail, except during the busiest seasons when Priority Mail is put on the truck first, and if they run out of room for slower service packages, the non-Priority packages have to wait for the next truck. The only other time I hear that Priority is handled better than first class is when it is being shipped to APO/FPO addresses, Alaska and Hawaii.

If you don’t ask for First Class at the post office, the clerks are supposed to just give your Priority Mail, so be sure to ask about your options.

First Class Mail Domestic: Up to 13 oz
The rate is the same across the US no matter how far the destination. It is the least expensive you can ship, even less than Parcel post–and yet the service is much faster than Parcel Post.

First Class Mail International: Up to 4 pounds
The rates are variable but they don’t change much except for Canada and Mexico being much less expensive than anywhere else–we’re neighbors after all. See here for more: International Shipping

Priority Mail for domestic shipping is covered here: Priority Mail
You can get boxes free when using Priority Mail, but we can still ship most items cheaper in our recycled boxes or in bubble mailers using First Class Mail. They have great “flat rate” boxes–same price no matter what shipping US zone your package is going to but it’s only a good deal for heavier items, that’s covered in the link above. There are different prices for the Priority International Flat Rates, though you use the same boxes.

Parcel Post
We don’t often use Parcel Post because it is significantly slower, and usually not much less expensive than Priority Mail–especially if you pay for postage online.

Once you’ve got your items shipping figured out, you’ll probably want to use shipping labels you print from home–once you start you’ll wonder how you ever did without it! See the “Shipping” page for links to posts for help with printing labels and even more shipping help.

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We’ve just added a Shipping page to the Pages links on the right. There you’ll find all the main shipping help posts I’ve put on the blog. I’ll update the new Shipping page with future shipping help posts too, so you can find them all in one spot.

Occasional updates about shipping info–like postal rate changes–can be found using the “sort by topic” link just below the Pages links or get notified when messages are posted by subscribing to our blog–see the links on the left.

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To figure your shipping rates you need to find out what your items weigh in packaging and then you can use the USPS shipping calculator for shipping rates (if you are in the USA):

I recommend weighing several packages, writing down the weight and then taking the packages to the Post Office and having the clerk there weigh them too. Compare the weight your scale read to the post office’s scale so you know if your scale is off & how to adjust.

Using the Shipping Calculator

When you use the USPS Shipping Calculator it will ask for zip code. We use a zip code from the farthest zone so that we’ll know the highest rate the shipping can be if we are using a service other than First Class. To find out what zone is the farthest from you, see here:

Click the little question mark links on the USPS calculator pages if you need more info as you go.

Be sure to click the “First-Class Mail Package rates” link (it’s red) when you get to the results page if any of the following apply and you want to ship First Class:

(If you’ll be shipping using labels you print online, you need the package to be 3/4″ thick or rigid to qualify for Delivery Confirmation which is automatically added (and you cannot opt out.))

If the box dimensions are large there’s some variation in pricing:

Domestic: http://ircalc.usps.gov/PopUps/pop_up16.htm
International: http://ircalc.usps.gov/popups/FCMI_Parcel_help.htm

You can also use these rate charts if you prefer–the links on the left side of the page linked below take you to the different services available:

I like the charts, but it’s good to be familiar with shipping rules before just using them & not the shipping calculator. (You’ll be there in no time!)

The USPS website’s shipping calculator has a drop-down menu to select the country you are shipping to–please note that when you change it to a country other than the US it auto-fills the information selecting “package” and giving it a weight of 1 pound. I don’t know why it does this, but it does and it can throw your quotes shipping off. Be sure to click the radio button that describes your item (a bubble mailer is a “large envelope”, a box is a package), and change the weight to match your package weight.

Go To Great Panes, Kathryn Maloney ©2009
(This post is copyrighted–you do not have permission to repost this content elsewhere but you are welcome to link to it if you’d like to share the information.)

I’ve just updated our Thank You page with a few new shops that have generously sent donations for the help they received on our blog–please go check them out: