It was announced recently that the United States Postal Service has raised rates and is ending Saturday delivery service for everything but packages starting in August 2013. Are you a small business that does a lot of shipping to your customers?  If so, this rate hike could be taking a bite out of your profit margins. I reached out to shipping expert Justin Amendola from Pitney Bowes for some ideas on how we as small business owners could keep our shipping costs under control.  

Here are 5 suggestions on how to manage your shipping costs.

Rate shop

Rate shop your parcels among all available carriers and delivery methods. If your package weighs less than 13 ounces, you can use first class mail, as this is still the lowest cost delivery method available for lightweight packages.

Start using an online shipping solution

If you bring your shipping in-house, you will automatically qualify for what the USPS calls commercial-based rates, which are much less than retail, which you pay at the window. Amendola says reduced rates are available to customers who use PC or online postage solutions, such as pbSmartPostage^TM, permit imprints, or any of the leading digital mailing systems.  A business can easily print shipping labels and manage shipments anytime. It also saves hours each month that you spend waiting in line at the Post Office.

Use flat rate pricing

Priority mail is almost always cheapest for packages over 14 ounces to about 3 pounds. With commercial rates, your business can save 19% for Priority Mail® and up to 36% for Express Mail®.  A 10-pound Priority Mail shipment that once cost $36.50, for example, can be sent for as little as $5.80.

Consider ground shipping

Parcel Post is no longer available. Parcel Select is now your best option for medium to large packages. This is a service from USPS launched last year that is designed for large and medium sized shippers looking for an economical ground delivery service.  Standard Post is another option, but you’ll pay up to 21% more. Parcel Select® offers good pricing on ground delivery from the USPS.

Cleanse your mailing lists.

With the cost of each mailing and shipping rising, it only makes sense to take time to review your existing lists and remove the wrong and outdated addresses.  Doing so can immediately save money. More than 30 million Americans move and 11% of all ZIP Codes change every year.  Bad addresses result in shipping delays, costly returns, and high customer dissatisfaction.

What are you doing in your business about rising shipping costs?

Image “Dollar Symbol In Box” courtesy of David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net