Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello all, things are moving quickly in our new business venture. We are in
the process of finalizing the shopping cart functionality with our
programmer and have ran into an obstacle that seems to big to tackle
without the help of the experts here at SUN. We are baffled at how to
logically go about figuring out how to ship our product. The post office
offers the most cost effective solutions, which we would pass onto our
customers to keep shipping at a minimum. However, I have heard that many
people complain about USPS. Then there are the obvious players, UPS &
FEDEX, both seem very expensive and from what I have read they have
hidden fees for picking up packages, etc. Our products range from $12-$24
so I really do not want to charge our customers half of that to ship the
product. Please help!!!!

Robin -

All I know is that living in Hawaii sucks when it comes to paying shipping charges.  I don`t get why companies charge me $35 to ship somthing via FedEx or UPS when they can ship the exact same thing in the USPS`s flat rate boxes for $8 and it usually gets to me within 3 days...  FedEx is how a lot of the USPS boxes get shipped nowdays anyway, so why pay the extra.

I think you should offer all these options and let your customer choose.  Makes for a little more programming on your part, but ultimately tells your customers that you care about what they want and gives them a choice.

Sorry for the semi-rant, it`s just that this is a big pet peave of mine, it drives me nuts!!!

Hope it`s helpful...

R-


-------------------------


Quaerite Primum Regnum

"There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line."
~ Oscar Levant ~

Twitter: @rossb

Robin
I think you need to look at your drop-off and pick-up options.

• Is the post office close by?
• Do they have a big drop - off chute? or do you have to wait in line?
• Is there a Kinkos near by?  Can you drop-off Fedex Ground there?
• A UPS store nearby?

UPS and Fedex Ground don`t like to do the one day pick-up thing. They would rather come by every day and charge a weekly fee. That`s the cheaper way to go.
Rossb ... is correct, the flat rate USPS boxes are really cool, and you get the boxes for free!, you just have to order ahead of time. Tracking is unfortunately useless. The only tracking info you get, is when it arrives. So if it doesn`t arrive, there is no tracking.

I would do what`s easiest for you ... I know the customer is right, but someone will complain no matter what you pick.

I know the customer is right, but someone will complain no matter what you pick.

Hee, hee, hee - isn`t that the truth!!!

Good point about drop-off locations and tracking, I suppose if the nearest post office is an hour away the trade off might not be worth it.  But that doesn`t mean I have to like it!!!  

R-


-------------------------


Quaerite Primum Regnum

"There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line."
~ Oscar Levant ~

Twitter: @rossb

I have an issue with UPS that I`ll share.
I get media for my Wide format printer from a Vendor thats only about 45min from me. It just works out better for both parties. But EVERY time they ship, the packages look like they have been in a demolition derby. Lucky for us the contents dont often get damaged but once in a while the package is so bad and the product gets damaged to the point were I lose the first 3-4 feet off the roll. Its not worth my time to pursue this with UPS. But it does suck big time. I talked to my vendor about it and  they have accommodated us by special packing our orders but why go through so much just because the shipping co cant get it together. There was one case were i had ordered a bunch (12) of small plastic parts for a client. By the time the package got to me there was a big hole in the package and there was one part left in the box. I was so enraged I said to my self, "OH HELL NO!" I ran back out side and asked the guy, "Dont you thin there`s something wrong with this package?" His response was reminiscent of that of a beer breathed trucker. "Yeah, but what do you want me to do?". I told him to wait while i called the Local depot and asked his manager what he or she thought of  the situation and his response. This guy all decked out in the company brown uniform went on to laugh and joke with us about how "not so smart" of a move it was to ship damageable items via UPS was. I asked if he would ship his own merchandise with UPS. He laughed and responded, "No way, I use DHL or FedEx". The rep on the phone said, " Yes on occasion this happens. hopefully your vendor insures the packages they send. In the future you should inspect the packages before signing and accepting it." You best believe if she was in front of me at that moment i would have been hauled away in a paddy wagon as i would have choked her..... lol all jokes aside it was a very bad experience. I have more stories of bad times with UPS. but i wont bore you all.

The point is if your products are at all fragile. either you make your packing tough enough to make survive a car wreck or avoid UPS like the Bubonic plague

Thanks for all of the great response. WOW, OA Design...what can I say?
Sounds alot like what happens to me on most days! I think that after
speaking to our programmer about our options, and discussing it to death,
we are going to use regular mail for our products. That way, if nothing else,
we can save our customers a little bit of money on shipping costs. It really
sounds like all of these companies have their problems...so at least maybe I
can be cost effective about it!

I use exclusively USPS Click and Ship.  I like the prices AND the fact that the mail carrier will pick it up at my house.  I don`t have to go down to the PO to ship.  Yes, the tracking isn`t TOTALLY the same but I`ve never had a package go astray in 4 years. 

And, the free boxes are worth any hassles!  The flat rate boxes are GREAT!

~Kim

ScrapBiz

I would consider working the average shipping price and average order size into your prices (divided across the board).  You will win gain on some and lose on some, but it will average out in the long run.  This way you can advertise free shipping in your advertising campaigns and offer something that catches the eye.  I think it`s called a flat fee.  I read an awesome book about disguising costs--it`s downloadable from http://www.marketingismoney.com/.  It`s a slick trick because customers often back out of the order page once they see the high shipping prices, especially if the costs to ship is relatively high in respect to their gross order amount.  Good luck

I had to respond to this.

The USPS uses Fedex for some of their shipping.  DHL just signed an agreement in the US to use the UPS hubs for delivering their packages. They also eliminated some outlying areas for shipping.

I use Fedex for overnight, DHL for ground and USPS if it doesn`t have to be there by a specific time. I don`t use UPS at all unless a client specifically asks and gives us there UPS account #.   The reason why is a whole, long story for another time.

Have had good luck with DHL for ground.  But, they just changed all their pickup times in my area to an hour earlier.  No Notice!
Thanks for playing havoc with my production schedule!

UPS deliveries, no better.  For 10 years my UPS guy delivered all our packages, even ground, by 11:00 am.  Then one day up and decided to do all the residential packages first - because he didn`t want to deal with the "grief" from people getting their packages in the afternoon.
He now shows up at my door with ground stuff anywhere between 2:00 and 5:00 pm.
You know what that does to your production when a schedule you have been using for 10 YEARS gets changed in one day?

The problem is we do not have much of choice for shipping.  UPS and Fedex are the 1,000 pound gorillas in this market.  Then DHL and USPS far behind.
Both Fedex and UPS give steep discounts to large corporations and small companies are the ones who pickup the difference.

Shipping costs are what they are.  Our customers are billed for whatever it costs us or they give us their shipping account #.