How to buy shipping supplies (Practical Ecommerce) ~ my additions

Just read a great article over at Pratical Ecommerce about “How to buy shipping supplies“. It was written by John Lindberg from eFulfillment service Inc.

John does a great job explaining how to save on shipping supplies in many areas including boxes/cartons, customs cartons and dunnage.

He points out a fact that most people often overlook… sometimes the quantity break savings you think you’re getting by purchasing higher quantities doesn’t always work out to save you money.

A few other points he touches on which I’ve found are very true:

• Dunnage materials… tape, wrap, stuff packing, etc., can be a huge expense. Sometimes higher than the cost of the box. Check out John’s list of links to suppliers. My favorite is still Uline, but he’s listed some great alternatives for shipping supplies. Two of which I had not come across before.
• Be sure to have many sizes of boxes on hand. One huge and unnecessary expense can be putting a small item into a box that’s too large. Wasted space, wasted expense on the box, and you’ll have a higher shipping rate applied.
• Buy in volume whenever possible, with the exception of John’s ROI review… see article.

A few points I would add:

• When comparison shopping for boxes and dunnage materials, also consider shopping for your shipping supplies at eBay. You won’t always find a deal there, but I’ve occasionally come across some great deals that have saved me up to 20% from the price I pay at Uline.
• Get as many free supplies from USPS, UPS, FedEx as possible. You can get a wide variety of boxes, labels and other shipping supplies for free. Be sure you still compare shipping charges for your package because the free box may not be worth it if you can ship cheaper with another company and use your own box.
• Don’t overdue the wrapping, packing and sealing when preparing shipments. If you’re item is not breakable, don’t fill the inside of the box with bubble wrap or shipping peanuts… it’s a waste. Don’t seal up the box like it’s going to war or going to be dunked under water. Most packages will be perfectly fine with one round of tape to seal it.

Keep looking for other ways to buy shipping supplies and save on your shipping costs. Each dollar you save is pure profit and can really add up over a year.