Originally Posted By: AROTC
I think the business would be useful, but the chief problem you're going to run into is shipping. I'd like to buy single 55 gallon garbage bags, or a couple of pill vials, but shipping is likely to cost me more then the price of the items. I wouldn't be willing to buy things that way. If you can get around the shipping cost's problem, I think its a fine idea.


The problem is with "...and handling" charges. Actual mailing and packaging costs for the type of items described would be fairly small, and charging, say, $6.95 fixed fee for "postage and handling" on "orders under $25.00" merely creates a separate profit center for the seller. But it also makes ordering of two or three dollars' worth of small stuff too expensive.

The key to making "small stuff" mail order profitable is to incorporate mailing and handling costs into the pricing of individual items, then you can offer "free" shipping.

Jeff