Shipping is expensive + Margin Magic recap + More
La Onda is a newsletter by Sandra Velasquez, founder of Nopalera, with actionable insights around brand building, selling, and a recap of the most asked questions during Mentor Mondays.
Hi Founders,
The Margin Magic Masterclass last weekend was so fun! Thank you for all that registered. Your positive feedback made my day.
One of the things we touched on during the class was the cost of shipping and fulfillment.
Shipping is expensive and has only gotten more so during Covid.
Offering free shipping on all orders can REALLY hurt your margins. I shared with the class that on my website we offer free shipping on orders over $50 and for boutique wholesale accounts it's over $500.
Whatever you do, do the math first. Don't just offer free shipping because someone else is.
I am fortunate to have a sales/ production background which served me well when building Nopalera.
But one thing I was NOT prepared for was the cost of a fulfillment center.
To give you an idea, my monthly fulfillment center bill is 20% of my monthly revenue.
That means, if we have a $40k month, our warehouse bill is $8k. That is the cost of all shipping, labor, boxes, storage. The biggest part of the bill is the actual shipping.
For those of you trying to scale, you need to keep this mind when you price your products.
Check out this short list of 3PLs: here
If you missed the Margin Magic Masterclass last weekend, don't worry, I'm hosting it again on Sunday, April 3rd. Mark you calendar. Official event registration will begin soon and you'll be the first to know.
ICYMI
Here is a recap of topics covered in previous Mentor Mondays.
You can always visit my page and scroll down to see all posts and email that went out.
If you haven't yet read them all, do so. Lots of gems in each post.
How to find suppliers and co-packers in beauty: here
My short list of BIPOC bookkeepers/CPAs: here
Building your email list and outsourcing shipping: here
Trademarking your name: here
Building a team and Paid Ads: here