The definitive guide to shipping and fulfilment for UK eBay businesses

Summary

1. An introduction to eBay businesses

a). What is an eBay business?

b). Why is shipping important for eBay businesses?

c). What does the buyer expect?

d). How to maintain 100% positive feedback.

2. Business posting and packaging

a). The importance of correct packaging.

b). Different packaging types.

3. Shipping options

a). Range of shipping options.

b). How to reduce shipping rates.

c). How to calculate packing rates.

4. Other essentials for business packaging

a). Insurance and tracking.

b). Customs declarations.

c). Labelling.

5. Fulfilment warehouses

a). What is a fulfilment warehouse?

b). What are the customer benefits of using a fulfilment warehouse?

c). How to decide on the right fulfilment warehouse.

 

1. An introduction to eBay businesses

a). What is an eBay business?

Thanks to technological advances and quicker broadband connections, more people are taking the opportunity to work from home. This can be in a number of capacities, such as working remotely for a specific company or even running your own business.

The second example is becoming much more popular, especially because of the chance to avoid paying for expensive office space. Of course, with a home-based business your whole costs in general will be significantly cheaper, especially when you factor travel expenses in too.

Running a business from home also provides you with the flexibility to choose your own hours. You won’t need to get out of bed early in the morning and will be home at five, avoiding all the rush hour traffic.

It’s worth noting your restrictions of working from home, especially if you rent your property. Check the tenancy agreement and ensure there are no stipulations regarding property use for business purposes.

However, for those setting up a business from home, eBay is a superb tool to boost sales and get your products seen around the world. Essentially, eBay businesses work by selling products on the bidding website. These products can target a specific demographic or target group, or could well cover all bases. This part is entirely up to you.

With an eBay business, the seller tends to have hundreds and possibly even thousands of products for sale all at one time. This means there’ll be lots of products and packaging floating around your home. For this reason, many eBay business owners look to fulfilment warehouses to help them meet the demands of post and packing. We’ll discuss this later on though.

There are advantages and disadvantages to starting and effectively running your own eBay business and you can find some of these below:

Advantages of starting an eBay business:

• No need to pay for an expensive office space to run your business
• Avoid costly travel expenses, whether petrol money or public transport
• Enjoy a flexible working lifestyle, suited to your requirements.

Disadvantages of starting an eBay business:

• Some people find it difficult to separate home and work lifestyles
• You miss the daily interaction an office atmosphere provides
• Your home can become cluttered (Which is why a fulfilment warehouse is ideal).

 

b). Why is shipping important for eBay businesses? 

When it comes to setting up an eBay business, it’s often the shipping that’ll help decide the success of your venture. Getting this key aspect of your business wrong can have detrimental effects for your online future.

Of course, what’s also important is to ensure you know how much shipping and packing are going to cost you. The last thing you need is a business that thrives, yet loses money from the shipping. For the average eBay seller, it’s often a case of guessing the expected price of post and packing, with the odd pound lost not being too troublesome.

However, for any eBay business it’s important to have a system in place to ensure the correct pricing in this department. Some eBay sellers have decided to whack on a hefty sum for post and packing, but this can have a negative effect on your business too.

Whilst you may have exploited a way to earn more money without paying extra commission, charging expensive shipping prices will see your customer numbers dwindle. This can be different if the buyer wants the product quickly, and may cough up the extra shipping price. However, it’s a practice ill advised.

What’s also important to realise is eBay will penalise sellers who charge over-the-odds shipping prices. In fact, sellers offering free shipping are moved higher up the rankings as a Best Match result. Then, to capitalise on this position you can offer quicker delivery at a premium price, within your ad.

When calculating your shipping costs, don’t just factor in the postage. You’ll also need to consider sufficient packing, padding, labels and any courier fees. By providing the best service to your customers, you’ll receive positive feedback.

 

c). What does the eBay buyer expect?

If you’re running an eBay business and want to ensure receiving the best feedback possible, it’s important to think like a customer. This way, you can make sure all bases are covered and you’re providing an excellent service. After all, customers are investing in your products and won’t want to be disappointed.

A great way to deal with this conundrum is by thinking as a buyer. Can you think of any times in the past when you’ve been happy with a purchase made online? Perhaps you can even remember times when you were dissatisfied.

Ideally, your customers will expect the following:

• The product to be safely and securely packaged
• Realistic and cost effective post and packing prices
• Delivery to be quick, with a number of options available
• Clear and truthful delivery times.

Of course, depending on your product or service, there may well be a number of other factors to consider. Try to think of different ways you can get ahead of your competitors and ensure customers are looking your way.

There are many reasons to not only meet, but also exceed the buyer’s expectations.

• Avoid complaints and damages

By offering your customers the best possible shipping service, you’ll have fewer damages and complaints from disgruntled shoppers. This ensures you spend less time dealing with queries and more time efficiently running and growing your eBay business.

Many eBay buyers love postage tracking, whereby they can simply key in an identification number online to find out where their parcel is. By offering this, you give your company a competitive edge and build trust in your service.

• Earn positive feedback

Positive feedback is one of your most important eBay tools as it affirms trust in your brand and encourages new buyers to give your products a go. By ensuring your feedback is as close as possible to 100%, you’ll retain customers and attract new ones, successfully generating more profit.

Of course, there will be the odd occasion when a customer will provide negative feedback, as after all, not everyone can be pleased. What’s important is to ensure these negative comments are an anomaly and address them where possible.

• Enjoy an increased sell through rate

By increasing your sell through rate you’ll start to pay a lower percentage of eBay fees. Improve your selling rates by offering fair and cost effective post and packing prices. Expensive P&P will see buyers running for the hills.

Try to keep reviewing your P&P prices to ensure you’re remaining competitive and giving your business the best possible chance to thrive.

 

d). How to maintain 100% positive feedback

If you run an eBay business, ensuring customer satisfaction and maintaining a high customer feedback percentage rate is crucial to attracting new customers. When purchasing from eBay one of the first checks buyers will make, is on your feedback history. Unfortunately, buyers are more interested in locating negative feedback to dissuade them from choosing you.

There isn’t a simple way to getting 100% positive feedback. It’s all about customer satisfaction and ensuring you provide the best possible service. There are some active measures you can take to give yourself a fighting chance of keeping your perfect score though, so take a look at our tips below:

• Post only to the UK

For new eBay businesses this isn’t a problem, but even if your company has been going some time now, think carefully before spreading your wings and shipping abroad. Offering postage abroad does have its benefits, however the chances are you won’t be clued up on global postage or insurance regulations. On top of this, you leave yourself open to interpretation problems because of the language barrier and can even encounter fraudsters attempting to pay from stolen credit cards.

• Insure all your deliveries

It can be expensive depending on your products, but the only way to ensure your deliveries are safe is by paying for insurance. Without this insurance, if a delivery becomes lost in the system, even with your proof of post, the buyer could give negative feedback. Don’t leave things to chance.

• Send out the delivery asap

Nowadays, most eBay transactions are completed with PayPal, so the moment you receive notification the payment has been completed, you should look to send out the delivery. Your buyer will be anxious to receive the goods, so don’t leave them waiting around for weeks. Of course, make sure you have received payment in whatever way before shipping your delivery.

• Answer all emails and queries

This is probably one of the basics in running a business of any capacity, but ensure you answer all questions and queries as quickly as possible. eBay alerts you by email whenever a potential buyer posts a query to you, so check your emails regularly and be proactive in helping and assisting buyers. Remember, if you don’t answer, customers can easily look elsewhere.

 

2). Business posting and packing

Technology has improved significantly over the last decade or so and for your eBay business, this unfortunately means the buyer’s expectations have heightened. Before, post and packing was just a necessary part of receiving your product, yet now it’s a crucial part of the whole shopping experience.

For your business, it means going beyond your remit and offering a shipping service that impresses. If your product is available elsewhere and is similarly priced, the post and packing is what will swing the buyer’s decision. This could be on the price point, or even how long the delivery will take.

When a customer purchases one of your products, they’re essentially partaking in the whole experience you’ll provide. They’re looking for many qualities and traits that’ll encourage them to use your service again in the future.

For post and packaging, this is a great way to set your eBay business apart from the crowd. It’s important to get every detail right and impress your customer, as only this way can you be confident of receiving positive feedback.

For eBay businesses, the most successful are those utilising packaging to enhance their brand’s reputation. Think about how you currently package your products and the overall shipping service you provide. Is there room for improvement? If so, it’s vital to make changes to your business’s procedures.

a). The importance of correct packaging

One of the problems facing eBay businesses when it comes to shipping, is using incorrect packaging. Getting this part of the process right is vital to creating a successful online company. Every time you send off a delivery it will need to be boxed and packaged appropriately, whereby you’re giving it the best chance to arrive safely and without damages.

Attention to detail is very important. Again, as before, think of yourself as the buyer and how you’d react to certain postage. With a wide range of postage materials on offer, there are no excuses for getting this stage of the process wrong.

Fortunately, postal packaging is available in a wealth of shapes and sizes, so getting the perfect package shouldn’t be a problem in the slightest. Your best bet is to buy in bulk, especially if you sell just one product or a series of products of a similar size. Bulk buying can significantly reduce not only your costs, but also the customer’s delivery charges.

Depending on the product being shipped off, you’ll need to factor in different packaging. For instance, with fragile items there’ll be a greater need to take more precautions. Ensuring the item is secure and protected with bubble wrap is just one way to protect against damages.

Other products will need to be packaged accordingly depending on factors such as their weight or ability to bend. With heavy products you’ll need to invest in packaging that has suitable strength and thickness.

With non-fragile items, normal packing is absolutely fine. Just be sure to pack it nicely and tape securely. You will also find specialist boxes to ship smaller items such as DVDs and CDs. These boxes will be much cheaper and will save money on shipping fees.

b). Different types of packaging

• Shipping fragile items

There are many fragile items you could ship out, depending on your eBay business. This includes larger items such as TVs and laptops, to glassware and perfume bottles. As you can expect, when sending fragile products you need to take even more care. Choose a relevant sized box where there won’t be too much room for the product to move around during transport. Also consider the thickness to ensure there’s enough protective space if the box is knocked or dropped.

Fragile items should fit snuggly into the packaging and for these products it’s often recommended to select a double wall box.

·      Shipping Posters or Prints

Posters and prints are extremely popular and if you’re eBay business sells a lot, you’ll know the importance of correctly packing these. Posters can be easily damaged in transit and as such, postal tubes are definitely the best option for dispatching them.

With a postal tube, the poster or print can be rolled safely and inserted inside the tube. They have a sturdy and solid exterior to keep the contents safe throughout delivery, ensuring the poster isn’t torn, bent or damaged in the slightest.

Selecting the right box measurements

Boxes are available in a plethora of shapes and sizes, based on the height, width and length. Taking accurate measurements of your products is the key to choosing the right sized box. By taking the time to do this, you won’t need to fill a larger box with expensive packaging for a small product, or squeeze a larger product into a tiny box.

With an appropriately sized box you can be sure of comfortably fitting your items inside, with enough room for an adequate level of protective padding. If possible, try to send products in their original packaging, but placed inside a slightly larger delivery box.

Adding packing and protective materials

Hopefully you’ll have decided on the right box for your product/s and now the emphasis can be placed on getting the protective materials (or padding) right. This is more important when you consider breakable items and foam inserts can help safeguard glass, electronics or any computer equipment.

These inserts not only aid in providing added protection, but also prevent the product from moving around during transit. Other suitable options include packing pads, bubble wrap, packing chips and packing peanuts. Take a look at each option to decide what’s best both in terms of cost effectiveness and viability.

Packing heavy items

As well as what has been recommended above, there are further options to ensuring the safety of heavy packing. Corrugated corner protectors are particularly popular and work by giving the box increased stability and strength.

For items such as a number of wine glasses, also consider dividers, which help to separate the products once packed inside. You can even buy boxes with dividers already included.

Choosing your boxes based on the product

For shipping of any nature, great consideration needs to be made to the items that are being transported. This should be how you decide which packing is best suited. Don’t fall into the trap of just finding a spare box and trying to make the best out of what’s around the home.

By focusing on your packaging you can provide a better service to customers and ensure products arrive undamaged and to the buyer’s specifications. Take a look at the following table to give you an idea of suitable packing material and boxes.

Glasses, Mugs, Breakable Collectibles	Fine Art, Prints, Posters	Media Items	Electronics	Clothing, Blankets, Linens, Pillows
Slot dividers	Postal tubes of appropriate size	Media boxes	Original boxes inside sturdy posting boxes	Hanging garment posting boxes with rails
Smaller, thicker boxes	Flat, thick cardboard mailers	Media posting envelopes	Foam inserts or blankets	Large, wide boxes
Foam inserts	Bubble wrapped mailers	Small, thick boxes	Bubble wrap, corrugated cardboard, packing peanuts or chips	Packing peanuts, bubble wrap, plastic bags around delicate linens

As you can see, we’ve incorporated all the elements of packing your items, including the appropriate box and protective padding. As an extra tip for fragile items, label the box as fragile, to ensure more care is taken over its delivery.

3. Shipping options

a). Range of shipping options

As an eBay business, one of the most important parts of your company will be the shipping. This can all take quite some time and depending on the size and scale of your organisation, you may dedicate certain days to dealing with all shipping requirements.

When it comes to selecting the type of postage, there are many options to think about. There isn’t really a right or wrong answer to which is best and much will be determined by your business and what’s viable.

For sending parcels, your main options are the following:

• Stamps
  • SmartStamp
  • PacketPost PPI – With or without Royal Mail collections
  • Couriers – One off or account basis
  • Franking Machines
  • Collection in person

The chances are, the method you use for shipping products will change as your business grows. What seems cost effective and viable at the start, may well change as shipping volume increases. For instance, having to queue up at the post office to send 50 parcels can be a major inconvenience.

Let’s take a look at your shipping options in a little more detail:

Stamps

Buying a first or second class stamp and sending off a parcel is all well and good, but for it to go in the post box it needs to meet a certain size and weight. As such, only smaller items can be sent this way, otherwise you’ll need to pop into the post office and have the parcel weighed.

The price you pay will ultimately come down to the weight and the labelling will be printed off and attached to the box. You can the hand the package over to the cashier and off it goes on its journey to the buyer. For a safe transit, you can even choose recorded delivery whereby the item can be tracked.

SmartStamp

For online businesses the SmartStamp option is certainly a good option, allowing you to print off the correct labelling from the comfort of your home. You’ll still need to take the parcels into a Royal Mail office though, unless you’ve arranged a courier.

PacketPost

PacketPost is a viable option for businesses expecting to send thousands of items out over the course of 12 months. Regulations state that you must send in excess of 5,000 packets from one address, but it’s certainly worth giving the Royal Mail a call to discuss your options.

For large home based businesses utilising the PacketPost scheme, there’s an average postal saving of around 20%.

Among others, the major benefits of PacketPost include:

• Making a significant saving on postage prices
• Save time and more money by having home collections
• It’s easy to sign-up to and everything can be completed online
• PacketPost accounts can be set-up on a PAYG basis or over the course of 30 days
• Price increments are smaller than other postage options

Couriers

The Royal Mail is not your only option when it comes to sending parcels. There are many courier services around, all offering competitive prices and excellent benefits. Ideally you’ll want to shop around to find the best price possible.

You can use a courier on a contractual basis or as a one-off, but if you send a number of parcels you should certainly consider a contract to save money. Courier rates can be negotiable, especially if you use a smaller firm. The service is simple to use and simply contact the courier by phone or email when you have a parcel that needs collecting.

With couriers, it’s important to read the small print and know exactly what you’re paying for. Some things to be on the lookout for include:

• Insurance exemptions for fragile items such as jewellery, glass and china products
• Any surcharges for fuel
• Minimum parcel collections
• Extra costs for evening or weekend collections.

If you do your research you’ll probably find positive and negative aspects to every courier available. Essentially, it’s important to find a courier that works best for your eBay business.

Franking Machines

Franking machines are a possibility for your deliveries, but due to their high expense aren’t often recommended, especially with eBay businesses. The only time you could deem this option worthwhile is if you send out many similar sized packages (usually letters).

Franking machines help you to print pre-paid labelling onto letters or labels, with an account previously set-up. There is no minimum spend.

Collection in person

On eBay, you will find listings limited to collection in person. Typically, these are associated with private eBay sellers, rather than businesses. Collection in person is offered when the item is too large to send by post and costs would be substantial. For instance, an eBay seller may list a bike, table tennis table or even a car as collection only.

b). Shipping rates

Post and packing prices are extremely important on eBay and as already discussed, can seriously determine how successful your business becomes. Buyers can easily be put off if your posting costs are too expensive and get the feeling you’re trying to make some money from these fees.

After all, every buyer wants a fair deal. If you’re not going to give them one, the Internet provides an easy opportunity for them to shop elsewhere with little inconvenience. Adversely, if you charge expensive P&P prices and then skimp on the materials, don’t be surprised when your feedback is red flagged by a disgruntled customer.

Now, this doesn’t mean you should be afraid to offer premium packing options at more expensive rates. If the product warrants the precaution, then by all means do it.

There are some great ways to further your shipping and you can find these below.

Showcase your shipping charges

Always include your shipping fees in a visible place on every eBay listing. This way, it shows you’re being up front and honest to every customer. If your business ships around the world, try to include these prices as well, not just UK shipping fees.

Remember, many eBay purchases are made on impulse, so if you ask customers to email you for shipping prices you could lose them along the way. If it takes you time to respond to the query, the chances are they’ll have already shopped elsewhere. You can quickly and easily calculate potential postage costs on the Royal Mail website.

Offer free or low cost shipping

Online shopping is all about convenience. If you make an attractive offer to the customer then you’ve got a better chance of converting their interest into a sale. If you offer free shipping, you’re putting your brand in front of competitors straight away. According to eBay, 87% of customers will abandon a potential purchase due to the shipping costs being too expensive.

As well as this, 76% of customers say that free shipping was enough to entice them not to look elsewhere. Of course, many of you will wonder how you can offer free shipping and still have a profitable business.

• Increase the price of your online products to accommodate for free shipping
• Simply factor free shipping costs into your profit margins
• Put a portion of the packing price onto the product and absorb the rest
• Apply a condition of minimum spend to warrant free shipping.

Offer alternative shipping methods

One eBay tactic for businesses is to offer a range of shipping options, but ensure delivery time is tailored to the option you’re most comfortable with. So, in layman’s terms, you won’t want all customers selecting free shipping. Offer this, but state it can take a time of 5-7 days to arrive. Then, have an extra option of courier delivery, which can be expected to arrive in 24-48 hours.

Some customers won’t mind waiting a few extra days, but many will want the product as soon as possible and will welcome the chance of quicker delivery time.

Offer flat rate shipping

If you’re not comfortable offering free delivery, don’t just limit your buyers to one method. For example, whilst many customers will welcome courier deliveries, they may not be willing to pay the extra fees.

Ensure flat rate shipping is offered, as according to research, it’s still the most popular shipping option online. Flat rate shipping tends to take around 10-days for delivery.

Your shipping overview

As you can see, there are plenty of different shipping options for you to consider and offering a range of these is the best practice to attract even more customers. Free shipping is highly recommended, but if you can’t accommodate this, make sure you give your customers a choice; they’ll appreciate it. If you can, try to encourage buyers towards the shipping option you’re most comfortable with by means of altering the estimated arrival time.

c). How to calculate packing rates

As mentioned above, there are many shipping options to consider and unless you’re going down the free shipping route, they’ll all command a different postage price.

There are a number of facts to consider that’ll affect the price of each parcel delivered. Some of these include:

• Parcel size
• Parcel weight
• Departing country
• Destination country
• If tracking is enabled
• Insurance fees.

Many shipping services will limit where they’re willing to deliver parcels. Many will simply stay in the UK, so if you want to ship overseas, it’s worth researching your options first. The Royal Mail will ship your item to any destination in the world and there are many other couriers that’ll offer a similar service.

Don’t expect the same rates to apply for every courier. In fact, it’s extremely rare to find services offering the same prices for any size package. All prices are pre-determined on factors such as distance, fuel costs, size and weight and only by contacting couriers individually will you be able to get an accurate reflection.

As discussed above, some eBay businesses will look to pad their profits by increasing shipping costs. However, by doing this there’s the serious risk of losing customers and future business. Try to keep shipping costs realistic and look to be doing your customers a favour. Doing so will strengthen your brand’s image and ensure you’re a more desirable option.

4. Other essentials for business packaging

a). Insurance and tracking

With any eBay business there are plenty of factors you need to take into consideration. As we’ve discussed above, selecting the right packing materials and suitable shipping fees are vital to the success of your business and how customers respond with feedback.

However, there are also some extra offerings you can provide customers to further improve their experience purchasing through your business. One of these is insurance.

Unfortunately, as part and parcel of the delivery system, delicate items will get broken. This is why choosing packaging that’ll best protect your products is so important. However, even with the best padding and protection, damages will still be something you need to deal with from time to time.

Staggeringly, according to research as many as 20% of all online purchases are returned because of damage complaints. This means that shipping insurance becomes your new best friend.

Shipping insurance is usually taken up for more expensive products. It’s probably not cost effective to purchase insurance for low cost items, as it’ll eat away into your profits. Likewise, only take insurance out on items that are genuinely likely to be damaged, rather than just in a freak accident.

If you choose not to insure your products, there’s a high chance the buyer will want to receive a full refund and you’ll end up facing the bill. If damaged items become a regular occurrence, you’ll soon notice the negative effects it’ll have on your business.

Tracking numbers

As well as adding insurance to your delivery options, another popular extra is tracking. Tracking enables customers to find out at which stage of the process their order is. Customers can input the tracking number online and the courier will acknowledge if the order has been processed, is in the warehouse or is even enroute.

Most couriers offer tracking, but this tends to add a little to the shipping cost. The printed label that’s attached to your parcel is scanned at the various delivery stages.

b). Customs declarations

With an eBay business, by offering shipping around the world you’ll be broadening your horizons. Yet by doing so, you’re opening yourself up to extra complications that wouldn’t be an issue by keeping deliveries to the UK.

When sending any package overseas you’ll need to complete customs declarations, which can be found online or in your local post office. Every country has different regulations concerning what can and can’t be delivered, so you need to check all these necessary details first.

Customs declaration forms tend to provide information such as what’s inside the parcel, the value and if it’s a gift or purchase. Before sending off any international delivery, make sure to double check with the courier that all the relevant paperwork has been completed and your package will arrive safely. If your parcel doesn’t meet strict regulations, it can be held in customs or shipped back to your address. Inform any international buyers of this process and make them aware you have no control over how long a package can remain in customs hold.

c). Labelling

With labelling, you have two choices. You could opt for a generic labelling that’s printed off by the post office or courier and attached to your parcel. Adversely, you could opt for a personal touch and create your own labelling to set your brand apart from the crowd. This means your parcels are easily identifiable.

There are a number of companies that’ll create personalised labelling and you can select them in a range of sizes depending on the size of your package. You can even print them at home yourself, saving you more time and money for the whole shipping process.

Another option is utilising a fulfilment warehouse, whereby the product is packed, padded and personalised labelling attached. Fulfilment warehouses take care of your entire shipping demands, giving you more time to focus on developing your business.

5. Fulfilment warehouses

a). What is a fulfilment warehouse?

Fulfilment warehouses are becoming increasingly popular, especially when it comes to eBay businesses. These specialist companies take care of all your packing and shipping responsibilities, ensuring your time can be better spent elsewhere.

There are many reasons to consider a fulfilment warehouse for your eBay orders and if you’re running an eBay business you should give this much consideration.

For new eBay businesses, packing boxes initially can be somewhat of a novelty. It’s exciting to sell your products online and then need to ship them out. However, over time this can quickly turn into a chore.

As your business goes from strength to strength you’ll receive more orders and have to spend even more time packing these boxes. If you’ve found yourself in this situation you have two potential options; hiring in-house or seeking the assistance of a fulfilment warehouse.

Which of these options you decide on will come down to your personal circumstances and what’s more cost effective for your business. Essentially, a fulfilment warehouse gives you the opportunity to find a simple solution that manages your full packing requirements.

Whilst hiring in-house is a possibility, it will undoubtedly mean more work for you, especially when you take into account factors such as training, insurance, renting a warehouse and even dealing with holidays and sick pay.

With a fulfilment warehouse, everything is much easier. The fulfilment warehouse will sort all your products and send them out to customers as required.

When you factor out the time it takes you to fulfil orders, including boxing and shipping products, you’re left with a lot more time to spend growing your business. This gives you the time to focus on ways to increase sales and profits.

b). What are the customer benefits of using a fulfilment warehouse?

By taking advantage of a fulfilment warehouse you’ll also be able to provide a better service to your customers. This includes:

• Reducing shipping costs

Many fulfilment warehouses have special deals in place with major couriers, ensuring they can provide customers with discounted rates. This means you’ll be charged less for each item shipped out and subsequently, your customers will receive cheaper rates too. This is a win-win situation.

• Quicker shipping time

Fulfilment warehouses are strategically placed in the market whereby they can get your deliveries sent out quicker than doing it yourself. Again, this is a major benefit that customers will love as it means they’ll receive the product sooner than usual.

There are a couple of cons you’ll need to consider too, but when you factor in the benefits outlined, you’ll still find fulfilment warehouses are great value for money.

• Reduced brand identity

Much of this will come down to the products you sell, but some companies want their packaging to wow and really showcase the brand’s identity. This is difficult to implement in a fulfilment warehouse, whereby boxes and labelling are typically identical.

• Increased operational costs

Packing boxes can be tiresome, but the benefit is you won’t have to pay a penny. This isn’t the same if you take the services of a fulfilment warehouse. You’ll need to pay a monthly fee and this will affect your bottom line.

c). How to decide on the right fulfilment warehouse.  

There are a number of fulfilment warehouses to choose from, all offering something different to try and beat competition. When it comes to trying to find the best fulfilment warehouse, it’ll typically come down to your own needs and requirements.

With many factors to consider, it’s better to simply choose a fulfilment warehouse that meets your demands. What you should think about when selecting a fulfilment warehouse includes:

• The overall price

This is probably going to be your main sticking point as after all, the more you spend the less profit your business will make. Even if you’re saving loads of time with a fulfilment warehouse, if your margins aren’t high then you’ll wonder if there’s much point continuing.

Fulfilment warehouses tend to break costs down into three sections – storage, handling and then shipping fees.

• Speed of delivery

For eBay businesses, speed of delivery is very important. This is one of the factors customers will judge your service on; so the quicker you can get deliveries to them, the better.

• Overall reliability

As you can expect, reliability is also an important factor because you have a business to run. What you don’t need is mistakes, orders not being shipped on time or a service that simply lets both you and your customers down. That’s why conducting a little research into the market won’t do you any harm at all.

• Level of flexibility

Flexibility is very important for any business and this is what you need from your fulfilment warehouse too. After all, you won’t expect the same level of sales month after month and can expect highs and lows. At times you’ll want your fulfilment warehouse to be able to handle increased volume. Your product range may change from time to time too, so double check that the warehouse can package and ship various sized parcels.

• Take accountability

Much of this comes down to reliability, but remember everyone will make a mistake from time to time. As such, it’s almost impossible to avoid one. What is important though is ensuring the warehouse will take accountability and not try to palm off the blame elsewhere.

There are a range of mistakes that could happen, such as incorrect labelling, wrong items dispatched and even damage to products. Be sure your fulfilment warehouse will take care of mistakes through the correct channels and offer refunds where applicable. 

• Extra features

As well as the above, there are some extra features you may want to bear in mind. Not every fulfilment warehouse will offer the following and these could be a measure to separate the best from the rest.

Are returns easy? If the customer wants to return the product, can the fulfilment warehouse accommodate this? The product will need to be added to your inventory so find out if this is possible.

Will they inspect products? As your trust in the fulfilment warehouse grows, you may find it easier to ship products straight from your own supplier to the warehouse. Someone will need to inspect these still because they’re sent to customers, so will the fulfilment warehouse carry this out?

Will you be notified when stock is low? Some fulfilment warehouses offer stock alerts and warnings when certain lines are low, giving you ample chance to order in more if required.

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[/one_half_last]

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