Determining pricing for shipping your art can be scary if you haven’t done it before. Packing breakable works for travel can stressful, as well!

We have selected some clear, easy to follow advice from a variety of online sources. Hope it helps!

How much to charge to ship your art:

• You may want to charge a flat rate for shipping. This is perhaps the easiest method. It is simple and to the point. Regardless of size or weight a customer pays one single rate for shipping. Keep an overall average and try to adjust your rate accordingly. Over time you will not need to tweak your shipping prices as often. The online store will have an option at checkout for local delivery (no shipping fee) or shipping.
• Free shipping. Add the shipping costs to the price of the art. Here you say “packing and shipping are included in the price of the art”. It’s simple and people feel like they’re getting a deal. On the other hand, if you sell a lot locally, you may feel it’s unfair to charge neighbors more when they don’t need shipping.
• And I love this extremely simple math from a fellow artist,“It costs me about 10%-15% to ship a painting”. This is pretty sound advice for me as a painter. For a $300 painting which is pretty small, I would be happy charging $25 for shipping, which is slightly less than the 10%. But on the other hand, a $30 dollar handmade ceramic mug may require more packing materials and effort than $3-$5 would justify, but it would be a price your customers would most likely be happy to spend.

Here’s is a detailed pdf with rates for various box and envelope sizes for shipping through USPS.

How to Pack your Art:

UPS has a nice packing guide. It’s easy to follow and sound advice. So if you need a how-to, follow this link.