Wrong Shop Prices

Discussion in 'Shapeways Shops' started by texnotropio, Mar 24, 2017.

  1. texnotropio
    texnotropio Member
    It has come to my attention after a client's query, that the prices reflected in my shop are not the actual prices I have set during the product creation (base price + markup) but higher. The bigger the volume the bigger the cost discrepancy. Are there any hidden fees or terms I should be aware of since I'm fairly new on shapeways?
     
  2. MrNibbles
    MrNibbles Well-Known Member
    The only cost added to orders would be for shipping and that gets added in the cart. You shouldn't see any additional hidden costs for any product unless it truly is a bug.

    Make sure everyone is looking at the price for the correct material and the correct product. Sometimes people don't realize they can select different materials from the pull down menu on the product page.

    If you are sure you see a discrepancy you should let customer service know about the problem. I would also send them a link to the product that is having the problem.

    There have been some issues for porcelain pricing caused by the recent, and apparently not completely successful, increase in porcelain production rates. So if this is the case then it's a bug and I assume Shapeways is busy trying to correct the problem.
     
  3. texnotropio
    texnotropio Member
    TY for the prompt info, but the problem affects all products and all materials, not just one; that is, the price gross amount (base price + markup) I see in the product settings is not reflected in the shop. The price is substantially higher for large volume products (vases, etc).
    I will address the customer service for sure.
     
  4. mkroeker
    mkroeker Well-Known Member
    Depending on the location of your client (in particular within the EU or in US states where shapeways has some form of local presence), they may see prices including VAT or local sales tax. VAT in particular would cause a price increase of about 20 percent depending on EU member country.
     
  5. texnotropio
    texnotropio Member
    Understood, but it should be clearly stated as a sum or it should be referred to after the customer puts the product in the cart. That way, you discourage every potential customer with high prices including tax and shipping without mentioning the source of the extra cost.
     
  6. mkroeker
    mkroeker Well-Known Member
  7. mkroeker
    mkroeker Well-Known Member
    Prices including VAT is normal (perhaps even legally required?) for B2C where VAT applies. If your customer is a registered business, they can enter their VAT ID on the checkout form.
     
  8. MrNibbles
    MrNibbles Well-Known Member
    What about changes in exchange rates? I'm pretty sure Shapeways adjusts end prices between countries as exchange rates go up and down. That might be an unitemized change in price that the customer sees on the product page.
     
  9. texnotropio
    texnotropio Member
    Guys,
    When you land on someone's shop, before you click the buy now button, there's no evidence of what the price you see stands for. After you click the buy now button, you have a somewhat more elaborate price view and after checkout the price is broken down to the sum of all shipping and VAT!
    I'm not saying that that the price is wrong, but that it should not include both shipping and tax before you actually click the buy now button; this clearly discourages customers.
    Now if you were a customer seeing only a plain number which includes both shipping and tax without this being implied somewhere before you click the buy now button, what would you do?
     
  10. MrNibbles
    MrNibbles Well-Known Member
    I live in a country that doesn't have a VAT tax so everything seems normal to me. You see a product for X dollars and take it to checkout where taxes are added to get the final price. In some countries the price you see on a product already includes the tax. So I suppose the expectations of how things should be priced depend on where you live.

    And as far as including shipping costs in a product price that probably won't work well if there's a flat shipping fee that is the same if you order 1 item or 10 items. How would Shapeways know how many items you will order at a time?

    As far as I know this is not what happens, although I guess it's possible in a different country. Therefore I'm out of the discussion and will wait for an official statement from a knowledgeable Shapeways representative.
     
  11. mkroeker
    mkroeker Well-Known Member
    Leaving both shipping and more importantly tax out of the advertised price would be actively misleading (and could earn you a cease&desist from competitors or consumer rights organizations at least in my country as far as I know).
    Showing base price with a separate percentage or amount for tax would only require the customer to do the calculation themselves. (Besides, even customers who do not have to pay tax upfront may have to pay the equivalent in import duty upon receipt.)
     
  12. stannum
    stannum Well-Known Member