Are you shipping physical products on Etsy? If you are, then you will need to create shipping profiles. Setting up shipping profiles in Etsy is not difficult if you are prepared. Etsy lets you have almost unlimited shipping profiles, but only use the ones you need or it will be overwhelming to manage (I'm speaking from experience – at one point we had over 25 shipping profiles!). I will even tell you what shipping profiles I would recommend. Of course, I will show you Step by Step how to set up shipping profiles.
Here's what you need to do or think about to get started on Etsy shipping profiles (don't worry – I'll discuss each one in detail later in this blog post and you probably know some or all of the answers already):
- Processing time (how long will it take you to pack and ship an order)
- Zip code you are shipping from
- Shipping classes (6 classes of shipping to choose from)
- Free shipping (are you offering free shipping?)
- Handling cost that you want to charge
- Countries that you want to ship to
- Weight of your product when packed (use a postal scale for accurate weights, if possible)
- Measurements of the box you are using to ship your product
- Name for your Shipping Profile
By the way, check out our post on Shipping your Etsy Sales – How to Print a Packing Slip and Shipping Label so when your first item sells, you are ready to go!
Steps to set up a shipping profile
1. Go to Shop Manager on the main page of your shop (outlined in red below).
2. Click Settings under Shop Manager (outlined in red below).
3. Click “Shipping settings” (outlined in red below).
4. Click on the “Shipping profiles” tab (outlined in red below).
5. Click “Get started” (outlined in red below). Just FYI – You will see any shipping profiles you have already set up below where it says Get started.
6. You may see this message from Etsy reminding you of the free shipping guarantee. Just press Close (if you press Next it's going to want you to set up the free shipping guarantee).
7. Click “Add a shipping profile” (outlined in red at the very bottom of the page).
8. The “Create shipping profile” page will come up. Choose “Calculate them for me”, enter the zip code where you are shipping from and your processing time. [Here's a tip: Another way to get priority placement in the search is to do 1 day shipping as buyers are able to select that as an option when they are shopping. You can only do this if you are willing to ship the same day or next day.] I will go over the rest of this page in detail below.
9. This is the rest of the page we started above. However, I will go over each of these shipping pieces individually so please read on.
10. “Where I'll ship” – You will need to decide if you are going to shipping internationally. Even if you offer free shipping, that will not apply to international shipments so feel free to ship everywhere in the world (that's why Calculated Shipping is recommended). We always click United States and worldwide. Approximately 15% of our sales come from International buyers (some months it's as high as 20%). We definitely wouldn't want to miss out on these sales.
11. “Shipping services” – Decide which mail services you would like to use. Read below the image for information on shipping services.
If you've taken my course, Etsy 101 – A Step by Step Guide to Opening your Etsy shop, you will know that I've gone into detail as to which shipping services to use and when. Basically, here is what we use in our shop. We only use USPS for shipping. If you are using another method (UPS or Federal Express), the options may be different for you.
Free Shipping: If you are shipping items 1 pound or less, you can choose First Class and First Class International Shipping. If your item is over 1 pound, choose Parcel Select (under Advanced Options), First Class International Shipping and Priority Mail International Shipping. Do not offer Priority Mail if you are offering free shipping unless you have built this into your costs.
If you aren't offering free shipping, add Priority Mail to the shipping services above (you don't want to pay for Priority Mail if you're offering free shipping as it can be more expensive).
Please use what works for you and your product.
12. Free shipping – if you are offering free shipping, you can click the Free domestic shipping (United States only) and/or Free international shipping (everywhere outside the United States). This is how you can offer free shipping in the U.S., but still sell to international buyers because they will pay the shipping costs.
13. Handling fee – You can charge handling fees to cover the cost of your shipping supplies (envelopes or boxes, bubble wrap, peanuts, shipping labels, etc.). Note that you can't charge a handling fee if you offer Free Shipping. However, if you are not offering free shipping on an item you can even charge different fees for Domestic versus International buyers. For example, you may not want to insure an item if it's being shipped inside the U.S., but you may want to insure an item if it is being shipped outside the U.S. It is completely up to you.
14. Name your shipping profile. The most important thing about naming your profile is that you are consistent with your naming so that you know what each shipping profile includes. Here is how we have named our shipping profiles, but you can name the profiles as you want.
Wow, that was so much information. I hope this helps you in setting up shipping profiles for your shop. If you liked this and have a friend who could use this information, please share. Also, please pin this article to your Pinterest so you can use it in the future. Let me know if you have any questions at Melanie@makinglifemorelovely.com.
Happy selling!
