I’ve been running a small business for over 10 years, trying to get the best shipping rates for my customers. I ship about 30 to 50 boxes a day, but this year the business has been dropping. Back in June, I sent an automated email to potential customers who abandoned their cart during checkout, asking why they didn’t complete the order.
Almost 90% of them said that the shipping price was too high.
I offer USPS options for both priority and ground economy, and FedEx ground. But most of our orders go by FedEx since my boxes are usually over 1 cubic foot.
UPS won’t offer me any discounts and refuses to negotiate on the dim divisor.
I’ve tried lowering shipping costs on most orders, but it results in a loss on those shipments. I then had to raise product prices to avoid running a non-profit.
But even that hasn’t worked. I’ve tried to keep my prices competitive, but shipping costs are seriously hurting our small business.
Unishippers calls and emails me constantly (even after I politely ask them to stop), claiming they can lower my shipping costs. However, the sales reps I’ve talked to weren’t very clear, so I gave up. I also don’t trust their online reviews.
What can a small business do to get better rates with FedEx or UPS?
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You’re shipping 30-50 boxes a day and UPS won’t offer you a discount? That doesn’t make sense. We ship far fewer than that and have negotiated rates with UPS, FedEx, and DHL. Are you talking to a sales rep? Do you have an account with them?
Unishippers is okay, you’re not locked into anything. You’re just shipping on their account, which gives you their negotiated rates. It could save you half of what you’re paying now if you’re using retail rates.
@Max
UPS has offered help twice, but they won’t give me a local rep. I worked with a phone rep both times, but she came back with a tiny discount that didn’t really help us. They also won’t give us a better dim divisor. Since our boxes are large and light, this is important to us, along with an overall discount.
Try Veeqo. It’s now owned by Amazon, it’s free, and the shipping fees for all major carriers are the best you’ll get anywhere (especially for UPS and USPS).
Can you increase your item price and reduce the shipping cost, or just offer free shipping? That way, the customer pays the same overall but it feels better to them.
Haru said:
Can you increase your item price and reduce the shipping cost, or just offer free shipping? That way, the customer pays the same overall but it feels better to them.
You said UPS won’t give you discounts… are you not using a service like Pirateship to get discounted rates? You aren’t buying directly from UPS, are you?
Jae said:
You said UPS won’t give you discounts… are you not using a service like Pirateship to get discounted rates? You aren’t buying directly from UPS, are you?
Pirateship doesn’t discount boxes over a cubic foot. Our typical box is 12x12x24. We have a dim divisor adjustment with FedEx to help with this, but it’s not a great one. Though it’s still cheaper than Pirateship.
@Kingsley
They do discount larger boxes significantly. I just ran a test, and a box that size was $42 from UPS, $22 on Pirateship. Are you not seeing any discounts, or just no better discounts?
Make sure you’re comparing prices with Pirateship and ParcelPath, and getting better rates than them.
I don’t know if this will help with your box size and volume, but I get discounts with the Rollo app because I use their printer. I save about $4-$5 per package.