Table Rate Shipping and Insurance Rates

John Coles

Good Morning Mark

On bidStart we can setup Tables for adding Insurance Rates and Registered Mail Fees by the total amount of the order.

In my bidStart store when a customer total order is over $40.00, insurance or registered mail fees are automatically added to the invoice.

I have customers that order 100 items and total is over $100.00 and bidStart adds in the insurance or registered mail fees.

How is this going to be handled by HipStamp?

Rod Tilyard

Mark, this question appears to have fallen between the cracks. We need to be able to add insurance or registered mail fees as per bidStart.

Sellers are currently exposed to PayPal claims which we need to be able to address with insurance and registration on larger orders.

Can you advise when this will be available please.

John Coles

Hello Rod

Mark answered this question in an email to me. Mark and his staff have this on their to do list.

Rod Tilyard

Thanks John.

Thomas Keesling

Unless I'm overlooking something, HS doesn't offer the same listing flexibility as BS did. I charge a flat S/H fee of $1.80 regardless of the number of stamp items purchased. However, for total sales over $50, I require insurance and a $2.00 processing fee. I've been unable to find a way to incorporate this into my HS listings so that the automated HS invoice takes care of this. So I include the following in each listing's description.

"Shipping is via US First Class Mail unless otherwise specified. Insurance is required on orders exceeding $50. Insurance, Registered Mail shipments and other shipping costs are extra at the buyer's expense plus $2.00 processing fee. Be sure to contact me before making your purchases if you have questions."

Now, I can't find a way to send a corrected invoice to supersede the incorrect automated HS invoice in these situations.

Surely, I'm not the only seller who is wanting to set up different levels of S/H fees as we did at BS. Am I overlooking some aspect of the Postage Setup that allows me to set this up so that the automated HS invoice shows the correct total when insurance and other added fees are involved?

Steven Mahler

I had a similar setup myself -- now I don't have an option to modify shipping fees based on a certain threshold either.

Robert Parkin

I'm in the same boat. We lost a lot of Seller functionality from bidStart. We used to be able to add comments for each item sold. I issued a refund on an item because it was mis-described, I would like to change the status of that 1 item in the order but cannot find a way to do that. I was hoping that I could do it on the Closed page but that is also not an option.

Henry Brooks

Me as well

Mark Rosenberg

Just a quick note, as a Seller on HipStamp you'll need to ensure that all of your shipping settings are set up within the available options that we do offer. It's not possible / permitted to indicate that other charges would apply. This is particularly important, because as with any eCommerce website, buyers expect that they are able to review items, add items to their cart, and then simply checkout and pay.

In general, shipping is much more flexible on HipStamp compared to bidStart. For example, you can set not only per item shipping costs, but per item additional shipping costs. So any heavier / larger items can easily be set to have higher additional shipping costs where appropriate. You can also set what specific countries you want to ship to (not just regions). You can set up different groups of countries however you would like; and you can set up multiple shipping options per location. So for example you can offer a First Class Mail option and a Priority Mail option. You can also set your shipping costs to be automatically calculated by weight based on USPS rates, etc. There are many, many more options and flexibility compared to bidStart.

That being said, there are key, and intentional differences between HipStamp and bidStart. One of which is that we do not offer a separate Insurance rate to be added to orders at different amounts. All shipping and handling related costs are placed into a single "Shipping and Handling" amount which can be calculated based on the many different options available (and as highlighted above).

There are many various reasons for this, all of which are aimed to increase overall sales and provide all of our members with a seamless checkout experience. However, if you were previously using this option on bidStart - you should select a different scheme within the options we provide on HipStamp which you're happy with overall.

For example, you may want to consider increasing your per item shipping rate, or the additional item shipping rate. There's many different options, and it should be easy to find one that works for you. Just keep in mind these key differences.

Mark Rosenberg

Robert - Can you explain what you are referring to by "We used to be able to add comments for each item sold."?

Robert Parkin

When you were in the Items Sold Screen, there was a Comments section. So when I issued a refund for an item, I could put an explanation for the reason. It was to the right of the image with the links to Create similar items etc. It might have also been in the items I'm selling page. Does anyone else remember this?

Ted Tyszka

Just an idea that popped into my head while reading this thread: Would it be feasible and/or permissable to have a sales listing for an insurance and handling charge which customers would be instructed to purchase if their stamp purchase was above a certain threshold?

That is, you would have a store listing with the title "Insurance/Handling for Purchase above $50." The seller would add this instruction in the description field in each of their listings along with a hyperlink to the the Insurance/Handling item.

Ted

Mark Rosenberg

That wouldn't be allowed. All Shipping and Handling Charges (including any potential insurance therein) must be set using the available options on HipStamp - this in intentional, and part of our terms and conditions.

Rod Tilyard

Mark, I was told on another post by John Coles that you had contacted him advising that insurance costs would be addressed. What's going on???

Here is the other thread, surely you read it ???

https://www.hipstamp.com/forums/discussion/68/table-rate-shipping-and-insurance-rates#latest

Put simply, it is impossible to function here unless insurance can be added for orders over a certain value, (just as on eBay).

Rod Tilyard

John, seems Mark has forgotten that you were promised this.

See his answers to this post : https://www.hipstamp.com/forums/discussion/616/shipping-charge-adjustments-for-insurance-etc#latest

I believe it's impossible as it now stands to cover against the loss of large shipments, what do you think?

Dennis Jorgensen

There are some countries where the only way I am willing to ship anything of any value is by registered mail, ie Eastern bloc, Latin America, etc. We should have a way to add a registration charge on shipments to "dicey" countries.

Mark Rosenberg

Dennis - You can already do just that.

From the Members Area > Selling > Selling Tools > Postage Setup page you can create any groups of countries you want. For example "Eastern Bloc" and then add any countries you want to that group. Then from within any Item Listing page - or by Bulk Editing your existing listings, you can add "Registered Mail" as the only shipping option available to that group, and set the prices accordingly.

Rod Tilyard

Mark, can you also tell me how I can add an insurance cost for orders over a certain value. Thanks.

Mark Rosenberg

Rod - We do not offer an option to add insurance costs for orders over a certain value - per the comments noted above.

While we do not set out policies simply based upon what Ebay does, as far as I am aware Ebay does not allow sellers to add, whether optionally or required, insurance to orders over a certain amount. Though this may be different on Ebay Austraila?

However, you appear to be offering free shipping on all orders over $50 on Ebay (not adding insurance over a certain amount). If you have an example of a listing you have set up to add insurance on Ebay on orders over a certain amount, please provide the Ebay ID number of the listing you're referring to.

Rod Tilyard

Mark, this is readily accomplished using the eBay Business Policies. Each listing has a particular business policy applied.

Yes, I offer free shipping on items/orders of $50 and up to $79.99.

I have a Business Policy set up for registered mail (insurance) which I then apply to all stamps with a value from $80.00. I also select to apply my flat postage rule which effectively applies this business policy to all orders valued from $80. I've included an image of part of that policy. So all my eBay listings valued from $80 reflect this policy (which is accomplished using the eBay bulk editor).

Here's an example of a listing valued under $50:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Solomon-Islands-1907-SG4-2-d-orange-yellow-Canoe-MNH-/252562514923?ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

Here's an example of a listing valued at $80:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Papua-New-Guinea-1993-SG637-JULY-5t-Bird-of-Paradise-FU-/252563109578?ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

You will see the postage is different for these.

Mark Rosenberg

Thanks for the additional information. It looks like you're adding a specific cost for Registered / Insurance per item based on the value of the item (as opposed to per order). That is something you can easily do on HipStamp as well - as each item can have their own Shipping Costs.

So for example, if you wanted to charge a specific shipping cost, ie: $16.50 on any item over $80 - you can easily update your items in Bulk to reflect the same. You would accomplish this from the Members Area > Selling section, where you can filter your items by price, and then you would simply Bulk Edit your listings to whatever shipping cost you want: https://hipecommerce.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/14000045239-how-to-bulk-edit-update-existing-listings

Note that if you're syncing from Ebay, in general this would all be done automatically for you. However, I believe you're using default shipping rates instead of syncing your Ebay shipping rates due to an Ebay Australia specific issue we ran into (although I believe this has since been fixed). However, regardless, if you're not syncing shipping from Ebay - you can also update your listings per the above.

Rod Tilyard

Hi Mark, that would be the solution, but in Members Area > Selling there is no filter by price that I can see (just: with bids, with offers, sold).

Also, what postage is then charged when the items on an order have different shipping costs - the highest shipping for an item on the order, or cumulative for each shipping cost?

(Yes, that's correct re eBay Syncing. I changed to default shipping rates because of the issue with Aus eBay sync we had... I didn't realise that could now be fixed. I will also check this and let you know).

Rod Tilyard

...UPDATE: the AUS eBay sync postage issue is not fixed, see below:

Mark Rosenberg

All of the additional filters, such as Category, Price, etc. can be found on the Right Hand side of the Members Area > Selling page - just scroll down if you do not see them.

With regards to the Ebay Sync - Rod you're not syncing any shipping prices from Ebay - which is what I noted above. We previously had an issue handling some of the Australia related International shipping costs. As a result, you had switched to using the "Default Shipping Only" option - which ignores all of your shipping costs from Ebay.

So what you're highlighting is that your items are only using your Default Shipping options - which is correct because that's what you have set.

I believe that the issue with Australia International Shipping costs is now resolved - but you would need to stop using the Default Shipping option with the Ebay Sync. That's why I noted that you can either 1) update your shipping costs from the Members Area > Selling page, or 2) alternatively stop using the Default Shipping option only with the Ebay Sync.

If you're interested in the second option, please contact us via our Contact Us form in our footer, as simply turning off this option wouldn't re-sync your listings.

Rod Tilyard

Thanks Mark. Found the additional filters down the right hand side. Just what I need, problem solved. I wasn't looking to scroll for more filters as the first thing you see is the 'filter by' drop down list. I'm so used to seeing filters in the left column.

Understand now that I would need to get my items re-synced to reuse the eBay shipping ( the above snapshot is with eBay shipping ticked but without having items re-synced).

Very happy now. Can you just clarify what shipping will be charged for an order that has items with different shipping. For example an order has two items with standard shipping of $1.50 and one with registered shipping of $16.50. Will the overall shipping for the total order be as per the dearest, that is $16.50?

Mark Rosenberg

The most expensive shipping cost is used as the first.

Rod Tilyard

Perfect, thanks again.