To calculate your shipping zone, you first consider the point of origin, or location, from which the order is shipped. This is referred to as Zone 1. Next, your destination zone is how far in miles the shipping address is from the point of origin, or Zone 1. For example, shipping a package within 50 miles of its point of origin stays in Zone 1 and is the most affordable. Shipping a package over miles or to Zone 8 will be more expensive.
Shipping zones vary by carrier and service. It costs more to ship inventory from Maine to a customer in California versus shipping the same order from a warehouse in California. Pro Tip: Some providers like USPS will offer flat rate shipping, which means you pay the same rate no matter what zone you ship to. We cover more about flat rate shipping below.
You also have to consider how fast you want to deliver the product and across what distance. Lastly, you should factor in the contents of your packages.
For high-value products like original artwork or jewelry , you might include shipping insurance in case the package is damaged or lost. If you want to estimate general shipping costs, you can use these rate calculators:.
Brian Gibbs from Refund Retriever helps break down some of these fees and why they can quickly add up for small parcel shipping. Do you know how many residential fees, delivery area surcharges, and address correction fees have been applied to your invoices in the past 6 months? Luckily, you can turn to a trusted third-party like Refund Retriever to help.
All carriers charge fuel surcharges, yet few sellers actually understand their impact on shipping expenses. Fuel surcharges are extra fees charged to cover the fluctuating cost of fuel. The calculation is a percentage of the base rate and added to the charges of each package. As a result, it covers additional fuel costs and keeps the carriers profitable, even when the price of fuel rises. Fuel surcharges apply to domestic and international transportation charges and to the many value added service charges.
A minimum package charge is when a shipper agrees to pay the greater amount of the net charge based on discounts or a set minimum within the carrier agreement. FedEx and UPS set the minimum charge for all services in each agreement.
Specifically, a Zone 2 — 1 pound package. Why should a shipper care about a minimum package charge if they have great discounts? This minimum charge will negate a large percentage of the discounts for packages that are under 5 pounds and in lower zones. Then, you can start to reevaluate and implement strategies like these:. A good place to start is to first read your carrier agreements. There could be terms with early termination clauses, service guarantee waivers, or unfair payment terms.
A good carrier contract should have large base discount rates, a lowered minimum package charge, a service guarantee for on-time package delivery, and reduced rates for your top 5 accessorial fees.
They can help you find different ways to reduce your shipping costs. Learn more about how they can help raise your bottom line. Flat rate shipping can simplify your shipping efforts and save you money.
USPS Priority Flat offers 1 to 3 day shipping services for a single flat rate, no matter where you ship. Your product just has to fit in one of their designated boxes and weigh under 70 pounds. Check out how the USPS flat rate program works. Every carrier is going to have their advantages and disadvantages.
As you grow, it can be helpful to use multiple carriers depending on the package and its destination. This way you always ship with the best-rate carrier. Managing multiple carriers can be a little overwhelming though. You can use shipping software to import, organize, and process all your online orders for fulfillment. From a single place, you can create and print shipping labels and compare carrier rates.
Sellers can also leverage workflows that automatically assign and ship orders by the most cost-effective carrier. Another major reason to use shipping software is that these providers can offer their customers discounted shipping rates that they negotiated with major carriers. If you find you have a cluster of customers in one area, you can move inventory closer to them. This is the same mindset that Amazon has. Beyond shipping software, growing online sellers can outsource to a third-party logistics 3PL provider.
They can help with everything from warehouse management, transportation of goods, to reporting and inventory forecasting. For example, Fulfillrite is a 3PL that focuses primarily on the shipment of small, lightweight items for eCommerce companies.
If you do decide to partner with one, read our guide on how to pick the best 3PL partner for your business. Once you optimize your shipping costs and processes, you can use low shipping rates to attract more customers and increase sales.
Read more about how to turn your shipping rates into one of your best marketing tools. Toys stuck in supply chain chaos. Christmas trees may be hard to come by this year. North America's busiest cargo port is facing record backlog. For restaurants, the economic recovery is 'moving in reverse'. Millions in US coping with loss of special jobless benefits.
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Demand for school supplies is high but the Delta variant could change that. The company will begin imposing surcharges of several dollars on companies that ship a huge amount of items this fall and early winter, anticipating rising costs as more more people shop online because of coronavirus.
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