Whether you run an ecommerce store that delivers items to the doorstep of customers, you plan to run a direct mail marketing campaign for an upcoming local business, the postage and courier costs can erode a lot of your profit.
In fact, the postage and shipping costs are the significant expenses for many small businesses, however the good news is that, there are ways to save a handsome amount on postage and shipping costs.
This article will discuss the 6 most important points that can help you cut your mailing and shipping costs and get more mileage out of the money you do spend on mail and shipping.
1- Hire a Middleman Parcel Service
Many small parcel companies purchase postage slots in bulk from bigger buys such as FedEx and DHL. They resell these slots to their own clients, sometimes at costs that are lower than the FedEx or DHL ones. This allows everyone save money. In addition, you’ll save time by not having to go to the main office, as most parcel services pick up your stuff from your address.
2- Search for Loyalty Schemes
Various carriers offer loyalty schemes and special prices to small businesses and individuals alike. By using such schemes, you can make some important savings.
CollectPlus, for instance, can deliver packages up to 10kg, and will offer 10% discount to loyal clients. If you want to benefit from such offers, you need to make sure you have enough shipments to qualify for the discount. You can check out USA Stamp Guide to see where to get stamps and then look for loyalty schemes when on these sites.
3- Use Mail to Send Smaller Items
Mail is as cheap as you can get when it comes to shipping small items. Use them to send all items that fit inside a large envelope and weigh under 750g.
Sending letters and cards with your brand with the use of an online logo maker via normal mail is your cheapest option available. No courier services can beat that. As prices increase from time to time, you can stock up on stamps, as they never expire.
4- Use Comparison Engines
Parcel2Go and other similar comparison websites can help you find the lowest price services. All you need to do is to provide information about the item you want to ship and how fast you need it shipped. The search engine will return a list of the cheapest services, for you to choose the one that suits best your needs.
5- Let Carriers Bid For Your Business
There are auction websites where carriers can bid to deliver the items posted by users. Most of these carriers want to fill up empty space in their vans, being therefore willing to offer very low prices. Some bids are even 75% cheaper than regular delivery services. This makes your efforts to list your jobs on auction websites worthwhile.
6- Cooperate With a Mailing House
If you want to save money on your direct mailing campaigns, you may want to hire a mailing house. We can offer you very good prices, due to the fact that we buy our postage slots in bulk, at very affordable rates. We pass most of these savings to our clients, as we’d rather earn money on volumes rather than on high prices.
The Bottom Line:
Businesses of all sizes should be focusing on keeping their mailing and shipping charges as low as possible, but it is a must for small businesses and startups.
