

Shipping and mailing needs are different for every small business, and if your business mostly deals with transferring information online, then your mailing needs will be minimal. But if your business regularly sends out brochures, sales letters, promotional postcards, samples, and more, you need to get a handle on postage costs before they get out of hand.
If your postage needs go beyond buying a book of stamps now and then, look into more sophisticated postage options so you aren’t making multiple trips to the post office. Your business will benefit from the convenience of having postage meters and other mailing tools in-house so you don’t lose any precious working time. You can sign up for a US Postal Service (USPS) account that you can run directly through the USPS, or sign up for a third-party solution, such as pbSmartPostage, which also lets you print postage on your office printer.
Current postage rates are listed on the USPS website. The good news is that if you send out large volumes of mail, you may qualify for lower postage rates. If you mail a lot of Priority Mail Express or Priority Mail items, you can save trips to the post office by ordering packaging supplies, including envelopes and boxes, online. Also, if you prefer to have your packages and mailers picked up at a certain time of day, for a fee the USPS will pick up your mail within a two-hour window. Otherwise, you’ll be on a regular postal schedule.
Shipping solutions such as the USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL make it easy for small businesses to set up an account to schedule package shipping. Whether you need ground, express, or freight shipping, you can take care of most of the transactions online, including scheduling pickups and tracking packages after they’ve been sent. If you mail lots of packages, you can have packages picked up directly from your business on a regular basis; if not, you can request pickups as needed.
With US-based e-commerce predicted to reach $350 billion in sales by year’s end, you don’t want to be left out because you can’t figure out how to fill orders in a timely fashion. UPS and FedEx offer comprehensive eCommerce solutions, but there is a myriad of ways to fulfill your e-commerce orders.
Many small business owners use product fulfillment companies, such as Shopify, Amazon, and Shipwire to get products to their customers, especially if they have customers outside the US. Simply send products to their fulfillment centers, and they take care of the rest for you. Shopify and Amazon handle the inventory, sales, packaging, and tracking. If you want more control, Shipwire works with your e-commerce system and then fulfills the order.
Try these tactics to keep your mailing and shipping costs to a minimum.
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