Keeping on top of shipping costs and ensuring that your business is still profiting from your goods is a very complex operation to maintain – especially for smaller sized businesses. Postage prices can differ quite drastically depending on the size and shape of the products you are distributing and this makes it more difficult to calculate – but not impossible.
Failure to plan in this area can lead to annoyed customers and it can hugely affect your profit margins. Sending in bulk can cut costs as the use of pallets is available – but this solution is not always available. For businesses that send individual items, saving money is not easy but we are here to tell you that it can be done!
The first thing that you need to understand is your own products. This goes for every current and new products that you are selling. Take time to measure the weight and the dimensions of your products to 100% ensure that you can always price its postage correctly. Categorise all your products based on how they will be sent – Small Letter, Large Letter, Small Parcel etc.
Once you are aware of how much Royal Mail are going to charge to deliver your products based on the size and shape of them, it is time to set your own prices. We would not suggest that you build profit into the postage price set on your site. This is misleading and buyers will see through this and therefore look elsewhere. However, you should build in a buffer for other costs such as packaging supplies for the shipped goods.
Royal Mail regularly change their postage prices and it is vital that you update yours accordingly. Very easy to forget we know, but vital nevertheless. This applies to all postal companies that you use such as DPD or Parcelforce.
In business, time is money and so you should try to save time as and when possible as this can easily drive down postage costs. Using address labels instead of handwriting and packaging your products in strong boxes and/or padded envelopes instead of using bubble wrap are just two ways to do this.
A franking machine is a dead set to bring down your postage costs as franked mail is not only cheaper but it also eliminates the possibility of over or under paying for postage and is much more convenient to use. Mailcoms are one of the Royal Mail’s Authorised independent inspectors and maintainers of franking machines and as such we can provide you with a Mailmark franking machine to suit your needs.
A Mailmark franking machine can help massively when sending your mail. If you are interested in getting a franking machine or upgrading to a Mailmark franking machine with even lower prices available, then please view our franking machine page here or call us today on 01543 572 776.