Small Business Shipping Tips

If you run a small business and sell products, then you probably have a fair number of items to ship. Here’s how to manage your shipping operations and save time and money.

Whether you sell things on eBay, have an e-commerce site or you just run a small business, there are things you need to ship from time to time.

Business shipping is an important part of business, because your customers and clients will associate your service quality with your shipping quality. So, it is important that you do what it takes to make sure your shipping is fast, dependable and safe.

There are a few things you need to know about business shipping before you start boxing up products and sending them out.

Shipping Partners

Small businesses have a number of options when it comes time to choose a shipping partner. There is USPS (United States Postal Service), UPS, Fed Ex and DHL.

It is important that you choose a shipping partner wisely. Many companies use the USPS for their shipping partner. They have affordable pricing and you can schedule pick-ups online.

With that said, UPS has the same options for online pick-up as does the USPS. The drawback to them is that they have fewer locations for drop-off in many areas, and they can be more pricey.

Most successful companies choose two shipping partners to work with so their customers have a choice of which they prefer. Additionally, certain partners may have more rapid delivery options and or holiday delivery.

Shipping Materials

Regardless of what you will be shipping, you will need to use some type of business shipping materials. These materials can include boxes, envelopes, package insulation, bubble wrap, packing peanuts, tape and labels.

If you are not careful, the shipping materials that you use for your small business can really add up in price.

There are a few ways that you can save money on the shipping materials that you use for your small business. First and foremost, buy materials in bulk. There are many websites, catalogs and stores that allow you to buy packing materials in bulk.

Additionally, you can save money by reusing shipping materials that come in boxes, bubble wrap, packing peanuts and envelopes.

Keep an Eye on Costs

Often, when a small business selects a shipping partner, they create an account with them and they are billed for their shipping costs.

Shipping services like the USPS, UPS, Fed Ex and DHL ship millions of packages so it is possible for them to make a billing error. Make sure you check all your bills carefully and keep track of the packages that you send.

This way, you won’t be charged for more than you send.

Outsource

When you are only shipping a few packages each week, it is more financially sound to ship your own packages.

However, when your small business begins to expand and you have multiple orders or packages that need to go out daily, you may want to consider hiring a company to ship for you.

There are a number of companies that will store your merchandise, pack your orders and ship them out for you when orders come in. This can save you an abundance of time and sometimes even save you money.

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