Shipping/Postage solutions

[Herbs]

I'm putting together a new business venture which will be e-commerce based with items valued from £2 to £150(guessing average order will be £25-£60).

The one area I don't have any experience in is the shipping/postage aspect and how best to go about it.

I understand dropshipping and the likes of Amazon Prime etc holding stock for you but what is the best way for sending items out yourself?

I've ordered items before that are £2 or £3 pound and only been charged £2 postage if that despite it being rather bulky but on teh odd occasion i've had to post something the cost have been £5+

Where can I source shipping from?

[Phooey]

I sell books and use Royal Mail - they collect from my premises mon-fri and all items are weighed by myself and in-putted into a page on their website called OBA. For heavier and bulkier items I would maybe look at one of the other mail companies. What are you selling?


Have a read - http://www.royalmail.com/corporate/sending-receivi...

[Herbs]

Can't really say what the product is as of yet but will reveal all later down the line.

Do you mind if I ask how much they charge for that?

[The Moose]

How many parcels will you be sending a day/week?

Are they going to be particularly large or heavy parcels?

[Herbs]

Amount to be confirmed but i'm guessing initally 50ish

Size will be i'm guessing twice the size of the standard Amazon package - I plan on choosing it so it just falls inside the threshold for small parcel.

[The Moose]

Herbs said:

Amount to be confirmed but i'm guessing initally 50ish

Size will be i'm guessing twice the size of the standard Amazon package - I plan on choosing it so it just falls inside the threshold for small parcel.

Sorry, but 50 per day or week?

What is a standard Amazon package in terms of size?

Do you want next day or is a couple of days ok - i.e. are you more concerned about the speed or the price?!

[Nickyboy]

Depends on your volume, package size/weight and service required.

Talk to a UPS rep and they could do you a package price or a monthly spend discount. Essentially it's tailored to your needs.

[Timja]

There are various companies providing up stream access to Royal Mail which may save you around 10% off standard royal mail business account costs. You may also find there are various companies who do not cover their postage costs within the fees and have either taken the view that there will be certain combinations where postage cost is greater than what is charges, but overall they win on many more items than loose so worth the average for simplification or haven't really calculated things properly!

[Herbs]

Thanks all,

Expect 50 a week initially which will rise in time.