How To Host A Fill The Flat Rate Sale

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How to host a flat rate sale!!!

This topic comes up often so I decided to make a post to have all of the info one would need to do this for themselves based on my own personal experience! This concept was not my idea. In fact, I was a buyer from a few shops who ran this sale long before I hosted my own!!!

What is it? It is a sale where your buyers cart items, you shove as many as you can into a USPS padded flat rate envelope, send them an offer on a predetermined rate, and voila!!!!

Prep work - First you need to create an account with USPS online and order your FREE padded flat rate envelopes. My local PO's do not stock the bubble ones. Make sure you get the bubble ones and NOT the paper cardboard ones. These are 100% free and will ship right to your front door. It does take 1-2 weeks in my experience for delivery. (I have included a photo of the exact ones you need!)

I have seen many stores offer this type of sale, but they do not have a variety of items to choose from. It is a five second let down for me, so I wanted to wait. My tip is to wait to host one until you have 75-100 items to include! I made sure I had a variety of sizes and actually spent a day adding a signifiant amount of add on items specifically for my sale! These items were in great condition, just not worth listing at $9 and up per item.

How? It is so simple! Use an app (I LOVE wordswag) to make a listing that you are having a flat rate sale. Come up with a hashtag to use (be sure to search the app and be sure it hasn't already been used) and then tag all of the items you want to include. OR some shops simply say “all items $XX and under are included.” I chose to tag because I wanted to include items for various reasons. (I have included an example of what my post looked like!)

I personally included all of my add on items, any items $12 or under, and a few very heavy items. Also some random items that had been listed for over 6 months that I was tired of looking at. I even included some more expensive bulky items and knew I could only fit 1-2 other items with them but it was still a steal for the buyer. NOTE - you can fill it as full as you can but you have to be able to seal it as intended. You can put a piece of tape for good measure, but it has to close properly. I may have sat on mine to squeeze the air out and get it all in!

Price? It will cost you $8.15 to ship and you can click right here on Kid and print the label for that. This is ONLY for this size envelope, should you need to use flat rate boxes, you will have to use PayPal or go to the PO. I do not suggest that for this sale. (I have included a photo of what to click to print the label!)

How much do you sell the envelope for? Your call!!!! I have seen these sales done for $15, $20, $25, and $30. It depends on your items and how much profit you want to make. I do mine for $25 and my profit after the label and fees is $14.60. For me that works out to typically approx $1.25 an item.

🚨🚨🚨PLEASE NOTE - my math below is from when labels cost $7.75, they have increased to $8.15 so price your sale accordingly!

Here are a few of my personal breakdown examples:
Buyer 1 - 12 items, total with my shop discount would have been $61, they got it for $25!! If I breakdown each item (a few were bundles already) I made $1.22 per item. Still a win for me!!
Buyer 2 - 6 items, (shoes and bulky items so fit less), total $59, still made $2.43 per item
Buyer 3 - 11 items, total $62, $1.33 per item profit

So like I said, be SURE you are ok letting these items go for that cheap. I was ready to clean house and have ZERO regrets!!!! I won't ever do it for less than $25 personally.

For what I have purchased and now been able to stuff, it was roughly 6-15 items depending on the size of the clothing, shoes, etc. I don't have many tiny baby items but I imagine if you have newborn items you can fit a lot more. ROLL THEM!! You will fit the most by rolling your items. (I have included a photo of what I mean.)

IT IS TIME!! So, you have received your envelopes, you have tagged your items, you have created a listing and posted about it on the shop share group here in the app, and you are ready to go! Do NOT do this type of sale on a day you have to work all day and cannot respond. I did it over the course of a weekend. I do suggest at least 3 days! Give buyers who start carting included items enough time to be finished. In my experience, they message me when done. Tell them to give you a moment to gather the items and see if you can fit everything. It is OK to go back and say they have to take out a piece or two. I also was able to tell a few of mine that I had more room for another item!!!

Reiterating…look at your most expensive items. Make SURE you are OK offering your determined price if a buyer carts only those expensive items. No turning back!

I hope this helps to understand what a flat rate sale is and how to host one for yourself! Questions?

Want some seller tips? Click here! #PMtipshare

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