Shipping More Successfully

Tips For Reducing The Cost Of Using A Courier Service

19 April 2017

Isabella Lynch

When you run a small business, you want to ensure that each of your business expenses is as cost effective as possible. Relying on a courier service is generally a good idea — the packages you send will be traceable, arrive faster than regular mail, and a courier can arrive at your location whenever you need to ship something. It's vitally important, however, to ensure that you're careful about not spending too much with the courier service. With the right approach, you can keep your costs well under control, and still have your shipped items reach their destinations in a timely manner. Here are some tips for reducing the cost of using a courier service.

Evaluate The Shipping Packages

Think about the packages that you customarily use to ship your items. While boxes are handy, they may cause you to spend more than you need. For example, unless the item you're shipping fits snugly inside its box, you'll also need to regularly buy packing products such as bubble wrap to ensure the safety of the item in transit. A cost-effective alternative in many cases can be a padded bubble mailer. This package is smaller than a conventional box, meaning that it's typically cheaper to ship. Additionally, because it already offers protection in the form of built-in bubble wrap, you won't have the extra expense of packing products.

Consider Your Shipping Lengths

Often, it's easy to save a bit of money on your courier service by re-evaluating your shipping lengths. For example, you might like the idea of telling your in-state customers that items they buy will arrive in three days. This time frame, however, may be worth considering. If you were to offer a five-day shipping length, it's likely that your customers would still be satisfied — and you'll save some money each time you send a package.

Plan Drop-Offs Whenever Possible

Some courier services will give you a price break when you take an item that needs to be shipped to a courier store, rather than have someone come and pick it up. While the latter approach is definitely convenient and may be valuable when you're short on time, try to get into the habit of dropping packages off when you're able. For example, if you have an employee working for you who lives near the courier store, you may wish to task him or her with dropping packages off each day on the way home.

If you want to learn more about courier services, contact ARP Postal.

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