It can be one of the most complicated questions you face when you ship goods. How much should you charge for shipping? Charge too little and it eats your profits. Too much and consumers may shy away from their purchase. It helps to understand what’s behind pricing, so you can get the balance right.
Standard inputs
Package weight and dimensions are important. Consider making the most of the space within a box. Avoid large boxes with lots of empty space. You’ll also need to factor in where the package is going. Sometimes there are extra fees associated with variables like parking tickets, special delivery arrangements, remote areas and so on.
Non-standard inputs
You might consider extra insurance if items being shipped are valuable. Check the insurance policies of various carriers, and consider the pros and cons of various types of packaging to protect your items.
You’ll need to consider your delivery times. Meeting the customer’s timing requirements can mean increased shipping costs for faster delivery.
Any company shipping items regularly will find that sometimes things go wrong. Items can be lost or damaged in transit. There can be unexpected delays, re-weighs and other issues that will have an impact on the cost of shipping an item.
Carrier-specific costs
Carriers each have their own processes for calculating shipping. It can be labour-intensive to search through various options, trying to work out which company is the best fit.
Let TransVirtual work this out for you
Our software breezes through complicated shipping cost calculations. It searches what’s available to match your variables, like destination, timing, size and weight, and finds you the best deal, every time. It’s these details that add up over time to blow out costs or save you money. It’s just one of the moving parts our software manages with ease.
