International Shipping - Calculated Cost - Never correct, why?!

[jhillman87]

So i've been offering calculated-cost international shipping for some time now.
While international shipments are more rare, roughly only 10% of my total sales, they do show up now and then.

I'm wondering though why the cost "paid by buyer" is NEVER correct?? Sometimes not even close.

I've had shipping costs around $15 where the buyer paid $18+, which is cool.

But likewise I've received shipping charges of say $9 for a 1st-class International (USPS) where the "paid by buyer" was just slightly over $2.

That's a $7 difference, which eats into the margins so much that I'm actually LOSING money on some of these sales.

WTF is this?

I could always disable international sales but I don't recall having such issues in the past - Usually if an item costs $15 to ship, the "paid by buyer" would be around $14-16 if not exact.

Is something wrong in my settings?

Thanks

[bjammin]

It sounds like something in your settings is off. I have never had that issue with international orders. I have always made a lil off the int'l orders due to the shipping discount through USPS.

[jhillman87]

Originally Posted by bjammin

It sounds like something in your settings is off. I have never had that issue with international orders. I have always made a lil off the int'l orders due to the shipping discount through USPS.

Not sure what settings could possibly be off - There doesn't seem to be much to configure, just calculated or flat rate.





See my settings above - It's pretty straightforward...
Maybe it has to do with global shipping being offered somehow?

I figured it gives them the option - to choose global shipping, or to choose calculated first-class.

Second picture shows a recent sale to ITALY - Calculated shipping came out to... $2.13?

The actual shipping cost was about $5.6, which means I lost slightly over $1 on this transaction. Not the biggest deal since this is primarily a feedback building item, but still, wtf?

[rsot]

@jhillman - edit more! Take out all transaction info like item # and rest of address - do this stat.

[jhillman87]

Still can't figure out why it's doing this.

Here's another one from this weekend, sold an item to NORWAY - >

Buyer paid $3.12 with calculated shipping, from USA -> Norway.
The actual label cost me $7.99 -

WTF?