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When you focus your business
on a niche market, then most, if not all of your
products, are going to be shipped in the same
size packages. And when shipping from one main
location to various customers, one can easily
find an average shipping cost to cover the
entire region without losing any money. And you
can possibly make a small profit on shipping
charges as well.
However, when using the services of multiple
drop-shippers to ship the products for you, then
shipping costs will vary from order to order
since the “ship to” addresses will vary in
location. Many drop-shippers have multiple
warehouse locations strategically placed
throughout the entire region bringing
shipping cost down to a minimum when a
customer is located nearby the
distribution warehouse. |
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And
shipping cost can vary from location to location
by a few dollars or more.
And since it’s impossible to know for sure, what
the shipping costs are going to be for each and
every order, then the best and safest way to set
shipping charges would be to set a flat rate
shipping charge for each type of delivery
service.
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For example, if you were selling computer
software, then you can charge $14 for 2-Day
shipping services while the distributor charges
you $11.
You can charge $24 for over night shipping while
the distributor charges you $20.
In the case of software, it’s easy to determine
a flat rate shipping charge since most software
packages are the same size in dimension and in
weight as well.
However, if you’re selling different types of
products from sub-categories such as printers
for example, then you may have to create more
fixed shipping rates based upon the size and
weight of these larger packages.
For example, for a large laser printer, you can
charge $20 for 2-Day shipping while the
distributor may charge you $15. And you can
create smaller flat shipping rates for smaller
packages as well.
And of course, these are just examples of
average shipping rates. You would have to check
with distributors to see their shipping rates
for various sized packages and then create a
more accurate shipping rate for various shipping
services.
For example:
2-Day shipping for small packages: $12
2-Day shipping for medium packages: $16
2-Day shipping for large packages: $19
How to create a flat shipping rate
To obtain a flat shipping rate, you can visit
multiple distributor websites and begin to enter
in orders for 2 to 3 multiple sized product
packages, as if you were going to place those
orders to have them shipped to the customers.
Once you have entered in the shipping address(s)
for different locations across the country, then
the shopping cart system on the distributors’
website will calculate a shipping charge based
upon the weight and dimensions of the product
and the “ship to” address provided before
completing the order.
And once you’re able to see the actual shipping
charge that the distributor is going to charge
you for shipping that product to the customer,
then you can now have a distributor flat
shipping rate. And from there, you can add two
to three dollars more to create your own flat
shipping rate charge to the customer.
You can also visit your competitors online and
proceed to place various orders for similar
products while providing shipping addresses for
multiple locations as if you were going to
purchase the product yourself. |
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At the end of the check out
process, you will be able to know what they
charge their customers for shipping and you can
create an average shipping rate based upon those
shipping charges.
It’s important to remain competitive on shipping
charges as well. And although it may seem
tedious to commence to place “pretend” orders on
other websites just to see shipping charges, it
would be worth while doing so in order to remain
competitive.
(NOTE: When placing orders on other websites,
you will be canceling the order on the last page
before check out. You will not be actually
ordering the products online; instead you will
proceed in the checkout process only to find out
their shipping cost for those types of products.
And once you’re able to see how much they charge
their customers for shipping, then you can
cancel the order or leave the website entirely.)
Once you have an average shipping rate for what
the distributors are going to charge you along
with an average shipping rate for what your
competitor’s charge their customers then you can
easily create your own flat (fixed) shipping
rate and add that rate to your shopping cart
system accordingly. |
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Adding shipping
charges to products
Once you have determined the flat shipping rate
that you’re going to charge for shipping, then
you can proceed to add those shipping rates to
each product from within the administration area
of your shopping cart program.
After the customer clicks on the “Add to cart”
button on your website, then they can proceed to
check out and select a shipping option for their
order. i.e. 2-Day Shipping, 3-Day Shipping, or
over night shipping.
Your shopping cart program will automatically
add your flat rate shipping charge to the
product in order to create the total and final
sale price, (with shipping included).
Then after the customer has checked out and
completed their order, an order confirmation
email will be sent to both you and the customer
as well.
Then you can proceed to order the product from
the wholesale distributor and have the product
shipped directly to your customer with your
business name on the package.
If you were shipping from one main location,
then a shipping calculation method can be used.
But when you’re working with multiple
distributors and with multiple warehouse
locations then charging a flat rate shipping
charge can work best for you and for the
customer as well. |
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