Small Business Savings Tips - Part 9

Shipping is arguably the largest expense of a small business. Aside from the freight cost, there's the cost of packaging, labor, and inventory management. With all that said, there are ways to drastically reduce the cost. Here are some tips on reducing each aspect of the shipping cost.

If you ship by the postal service or by FedEx, I urge you to check out Stamps.com for their shipping services. Their software seamlessly integrates with most inventory management software as well as QuickBooks accounting software. If you have an eBay or Amazon store, the software is already equipped and ready to integrate. All of these features can save you both time and money, but the best part is you also get a shipping discount as well. If you ship with the USPS there's up to a 10% discount on all shipping rates and services. Ship with FedEx? If you do, you'll also get up to a 21% discount on their shipping rates.

The only draw back I could find the the Stamps.com service is that it is currently only PC compatible. If you have a Mac, it's not the end of the world though. You just need Parallels. If you're not familiar, Parallels allows you to run any PC software on a Mac. The program runs in it's own secure environment so you won't affect anything else on your Mac while running a PC application.

Need shipping supplies? Get them in bulk from ReStockIt. I've found that they've got the lowest prices on mailroom supplies. That includes boxes, tape, packing, and labels. You can purchase in any quantity, but buying them in case quantity gives you the biggest savings, especially when using a coupon for your purchase.

I hope these tips can help you drastically reduce your shipping overhead. At the very least, take advantage of the 4 week free trial from Stamps.com to see if it's worth it for your business.