As an eCommerce seller, I assume you’ll be manually posting items to your customers like I did. As you know, this different postage and packaging methods cost different amounts of money and time. Turns out I was doing it the wrong way for a long time, and there’s a lot I wish I knew!
Here’s some tips that I hope will save you money and time in the process:
#1 – What are you Sending?
First think about what you’re sending and your requirements, as this will determine the optimum solution. Ask yourself the following: is your product cheap or expensive? Do you need insurance against damage, theft or fraud? Does it need to arrive quickly?
#2 – Finding a Cheap Courier
Don’t just go to a parcel shop without considering your options! Otherwise you’ll pay a premium for it and likely have to waste time waiting in a queue. Instead, use a courier comparison site to assess all options and their prices.
ut note that the price affects the quality of service! If you choose a cheap courier, you might want to reconsider if your package is valuable or if you want it to arrive quickly. You might also want ‘signed for’ deliveries to reduce theft and fraud (so the recipient has to be in and sign that the item has been delivered successfully).
#3 – Sending International Packages
You have 2 options: air freight or sea freight. Air freight tends to arrive more quickly but costs more money. Sea freight is usually cheaper than air freight but takes considerably more time. If your customer is price-sensitive and prepared to wait, offer a sea freight shipping option.
#4 – Use Cheap Packaging
The way you wrap and prepare items for dispatch takes time and costs money. Use cheap packaging materials: don’t just walk into a parcel shop to buy wrapping paper otherwise you won’t get the best price. Instead, compare deals online – and the more you buy, the higher the discount.
#5 – Can you Post Letters Instead?
Can you divide your product up into small portions so you can send them as letters? I did this with my toy pellets, meaning I paid a tiny amount to send packages. They were also easy to send, saving me time as I only had to drop the letters off in a letterbox rather than waiting in a queue.
#6 – Reduce the Size and/or Weight
Can you reduce the size and weight of your products? They’ll likely be cheaper to post! Imports will also cost less money.
#7 – Saving Time
When preparing packages: use sealable packaging bags where possible so that you can open them, put the products inside, and then seal them up, rather than having to wrap packages up manually with sellotape.
When posting packages: instead of waiting in a queue at a parcel shop like everyone else, you could use a locker drop-off service, where you prepay for postage online, print a barcoded label, stick it on the package and place your package inside a locker (after scanning it). Or using a cheap courier with prepaid packages and barcodes will save time when queuing as you’ll likely queue in a different shop with a smaller queue and scanning the barcodes will be much quicker.
Try Different Postage Methods
Try experimenting with different options and you’ll eventually find the best option for you. As they say, there’s many ways to skin a cat. I hope these tips can help you save time and money and make your life more convenient!
Thanks for Reading
I hope this article intrigues you and enables you to discover the best eCommerce postage method for your business, that works for you.
As an eBay seller, you might want to get a copy of the Free eBay Listing Template or Free eBay Cheat Sheet to discover other tips to improve your eBay store.
If you’ve found these postage ideas helpful, consider sharing them so that other sellers can benefit from them too.
Best of Luck!
Nick
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