Your opinion on taxes/shipping please

John — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 15:19:12 +0000

Hi Fellow Shopifiers, I have wanted to solicate your opinion on taxes/shipping.

I have a store based in Canada. I will (hopefully) sell to Canada, US and international as well.

I prefer to have one price and not add taxes, shipping, etc. on top (for those in Canada). So, for example, if I charge $50.00, it will include all taxes and shipping/handling within Canada. For US and international customers, I would charge an additional shipping fee (say $5.00 more to US, $8 to international).

Do you think this is a good idea? Or do you think I should add taxes and shipping afterwards?

My rationale for keeping it one price, then adding adding a bit extra for US/international is just making it simple for the end customer. It also keeps it simple on my end too, as some of my products have weird dimensions, and thus the shipping rates based on weight doesn’t work well.

How would you, as an end customer, feel towards a one all-included price? What about an international/US customer?

Thanks for your feedback.

John.

Richard Quick commented

Richard Quick — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 15:55:18 +0000

The argument against doing it this way is that customers will be more likely to buy if they see a lower price initially – even if you then add shipping on.

Kenzie commented

Kenzie — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 16:20:06 +0000

As far as weird dimensions go for making shipping rates difficult, the key is to use volumetric weight, rather than actual weight. It’s much more accurate.

Check with your preferred shipping company for an exact formula, but I find the following is effective:

(Length x Width x Height in centimeters) / 6000 = Volumetric Weight in kilograms

(Length x Width x Height in inches) / 194 = Volumetric Weight in Pounds

Cliff commented

Cliff — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 18:07:47 +0000

Richard’s argument might be true in some scenarios, but it depends on how you work your shipping fees. Be careful with hidden or ‘surprise’ costs—they will turn people away. If the customer gets to the checkout process and the shipping fees seem high, they will abandon the order. This is especially the case if you’re selling a product that is available elsewhere.

It is good practice to explain the extra fees, if any, somewhere on the store itself before the checkout. No surprises.

If taxes are expected, I would say don’t include them in the price. It could make things confusing and probably wouldn’t be worth the effort.

If you can work it into your pricing, but still not seem too high, offer free shipping or $1 shipping, or something like that. It’s an attractive selling point and gives you another promotion opportunity.