Have you checked out the new flat rate box at the post office?
This new box is 12" x 12" x 5.5" and regardless of weight it's only
$12.95 if you ship it domestically. If you family serving overseas it's
a really bargain because then the rate is $10.95. The box also says
"America Supports You".
Those flat rate boxes from USPS are really amazing. Did you know that the weight limit is 70 pounds for the same price to any zip code...that includes places like Hawaii, the Virgin Islands, etc.
Now the most we've been able to put in one of those boxes was 24 pounds....but 24 pounds to a zone 8 is a huge savings with postage at only $8.10 per box. That allows to create a handling charge that does not sting the customer. Delivery time for most priority mail is 3 days, delivery time is much quick that FedEx ground.
Have you looked at Endicia ? When you upgrade to their Preminum service plan you can print Stealth postage, which means the cost is not on your shipping label. Shipping and handling fees often cover more than postage, so printing postage amounts on parcels can make for irate customers and lots of support calls. Your customer merely sees your shipping and handling rate on their invoice.
Their Preium service is only $15.95 / mo or $174.95 a year, saving you $16.45. The Endicia $15.95 a month, is a small fee for our office in comparison to the 3% handling fees we can add to over 100 packages a month. That's really increased the bottom line of our shipping budget which is now in the black. Add that to the savings with using the free boxes from USPS which are delivered to our door at no cost. |
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Shipping can be a critical customer satisfaction tool when it comes to your customer service.
Most shipping companies charge a higher price for residential deliveries.
Did you know that UPS, FedEx and DHL add a surcharge
of more than $2 per package to deliver to residential addresses?
Did you also know that 91% of delivery points in the United States
are classified as residential. And, 87% of new U.S.delivery points are also residential?
How is that effecting your bottom line?
There is no surcharge for residential delivery with USPS. The new flat rate boxes are great. The same charge for any address, regardless of weight. These boxes are also delivered to you free of charge from the post office.
You can fit a three ring binder, some CD's and a couple of small books in to the smaller flat rate box.
Think about the new shipping rate you can offer your customers. Or charge the same rate you always have, and make your shipping department profitable and spend more money on your customer service .
Check out the Stealth postage option with premium service at Endicia
An incorrect address on a box can be an unpleasant, expensive suprise. For example, the wrong address on a shipping label can result in an address bill-back, adding at least $5.00 to the cost of shiping your package, plus the amount you've already paid to ship it.
I love using the USPS and Dazzle program with Endicia because neither of them will accept an incorrect address. If I have the street address off a digit, I've got to correct it before I can print the shipping label.
So you now have clients in Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands wanting to purchase your books, CD's, and tapes. Do you know how cheaply you can ship those items using priority mail?
You have a do it yourself course that comes in a three ring binder, and you don't want to spend a fortune shipping to customers in those area? Not a problem. A three ring binder will fit comfortably into a flat rate priority mail box, that the post office supplies for free. Did you know that the shipping cost for that, even to Puerto Rico is only $8.10?
Shipping secrets like this fill the book that we've been writing just to help you save bundles of money in your company.
"Shipping Secrets" our new ebook for Speakers and Writers is almost ready to be published.
It's full of easy steps to save tons of money shipping out products such as CD, and books.
There are also tips on making your bundled packages look very professional
with very little cost and labor.
In the next few weeks I will be giving you tidbits of information in our new book
that you can apply to saving shipping costs no matter what type of business you have.
One way to save money on shipping is by shopping around for insurance. Did you know that you don't have to use the insurance the carrier provides? You can use a third-party for parcel insurance.
Right now I am working on setting up an account with a third-party company for our insurance. Candi Booth at U-Pic has offered some really good rates for small companies.
Fed-Ex - .20 cents per $100 after the first $100
USPS - .45 cents per $100
LTL - .55 cents per $100
For packages we are shipping via USPS the U-Pic rate is about .20 cents per $100 less than Endicia. I had been told that Endicia had the best rates. So as you can see, it's worth looking around.
My book, "Shipping Secrets" is almost completed! Just a few more days until everyone can have all the step by step details to save tons of money and time on shipping their packages.
Shipping costs have increased so greatly in the last few months that is has been come a real problem for my business. All of our suppliers have increased their rates. Some of them have gone from 15% in January of 2005 to 68% eleven months later in December. None of them have increased their costs any less than 15%. Are you having the same problem?
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