Shipping costs can be a real pain, especially when they start to add up over time and dent your profit margins.

Nevertheless, shipping costs are an essential element of business, and one that needs to be mastered on the road to success.

Thankfully, there are more than a few tricks and tips worth checking out in this area, and you might find that you end up saving a huge amount of money once you start utilizing them throughout your own company.

This doesn’t mean that you need to sacrifice the quality of your service either. Read on to find out more.

Use a Load Board

You could use a reliable online load board to aid you with shipping costs, especially if you opt for a platform like Shiply that offers phenomenally cheap shipping rates.

This can enable you to save a huge amount of money on carrier costs, as the platform works by enabling multiple carriers to bid on your order, ultimately driving the price down on your end.

The carriers are extremely dependable too, so you don’t need to worry about losing your product.

While this might not work directly as an all-encompassing solution for the entirety of your company’s shipping needs, it may be a perfect quick fix, or even a way to meet a reliable carrier that you can keep using in the future.

Utilize the Right Packaging

Packaging can be expensive, so taking steps to reduce it could lower your shipping bill greatly.

Beautiful packaging can be a critical part of the branding process, but it can also cost a fortune to get made, especially if you turn to an external company to get it done.

You could make your packaging in-house to lower the costs, or you could think about cutting back on the frills and making minimalism part of your brand.

Raise Your Product Prices (Maybe)

This can be a tricky one, but you could always consider raising your product prices, provided the conditions are right.

Customers are willing to pay more for bespoke items, and perhaps your packaging reflects that kind of vibe.

If you can offer your customers the whole package, i.e., speedy delivery, beautiful packaging, tracking, and customer service, there is every chance you’ll be able to raise your prices.

Think carefully before doing this, however, as it could have the opposite effect and greatly damage your sales figures.

Get the Customer to Pay

It can be hard to compete when companies like Amazon monopolize the market with free delivery, but it’s not impossible.

You may be able to justify having the customer pay the shipping costs, particularly if you’re selling luxury items.

One great way to add this charge is to use real-time checkout software that accounts for fluctuations in carrier costs and charges the customer accordingly.

Another way to get around this issue is to charge a flat rate. If you sell enough items, this rate may eventually level you out in the long run, but it depends on how much time you have to spare.