Thanks for your advice. I got a customer actually paid for Express Post Parcel Service because they needed the item urgently such as balloon sticks for a party.
@countessalmirenawrote:
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Option 1: sell items that are low-cost and which cost as little as possible to send.
Hazards
- Most people (9,999 out of 10,000 - at the very most) will not choose your expensive tracked (express post or courier) option.
- Some buyers will falsely claim that the untracked sticker/P-plate/etc did not arrive.
- Some untracked enveloped will genuinely go missing in transit.
- Sometimes you'll think you've sent off an envelope, but will actually have misplaced it or forgotten it.
- etc
(These are just a very few of the hazards. Be honest and thorough in writing down every hazard, even if it's not a very likely hazard. You can't do a proper risk assessment unless you list all the possible hazards.)
Risks
(Do a risk matrix as part of your risk assessment once you've identified the risks.)
Work out how best to control the risk. Can you eliminate the hazard itself? Can you substitute something for the hazard? Is there an engineering control you can put in place? Perhaps there is a policy or guideline or administrative change you can make in your own procedures/workplace? Are there other protections you can put in place?
Document the process. (This must be thorough; include your risk matrix, your hazard identification, your checklists, your potential solutions, start date and end date of any changes, etc.)
Monitor the situation and review it. If your changes/controls have been effective, great. If they have not, begin again; you may have to re-think your approach to risk control.
Option 2: sell items that are low-cost but use tracked postage of some sort.
Once you have determined what price gives you an acceptable profit margin but still allows you to send by tracked postage, that price will be your starting point. Go through the steps here just as before - identifying hazards, identifying risks, assessing risks, etc., etc.
The obvious benefit is that if you're sending by tracked postage, the risk of buyers saying that their item didn't arrive will fall. That's one hazard whose likelihood of occurring you can immediately reduce. (100% of your items via tracked method means your item price must cover tracked postage method if you're sending with free postage; alternatively, send with, say, $4 p&p so that your item price is covering PART of the tracked postage method and the buyer is paying e.g., $4. Adjust as required.)
Option 3: sell items that are higher-priced ...
etc. (You know the drill. Hazards, risk identification, risk assment,...)
I don't think that more-or-less speciously offering a tracked postage method at a price that is likely to discourage buyers is your best way forward. You may have to play with the numbers a bit; use MS Excel or something similar to test out what is going to work for you. What profit margin will you need? What are your ongoing costs? What are the costs associated with your risks? What if you charge [insert amount] for this sort of postage or that sort of postage?
Tackle it with a positive and sincere approach, and you will be half-way there. The rest is just number-juggling, and you can manage this. Don't forget that you are the one with the inside knowledge of how your business works - your wholesale prices, your competition, your market, and so on. Armed with that knowledge, you have the tools to turn this around to your advantage.
