How to save money on shipping (spoiler alert: it involves a franking machine)

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How to save money on shipping (spoiler alert: it involves a franking machine)

October 9, 2020

Whether you sell from your own website or run a home business selling on the likes of eBay, Etsy or Amazon, you’ll know that shipping costs have a habit of racking up rather quickly. Providing you are prepared for this, there is no problem here. As long as the cost of postage is covered by the buyer, you’ll never be out of pocket.

However, this isn’t always the case. Shipping merchandise can be a complex operation – particularly for a small or one person business. Postage prices can differ wildly depending on the size and shape of the goods you’re shipping and it’s not always easy to calculate this.

Failure to plan in this area can lead to unhappy customers and unforeseen postage costs eating away at your margins. Of course if you are sending in bulk, there are ways to cut down on this complexity while saving money – sending via pallet for example. For businesses that send individual items to different addresses, finding cost savings is not as clear cut – but it can be done.

How to lower postage costs

Get to know your products

First things first, you need to get to know your products. That goes for every new product you decide to sell. Don’t guess at a postage price based on a similar item. Take the time to measure the weight and dimensions of your merchandise to ensure you can always price its postage correctly. Categorise your products based on how they will be mailed – Small Letter, Large Letter, Small Parcel and so on.

Make sure the price is right

One you know how much Royal Mail are going to charge based on the size and shape of your goods, it’s time to set your own price. It’s not a wise idea to build clear profit into a postage price – not only is this misleading, but often buyers will see through this and look elsewhere. That said, you should build in a buffer for other costs such as packaging and the time taken for you to prepare the goods for shipping.

Update your costs

This is a very easy one to forget – make sure your costs are updated. Royal Mail regularly updates its postage costs (usually every year) and it’s important you update yours accordingly. This is also the case if you use another other postal companies. Don’t let a price increase by third party impact your profitability.

Speed up your process

One easy way to lower your postage costs is to take less time packing and posting your goods – time is money after all. Using address labels instead of writing by hand and packing products in boxes or padded envelopes instead of wrapping in paper and bubble wrap is a great way to do this.

Invest in a franking machine

A sure-fire way to bring down postage costs is to invest in a franking machine. Not only is the cost of franked mail cheaper per item – it costs 29p less to send a medium parcel with a Mailmark franking machine than by standard post – but it also eliminates the possibility of overpaying for postage. Modern franking machines are digital, meaning you’ll only ever pay the exact amount of postage for the size and weight of your goods. Plus, any postage price increases are automatically updated on your machine – just remember to update your own prices in line with any increases. Low volume franking machine leases start at just £20p/m – an amount that will very quickly pay for itself even with modest mail volumes.

Find out more about low volume franking machines here – or for more information, call us on 0870 066 3526 or email sales@europeanpostalsystems.co.uk

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