looking for advice re flat files and postage more info below.
Quick background before the questions.
We started off with Amazon about 4-5 years back and set everything as free postage (as we were doing the same on etsy and ebay and our website) times have moved on and the buisiness has grown and last year we topped the VAT threshold so have now started collecting for the government. As such the "freepost" offering is now becoming a financial burden as it means we chasrge more for the item and as such pay more VAT on it. We are looking to change our post to crl/48hr tracked for all items so the vat is claimable as opposed to bpl2 which we use for most items atm. and are looking to change how we work on all of the platforms by introducing some flat cost postage for different items.
What are peoples thoughts on the best way to go about this as we have roughly 1600 lines?
Looking at changing from freepost to charged postage which means we will need to adjust all our prices and include the postage on all the lines. Is there an easy way to do this on a flat file or am i looking at adjusting each one?
2 replies
Seller_mS10UjVYuuGor
If not already in Excel I'd be converting your file to Excel to make the changes.
Assuming the price change is the same for all items insert a new column next to your current price, create a formula for the adjustment there and run that down all lines. Then copy the new value (not formula) and paste back into the original column. Delete the new column. Move to the postage column, insert you price and run that down all lines. If setting different postage by item size/weight etc it'll be a little more complicated especially if you don't already have those lines grouped together. Export as whatever the original file format was and you're done. If in doubt seek the help of a professional (or youngster lol).
As a wider issue are you confident your loyal/repeat customers will accept the change? You could drop your prices by £2 then charge £1.50 postage and many will still perceive it to be a price rise, these changes are notoriously difficult to communicate. If you just change your postage method internally you'd still be able to reclaim the VAT by moving to tracked and not have to change your pricing formula and the free postage perceived by your customers.
