Shipping costs are an important concern for any business that sells a product online. If you own a small business, trying to find competitive shipping rates is even more important, as even a consumer who likes supporting small businesses might not want to purchase your product if shipping is too expensive.
How can you benefit from the lowest shipping rates available? These tips will show you how to get cheaper shipping rates:
1. Make sure you use the right packaging to ship your products
Large and heavy packages cost more to ship that small, light ones. The shipping rates of each of your shipments will depend on its dimensions and on its weight.
As such, using the right packaging can help you and your customers save some money. Take a moment to measure your product, and find the perfect size of box or padded envelope for it. If your packaging is too big for what’s inside, you will end up paying higher shipping rates.
If your product is an item that is not fragile, shipping it in a poly bag instead of a box will also help you save some money.
2. Take a look at Canada Post’s shipping rates
Another tip on how to get cheaper shipping rates is to take a look at Canada Post’s shipping rates. Now that your product is packaged and ready to be shipped, you could start by checking the rates offered by Canada Post. You can either visit your local post office to have them measure and weigh your package, or you can do this yourself and check their rates online.
On their website, indicate where your parcel is going, as well as its size and its weight. You will see a rate, and have a good idea of how much shipping your parcel should cost.
But how can you get a lower rate?
3. Compare rates from different carriers
The rates offered by Canada Post are not necessarily the best ones available. You should be able to find cheap shipping rates by comparing the offers of different carriers.
Instead of checking the websites of different carriers, one after the other, you can simply use the services of a shipping company that will allow you to quickly compare shipping rates for your parcel, and to choose the best option.
4. Verify if you can get discounted shipping rates based on volume
Depending on which shipping carrier you choose, you might be able to get a discount based on volume.
The more packages you ship each month with the same carrier, the cheaper your rates should be. In that sense, maybe you should try to send out many parcels all at once, instead of sending out a few of them each week.
However, even if you don’t fulfill hundreds of orders each month, your loyalty to your carrier could earn you a discount.
5. Consider purchasing prepaid shipping labels
If your shipments all contain the same product, they should all have the same size and the same weight. Your carrier could then offer you a discount if you purchase many prepaid shipping labels in one transaction. All you will have to do is affix a label to each box before shipping it.
But if your business sells different products of different shapes and sizes, prepaid labels might not be a good option for you to save some money, unless you want to purchase many labels for each type of package you can ship.
6. See if you can get discounted shipping supplies
Being able to purchase discounted shipping supplies will not lower the shipping rates offered by your carrier, but it will allow you to charge lower shipping costs to your customers.
Some carriers offer discounted shipping supplies to small businesses, and you could take advantage of such an opportunity. You might have to make a big investment to buy a bunch of boxes or padded envelopes, but it will be worth your money.
7. Consider adjusting the price of your products to lower your shipping costs
Speaking of your shipping costs, it’s no secret that customers don’t like paying for shipping. Large businesses can happily offer them free shipping, but how can you compete with the giants if you run a small business?
The truth is that customers will surely feel like they are getting a great deal if you reduce your shipping costs, but increase the price of your products.
Many customers will be ready to pay more for a product if they can get discounted or free shipping, so by adjusting the price of your products, you can make enough money to pay your carrier while keeping your customers happy.
8. Insure your packages with a third party company
Finally, if your shipments need to be insured, you can save some money by insuring them with a third party company instead of purchasing the insurance offered by your carrier.
The insurance plans offered by carriers might not exactly meet your needs for coverage. Plus, they would probably cost more than a more specific coverage offered by a third party.
Of course, if your packages are not that valuable, you can also save some money by simply not insuring them.