I have been selling seriously online now for just over a
year now and thought it would be interesting to do a bit of a review of my
experiences.
Customer satisfaction is of paramount importance to me. I am
devastated if I get a negative comment or review – although luckily these have
been few and far between. Over the last year I have made a small number of changes – I
decided early on that I would approach it from the viewpoint of the customer and most
changes have been tweaks in response to that. I wanted them to be delighted when their
package arrived and to feel some of the anticipation the recipient of the card
of gift they had purchased would feel. I therefore now wrap purchases in tissue
(it also gives added protection) and post in a card backed envelope to ensure
very item I send out arrives in perfect condition. I always post first class –
I hate waiting for online purchases to arrive– and I include postage in my
prices so the customer has a clear idea of exactly what the item will cost
(haven’t we all got to the checkout and been totally shocked once the postage
is added?) I try very hard to get purchases out within 2 days of the order being
placed and will respond quickly to any queries or problems.
Most customers are absolutely lovely and completely
understand when the odd mistake occurs with a personalised order or the postal
service looses or delays delivery of a product. What I have noticed however (through my experience and reading on line comments on other's sites) is
many people are completely unaware of the costs of selling and the time it takes to make and dispatch handmade/ designed goods. Many seem to
think the value of the product is just the raw materials whereas anyone who hand
makes products will appreciate by far the biggest expense is the time involved.
If I sell a product at say £5, the first expense is fees
and/ or commissions. Some may be upfront fees and/ or commission on each
product (usually 3rd party ‘shopfronts’), others (like ebay) charge
a listings fee and / or selling fee. Paypal also make a charge for taking
payment. If selling from your own website there is the cost of designing and
maintaining the site and any costs of integrating a shopping basket. These are
all understandable and perfectly reasonable – but the cost of the item does
need to reflect this. On a £5 item – for me – an average fee/ commission charge
will be 30% which means -£1.50
Out of the remaining £3.50 I will need to pay 90p for first class
postage (the badges/ magnets automatically put my products into large letter + category regardless
of weight) plus the cost of the invoice sheet (and ink to print it), the envelope,
tissue and seals/ stickers. Say a conservative £1.10 total?
That leaves £2.40 to cover all the other components – badges/
magnets, card, envelope, cellophane bag & seals – and of course the
investment in machinery (e.g. badge makers, printer, computer) and time.
The material costs can vary – as with most things – the more
you buy, the cheaper the unit cost. As a small business producing original,
bespoke products I cannot compete on price with say a badge maker who buys
thousands at a time and then machine cuts and prints them - or buy envelopes at
the same price as someone who posts hundreds of letter a day.
The time spent can be considerable. The original design can
take many hours to perfect, personalisation takes additional time, the designs
need printing out (ink and paper costs), cutting and making up into badges or
magnets. These then need attaching to the card (cost of glue dots or sticky
pads) and packaging for posting. If an order includes a hand made envelope
there is the time to cut, fold and glue that. Finally the items need taking to
the Post Office. For me, each purchase will account for at least 10 minutes work
– often more. (Excluding original design time and of course time also needs to
be spent on websites, admin, answering queries and accounting etc.).
If on the minimum wage – you would earn around £1 for 10
minutes work which I think puts the above in context. Most small business’s who
specialise in handmade, personalised goods will never make a fortune and will
work very long hours for the wages they do earn. I personally get a real sense
of satisfaction from selling something which is my own design and which I know
will be appreciated by buyers who want something unique – but I do sometimes
wish there was a clearer understanding of the costs involved.