How do I calculate shipping & taxes for my online store through Paypal?
Thursday, May 20th, 2010 at
2:12 pm
I am shipping my items only domestically. I sell children’s tshirts and they are not heavy to ship so how do I calculate taxes and shipping??
I have a UPS account but I know USPS is cheaper and probably more attractive to customers. Plus I am in California, so do I add the 8.25% sales tax? Or do I do a sales tax for each individual state?
Should I ship internationally?
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I recommend going to your nearest USPS to see the prices they have, you can calculate what mail service is cheaper for your product ( first class or priority mail ), or you can search the http://www.usps.com page. You should tax only for CA buyers.
If you are accepting PAYPAL, well this helps you a ton when sending a product to another country, just remember to always buy the tracking numbers and also make insurance an obligation for international buyers!
I do not suggest shipping USPS internationally. There is no proof of delivery and therefore, the consumer can say "I never got it," and the credit card company will usually side with them. You can look into fulfillment houses in the US that may have lower shipping costs because of their volume. It may be a decent option for you. You also could look into a parcel forwarding company like Bongo International http://www.BongoUS.com as they will screen all your international customers and they offer over 50% off international rates with DHL. Therefore, really driving down your sales costs (Shipping costs) for whatever you are selling.