Shipping Prices

[Adam Riemenschneider]

Hello all. First time poster, here. I'm at the point of final product - game book is done, got my printing quotes, etc. I've been advised to use UPS Ground as my standard shipping. When I use the UPS "estimated cost" tool, I'm hitting about $10. Is this the indie game industry's usual hit for shipping?

How much of this cost do we, as publishers, typically assume? Or is it assumed that we will charge above "retail" of the product for shipping? As an example, assume Total product cost $9, sell to retail game shop for $18, they'd retail it for $36.

So, I've got my indie website, where the customer can buy from me direct. Of course, I have the game listed at the standard retail cost of $36, so I'm not undercutting my own retailers. Do I give the customer $10 worth of free shipping, since they're paying the $36 anyway and I'm still going to make $17 per book? Do I split the shipping cost with the customer, and make $12 per book?

Thanks for your responses,

Capulet

[Paul Czege]

I ship my games via U.S. Postal Service first class mail. I currently charge $2.50 for shipping My Life with Master to a customer inside the domestic U.S. The actual postage is just under $2.00, but I tack on the extra to cover the cost of envelope, mailing tape, mailing labels, etc.

Don't eat the cost of shipping.

Paul

[Paul Czege]

Also, what are the page dimensions, and how many pages long is your book? How much does it weigh? I think $10 is too steep for shipping a single game book. You want to figure out how to ship it for less, so you don't have to eat part of the cost.

Paul

[Adam Riemenschneider]

I'm looking at 380 pages of 8.5 x 11, soft cover, perfect binding.

I'm trying to remember why I was nudged away from the USPS route.... something to do with advertising materials being sent in normal mail being regulated somehow.... so I wouldn't have been able to include ad sheets along with the books.

Regardless, if your shipping is that low for a similar-sized book, I will have to reconsider UPS.

Thanks.

[Steve Segedy]

$10 does seem pretty steep, but it depends (obviously) on the weight of your book.  When we first started selling The Shab-al-Hiri Roach, we did our own fulfillment, and used USPS for shipping.  We charged a flat $5, which meant that we made a small profit on domestic orders and lost money on international orders.  This was an intentional bit of marketing, as our international customers were used to paying much more.

Ultimately, setting your price point (including shipping) is a matter of marketing as much as covering your costs.  If you charge that price for shipping, will your customers pay $46 for your book?  If not, it may be better to lower your profit margin and eat some of that shipping cost. 

Paul's right, however- you should be able to find a lower price for shipping.  Then again, our books are quite a bit smaller than yours...

[Jake Richmond]

I also use USPS for shipping. I charge $5 to ship Panty Explosion anywhere in the world. Sometimes I make a few bucks off that, sometimes I lose a few. I figure that it more or less balances out, and I like having a standard shipping cost. It makes it easy.

[rafael]

Hey, Capulet,

When I released the first edition of Dread (Pandemonium), I handled order-fullfilment myself. For all orders in the US, I used Priority Mail, which was a flat rate. Something like three or four bucks. That was in 2002. May be more expensive now. But the rate wasn't based on weight -- it was a question of whether the material would fit in the envelope or not. My book was 180 pages and perfect bound, about 8.5x11, so I don't know whether your book would fit or not.

Damn, I just re-read what you said about your book. 380 pages. Wow...

I just shipped some 280-page versions of the new edition via USPS. New edition weighs just under 2 pounds. Here's the breakdown of what it cost me (bearing in mind that I live in North Carolina):
Illinois: $7.77
Texas: $7.20
Wisconsin: $6.85

I'd talk to the guys at the post office, see what they recommend.

Good luck, compadre.

-- Rafael