When shipping some items, it is much better to have everything organized beforehand. In case you are moving, the first thing you should do is to find reliable movers with whom you will sign a contract. However, during that process, you need to pay special attention to the shipping costs. This is probably going to be your biggest expense, considering that your entire equipment should be transported safely to the new office. Naturally, this does not only apply to a relocation, but to shipping items as well. Luckily, there are some ways in which you can reduce commercial shipping costs.
The first thing you should do is to negotiate
Each and every one of the shipping companies have pricing schedules based on volume. This means that the more you ship, the lower your rate is going to be. This does not only apply to big companies- in case you have a smaller one, you will also be given this advantage.
Do not be afraid to try- there is nothing you can lose. The only thing you can get is to reduce commercial shipping costs. If it happens that you are not familiar with a reliable shipping company, contact Four Winds Bahrain.
Be careful with additional fees
Since there are many shipping companies on the market, you probably know that a majority of them has their own way of doing thigs. This means that they also tend to add different kinds of costs. For example, you can be charged for Saturday delivery, delivery signatures, fuel surcharges, and residential delivery charges. Therefore, the best thing you should do is to ask your company what kind of additional costs they can charge you. By doing this, you will know what to pay special attention to and avoid these costs.
Reduce commercial shipping costs by using smaller boxes
Yet another thing you should bear in mind is the size, weight, and destination of your package. Since shipping carriers charge based on this, you should think about in what way you can lessen the costs. In order to achieve this, you should definitely use smaller packages instead of larger boxes.
Not only will this save you money but you will also lessen the probability of having some item damaged. What you can also do is to use a bubble mailer. This is lighter than cardboard boxes and can also keep your pieces of equipment safe.
You should use packaging from your own carrier
In case you are thinking about using your own packaging, you should think again. The chances that the dimensions of your boxes will exceed the regulations are quite high. If this happens, you are going to face some additional fees. Since this is something you would certainly like to avoid, consider using the packaging provided by your own carrier. You will be sure that there are no additional fees and your budget is not going to suffer. As you can see, even though this is a small thing, it can mean a lot. For this reason, you should do research on time and there will be nothing to worry about.
Think about prepaid shipping
One more thing you can do in order to reduce commercial shipping costs- consider prepaid shipping. Should you decide to use this form of shipping, you should know that you will have a discount rate of up to 20 percent. You will buy a quantity of shipping labels upfront and affix them to packages. By doing this, you will avoid paying for every package when you send it out. This works best when you know that you will be sending out the same weight packages repeatedly. You will be able to determine the shipping costs in advance and you will manage the numbers better.
Get insurance from a third party
There is a great difference between carriers and third-party companies when this is in question. Basically, your carrier is surely going to charge you more than any other third-party company. For example, carriers usually charge about 80 cents for every $100 of insurance.
In the same situation, a third-party company is going to charge about 45 cents. This is certainly something that can affect your budget greatly. Therefore, bear this in mind the next time you ship some items. The savings can add up quite quickly.
Ask whether there are some discounts
This is also something that can help you reduce commercial shipping costs. All you need to do is to find out whether your industry’s professional association has a partnership with a carrier that offers member discounts. This means that you could be eligible for discounted rates of up to 50 percent, but it depends on the size of the association. However, the most important thing for you is to ask around. Even if your discounted rate is not 50 percent, it will still be of great help and make a great difference.
Hidden costs are certainly something that not a single person or a company likes. They are to be found everywhere, even when moving to a new home or shipping some items. Luckily, they have been detected and we have tried to point them out to you. In addition to this, we have tried to show you the ways in which you can reduce commercial shipping costs as well. There are many things you can do in order to achieve this. Just put these pieces of advice into practice and you will manage even to put some money on the side.