Hello World! Welcome Friends! If you have a small business and are handling the shipping yourself, then there are a few considerations to take into account when it comes to the shipping and handling of your items. While small business owners may feel like it’s as easy as putting a parcel in the mail, this is not the case. Depending on what products you are shipping and where you are shipping them to, unexpected obstacles and charges can come about that may surprise you. To avoid any delays or additional costs, keep these tips in mind so that your shipping runs smoothly and leaves customers satisfied.
While it can be a great decision to handle shipping yourself, consider these important factors.
Shipping Destination is Important
One of the biggest considerations when it comes to shipping is the destination. Especially if your company has decided to include shipping costs for product purchases, this can come back to bite you in the foot. If you have international clients, you can get hit with charges and duty fees that you may not have been expecting.
Before you include shipping and handling in your prices, make sure that you are ready to take on the added costs of shipping internationally. You may need to charge a fee to international clients or ensure you have built in the cost appropriately to your item. Making Sure that you are aware of the costs and fees for shipping to different destinations will set you up for success, rather than having added costs affecting your profits. This may mean when you begin you only give free shipping to domestic clients, or maybe you will need to adjust the price of your items to make up for the costs.
However, you handle it, knowing that shipping can come at different prices for different locations will ensure you are avoiding surprising charges and fees for your packages.
Package and Product Weight Matters
When it comes to shipping, weight matters! The weight of your products and packages will dramatically affect the shipping cost of your items, so it is important to know the size and weight of your packages to accurately estimate shipping costs. A great way to ensure you know what you’re in for is by using digital shipping scales to check your packages before sending them out. Not only will this leave you with the knowledge you need to send your packages, but it will also allow you to provide accurate quotes to your clients, leaving them satisfied and happy with the purchase and not upset about surprise price changes.
It’s important that you try and balance cost-cutting with ensuring you still have the essential packaging for your items. For instance, a brewery will always need a supply of bottle corks for sale, and can’t exactly not use them just to save money. However, for non-essential packaging, scrutinize it carefully and make sure you know it’s exact dimensions. Knowing the weight of your items will make all the difference when you begin sending products to your buyers.
Additional Time and Manpower Required
Handling your own shipping will increase your time, necessary manpower, and costs when it comes to packaging. It is important to calculate all of these costs before pricing out your items so that you are not taking a loss. You will need to have boxes available for shipping to protect the products in question, and even things such as tape and packaging materials can mean you need to review what you charge for each item.
Setting up your items for shipping also takes additional time and effort, so you need to ensure that you have the time to process, package, and send all of your items so they reach your consumers as promised. Getting a good handle on the time and extra expenses will allow you to properly price your items, and make sure they get to your customers in a timely fashion.
To efficiently run your business, you need to make sure you have the help to package and send out all of your products to your clients. This is all part of the business planning process, and the more you know ahead of time the fewer surprises you will encounter. You could also look at using logistics management software (which you can go here to learn more about) to help streamline the process and track everything right up to its safe delivery.
While it’s a great idea to handle your shipping yourself, it does come with additional concerns, so it is important to remember these tips before you decide how you will be providing your items to your customers. Making sure that you have all the information and have appropriately calculated costs and prices will go a long way to ensure you are benefitting from handling this aspect yourself. No matter what items you sell, from small items to large ones, shipping and handling can be a bit of a nightmare if you don’t have all your ducks in a row, so make sure you educate and prepare yourself with information before sending your products to buyers.
Click the links below for any posts you have missed:
Make Your Home More Appealing to Modern Buyers
Signs you Need Urgent Garage Door Repair
How to Choose the Best Realtors For Selling Your Home
How to Prepare Your Kids for the Move
Matters to Consider While Buying a Home
I’d love for you to join my email list! You’ll receive a notification straight to your inbox which will include links to my latest home project posts! Simply enter your address below.
Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day/night depending on where you are in the world! Go with God and remember to be kind to one another!
Toodles,
[…] Sending Your Products to Buyers […]