£00:00 Part Two.

I was chuffed to bits with my first Etsy sale. It was ten pounds and the happiness soon left me when I realized Etsy took their cut of three pounds and it cost me three pounds to post registered and tracked, the dyes cost five pounds for each colour, the top had cost me more than four pounds so I was left with basically nothing. I had a precious five-star rating feedback, that is its self was priceless.

Then it all went very quiet again, I updated the listings to include Christmas in the titles hoping that would help, and this week I had my second sale! This time the item was twenty pounds, for this item I had put the post as fifteen pounds for abroad, registered and tracked. It was going to America. I wrapped it well and took it to the post office. I told the sales assistant, “I would like to send this to America, registered and tracked,” She weighed it and said, “That will be twenty pounds and eighty-five pence,” I said, “I think there has been a mistake.” I went on, “I don’t want to send it special delivery, or next day, just registered and tracked,” She replied, “It is correct, as it weighed 444kg and that is the price,” I was shocked and knew she was wrong for this little item could not possibly cost over twenty pounds to post. I paid the amount, knowing I would be back to speak to the Manager about it at a later date.

I went home and googled, prices to post to America from England and was shocked to read what it had to say.

“The impact of flight restrictions due to the Coronavirus pandemic is one cause of the price rise, with Royal Mail explaining that, most of Royal Mail international mail is carried on commercial passenger flights. There has been a nighty five percent reduction in air passenger flights globally following the outbreak of Covid-19. We are having to use air freight to keep the mail moving instead.” According to Royal Mail, this has led to a, “Five-fold increase in our air freight cost to the US.” (theamerician.co.uk)

Well, that made sense, but I was still going to double check at my post office. That same evening, I sadly had to put up my prices for abroad, for I’d sold an item for twenty pounds, I had set the post for fifteen and it had cost me almost twenty-one pounds to post it! Another loss.

So, I put my new postal abroad price at twenty-one pounds and the huge king-sized duvet cover and two pillowcases at fifty pounds to post! It was time consuming, but I can’t afford to make a loss on my items, too much money has been spent on them already to keep making losses.

I returned to the post office two days later I showed a different sales assistant my receipt and she did confirm, “That was the correct price.”

Meghan reminded me, “You have used Parcel Monkey in the past and you have always found them to be seventy five percent cheaper, why not start using them again?” I said, “I will in the New Year, because there is a lot of rigmarole with size and weight and no printer, which is not needed for the driver does that. It is just easier to take it to the post office.

I haven’t updated all my post prices yet but the expensive and heavy items I have. I am now ready for my third sale, and hoping not to make a loss with the post.