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Changing shipping rates after business grows?

Here’s the thing: I run an online comic book store. Right now I only sell comic books. I’m fed up with trying to get table rates to work the way I want & failing to grasp it so decided to go with 25% handling fee (so, say, s&h;on a first class package will be $0.80 instead of $0.64). In my shipping & returns policy I was thinking of adding a little disclaimer explaining that in the future, as the store begins to sell other types of merchandise (clothes, toys, dvds) that the costs will change to accommodate the costs of these items. What might the risk be to my customer base by doing this? I don’t really have the budget right now to hire someone to design a table rate the way I want, and I work from home so I don’t have the extra overhead that would require me to charge higher shipping costs (a local competitor charges $7.99 s&h;on priority mail shipments under $10!) I see so many other similar businesses that use table rates I’m still a little torn as to if I should try and get it done at the start as opposed to later and risk driving long-time customers away. Thoughts?

Public Comments

1. The only disclaimer that customers need to know is that "costs and shipping rates are subject to change." That's it. I absolutely understand your dilemma with the shipping table rates. It seems that some online hosts make these controls difficult for the retailer. Because of this, you must set your rates in whatever way possible so that shipping costs are covered. That's your bottom line. I believe that your customer base will not be affected by your need to simple cover shipping costs, especially since you've mentioned how much a competitor charges. Again, there's no need to tell customers how rates will change in the future. When it happens, they'll see the change and with it realize that the cost is a general part of receiving merchandise. Shirley George Frazier Author and Small Business Expert