Shipping For Online Sellers

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It doesn’t matter if you’re selling online as a home based business or as a physical business, shipping will be a key part of your business. As an online business there aren’t many ways you can interact with customers but shipping is one of those ways. We know how hard it can be, so here are some tips to help you survive online shipping woes.

Of course the very first thing you will need is a digital scale. We have stressed this over and over but it seems a lot of people just don’t understand. Knowing the exact weight of a package, not only allows you to charge the correct amount of shipping, but it can also save you from over spending as well. The last thing you want is for your customers to receive a shipping bill along with their package. There should be no guessing when it comes to pricing out shipping.

You can buy an old fashioned type analog scale but the ones you can afford aren’t as accurate as a digital scale. The best place to buy a digital shipping scale is online. You can find amazing deals on Ebay or Amazon for fractions of the retail price. Have a look at our reviews on some of the brands we recommend.

Now a days there are plenty of ways to buy postage. There is no need for you to be going to the post office and buying a boat load of stamps. The online service called PayPal makes it extremely easy for you to print your own labels. All you have to do is answer a few questions about your package and print.

Your local post office should have a line for businesses just like the bank does. Use this line to your advantage as it is often much faster. Some postal services will make weekly trips to your house, or close to it, so you should ask about that as well. You may not even have to leave your home to do your shipping. But as you grow exponentially larger, you will need to start paying a small fee for this service.

The second best thing you can do for your customers shipping needs is to offer them a wide range of options. Some customers want over night and some want slow and cheap. Failing to provide a wide range of shipping options may cause you to lose that customer.

Have you ever got a package at Christmas that looked like it was wrapped in 5 seconds? This is something you want to avoid when shipping to a customer. Your package should be properly secured and look extremely professional. It would be a smart idea to buy your shipping supplies in bulk from a local supplier and not from a retail store. You will be amazed at how much money you will save.

The most important shipping tip for you today is that you need to be honest about your shipping prices. There is an old saying, “you can only fool a customer once.” If you over charge for shipping, it is very easy for a customer to figure it out. Don’t try to scrape an extra couple of dollars by inflating shipping. This will not only hurt your reputation but you will lose a lot of credibility online as a business.