5 Expert Tips To Minimize Shipping Costs

You can apply some expert tips to reduce the cost using. Check this guide to learn more.
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Last update:

July 17, 2023

The shipment of the products counts as one of the significant capital in determining the overall cost of the product.

With the petrol prices at an all-time hike, the shipment cost is now even more than the production cost of some minor products.

The best strategy is to get your products shipped at once in large cargo-like trucks instead of getting them shipped on several small vehicles.

However, the trucks being large vehicles and difficult to control even by professional drivers, they need added equipment so that the drive is safe and products are delivered to their desired destination successfully.

One essential accessory to make the truck shipment safe is the truck dash cam that allows you to have a close view of the road as trucks are elevated, so it is hard to keep sight of the road closely. However, these methods are only effective if the truck has only desired load.

It is optional to overload the cargo vehicle to reduce the shipment cost. You can apply some expert tips to reduce the cost using. These tips will be discussed in depth in the article below.

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5 Expert Tips To Minimize Shipping Costs For Quick Delivery

1. Decrease the shipping distance.

Small or large scale brands a hefty amount for shipment in distant shipping zones. Shipping zones are the geographical areas where carriers ship.

For example, in the USA, Zone 1 to Zone 8 are for domestic shipments. Zones measure the distance a load travels, with reference to the zone.

The zones at the farther distance are higher zones, which are expensive, and the shipment could be faster.

If you can cut the shipping to higher zones, you can save shipping cost over time and benefit from better shipping options with lower rates.

You can partner more with companies that have multiple fulfillment centers shortly.

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2. Weigh your packages and reduce the dimensions.

Heavy items are expensive if you are not using the flat shipping rates. Investing in postage scale to predict the cost better and purchasing the proper labels if you are printing labels and shipping from home is better.

In addition to weight, carriers consider package dimensions when calculating shipping costs.

Packaging is a crucial element in determining the weight of your shipment. The added weight will increase your shipment bill if you use heavy-weight packaging for any load.

Larger boxes can lead to more considerable dimensional weight, leading to exuberantly high shipping costs.

To reduce package weight (and ultimately reduce shipping costs), try the following:

¡ Make custom packaging boxes with smaller dimensions that are made just for your product to reduce the overall weight as the mass distributes over the volume.

· Use “ships in own container” (SIOC) packaging. This means that the product packaging is the shipping label you add, so you don’t add a box on a box.

¡ Reuse old packaging boxes if the receiver is someone from your family or friends where you have no formality involved.

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3. Find discounted supplies

Shipping companies such as USPS, UPS, and FedEx may provide small-scale businesses with some boxes and envelopes for free or may offer a discount on certain packing materials.

You can also purchase items like boxes, dunnage, bubble wrap, air-fill, and poly mailers in bulk to save money.

Do not panic over the high end cost; you would not run out immediately, and you’ll also reduce your average per-shipment cost. You may even find some free shipping supplies.

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4. Get discounted shipping rates.

Almost all shipping companies offer a certain leverage on the cost over a specific volume of the shipment.

There’s no harm in negotiating volume discounts in exchange for loyalty to one shipping carrier. The relation goes like the more packages you ship, the better rates you can get.

ShipSaving, as a discounted shipping platform, offers free shipping discounts for everyone.

If you purchase shipping labels on ShipSaving, you can enjoy USPS discounted shipping rates up to 89% off and DHL discounts up to 76% off. 

E-commerce store owners should seek lower shipping costs as long as the service for the lower prices does not affect the shipping solutions or extend delivery times.

ShipSaving helps you get the best shipping rate and saves your time and energy negotiating with shipping carriers. 

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5. Check out offers from the platforms or marketplaces you sell on.

Often some shipment companies offer discounts on bulk shipments. You may check any such offers before finalizing your shipment and choose the company that has the most decent offers. They may have features that provide:

¡ Real-time carrier rates.

¡ Shipping apps.

¡ Built-in features.

¡ Integrations with fulfillment software can provide you with better rates and fulfillment services.

ShipSaving can be one option for you. ShipSaving also partners with UPS to offer a unique discounted rate up to 72%. Simply create a UPS account through ShipSaving’s referral link, unlock your UPS shipping discounts NOW. 

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Two questions that can help save money on shipping (Brand perspective)

1. How are you charging for shipping?

Even if you try to reduce the shipping cost to the maximum, the shipping charges you set for the customers determine your sales.

The psychology of online shopping and consumer is quite astonishing. Shoppers prefer to buy expensive smell items with no shipping charges involved, while they would leave an inexpensive item with minimal shipping charges. It is better to incorporate the shipment cost into the price of the item. You may use labels like free shipping to attract customers.

As long as they’re getting a perceived deal or the best value, they are more likely to buy.

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2. Are you using the right packaging?

Packaging mistakes are the most common mistake among businesses which leads to a great deal of hike in shipment charges. Others use boxes when they could use a poly mailer or padded envelope to decrease the weight and dimensions.

If you are a brand that uses luxury packaging and fills the shipment boxes with crape paper or other items and is having a hard time saving on the shipment cost, you may have to rethink the decision to add decorative items to the shipment boxes.

If you insist on using branded boxes, make sure they don’t have dimensions that fall outside of standard box sizes major carriers use, or you may face additional fees.

If your product packaging can be manufactured, so it’s ship-ready, you can save on shipping costs by simply slapping a label on it.

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3. Start using shipping softwares 

Shipping software is an effective way for you to save money. Business owners can simply integrate their stores with shipping software and unlock discounts with major shipping carriers.

Some shipping software may charge you a small portion of fees for using its service; However, I found a free shipping software with no charge at all! ShipSaving is an easy-to-use shipping software that helps you unlock discounted shipping rates.

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You can save shipping cost immediately after account registration. Let’s create an account now! 

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Written on:

February 17, 2023
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