...so, we gotta do it to. Our previous shipping charges were $4.50 for the first t-shirt and $1.50 for each additional t-shirt. Now, it’s $4.95 for the first t-shirt and $1.50 for each additional t-shirt (US shipping only).
Please note, we haven’t raised our shipping charges - not once - since we went online four years ago (July, 2003). But, the Postal Services’ fees have increased twice since we started selling t-shirts on the Internet:
* January 8, 2006 - Priority Mail (up to 1 lb): $4.05, Confirmation $0.50
* May 14, 2007 - Priority Mail (up to 1 lb): $4.60, Confirmation $0.65
(At the time of this blog entry, I’ve been unable to find out what the Priority Mail postal fees were before January 8, 2006. Letter, or “1st class” rates have been easy to find, but historical Priority Mail rates have been a little harder to find.).
It’s always been a little difficult to determine exact shipping charges. The Post Office used to base their rates on weight. The average t-shirt package can weigh just below 1 pound, or just a little over. And, of course, postal fees increased when packages weighed more than 1 pound. So, our previous shipping charges usually covered the cost of shipping pretty closely.
Now, the post office has not only increased their rates according to weight, but they have completely changed their method of determining shipping charges according to size. I found a very cool Power point presentation online which better explains this new pricing structure:
http://www.mailing.duq.edu/mailing/USPSRateIncrease.ppt
(Of course, you must have Microsoft PowerPoint installed on your computer to see this presentation.)
Bottom line: The average minimum cost for shipping a t-shirt Priority Mail w/ Delivery Confirmation is $5.25 ($4.60 + $0.65). We are only charging $4.95 for the first t-shirt.
We still charge $1.50 for each additional T-shirt. Determining actual costs becomes even more difficult when multiple T-shirts are ordered because both weight and package size are now used as factors. But, so far, what we charge and what the post office charges still comes pretty close.
We just didn’t want to raise our shipping fees without letting our customers know what was going on. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions or suggestions.
