If you were to look back, even only a decade or so ago, you might have been inclined to ask a business if they were going to offer free, or even discounted shipping. The response to this likely would have been a laugh. But, if you move into the age of today, you are going to find that this is a very common practice and a way for companies to entice buyers to purchase their items. As this is the case, it has become something that buyers have come to expect all around the world, and if a company cannot offer this, buyers will go somewhere that can.

What a lot of customers fail to realize is that this can be difficult for online retailers to do. Consumers don’t think about the one who has to pay the shipping costs, and if they do, they might think they should simply add it to the price of the item. The issue that you will find here is that doing this can mean they fall out of line with other companies on the market, and lose customers this way. So, what can be done about this? Well, many shipping carriers do in fact, offer a range of small business shipping discounts, and by looking at these, you might be able to help the profit of the online retailers go back up to what they were originally.

However, it is also important to keep in mind that shipping discounts are usually based off of the volume of the order. So, if you are a small business and you are only ordering small quantities, it is likely that you are not going to be able to receive these kinds of discounts. But, if you are a large company who has to ship out lots of packages, you might find that you are able to access some shipping discounts that will be calculated based on the volume of shipping.

FirstMile is essentially the shipping manager for our customers. What this means is, we still use all the major mail carriers, but it's our branded truck that picks up all the packages from the client. It then delivers the packages to the mail carriers and tracks all those packages via our internal system. We decide on a case by case basis which mail carrier (FedEx, UPS, USPS, etc.) will be best for each job (for speed, price, bulk, discounts, etc.). We sort out all of the relationships with the carriers, so that you only have to contact one company if you need something, and that will be us. Here are all the best available shipping deals for small businesses on the market right now as well as information on how to access them.

UPS Small Business Shipping Discounts

UPS offers a range of services when it comes to helping small businesses save on their shipping costs. They offer discounts that are exclusive to small businesses, and it is worked out depending on how many packages you ship per week. The UPS discount rates are as follows:

• 0-4 packages per week - 10% off for ground deliveries
• 5-24 packages per week - 15% off for ground deliveries
• 25+ packages per week - 18% off for ground deliveries

The figures above are the savings that you could make and only apply to ground deliveries. If you are looking to ship internationally, or by air, UPS offer slightly larger discounts as shown below:

• 0-4 packages per week - 20%
• 5-24 packages per week - 25%
• 25+ packages per week - 28%

Also included with UPS is a service where they will pick up your packages no matter how often you need this. They are able to make themselves flexible to your small businesses needs. There are also flexible payment options that come with this so your painful paperwork days might be able to come to an end.

FedEx Save Now Program

Another service that you can look into is the program that is offered by FedEx. There are a multitude of different savings to be had here. This has been done to help small businesses to be able to afford all of their shipping needs. FedEx wants to help you grow your business, and if you sign up to this service, you are going to receive other benefits as well as discounted shipping. If you enroll for this program, you could be looking at 16% off on selected FedEx Express services which include:

• FedEx Priority Overnight
• FedEx Standard Overnight
• FedEx 2 Day
• FedEx Express Saver
• FedEx International Priority
• FedEx International Economy

You could also be in for savings of 8% on selected FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery services which includes all FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery in service zones 2,3,4,5,6, 7, and 8.

Furthermore, you could also enjoy discount shipping rates of up to 60% when you use FedEx Freight Services if you use FedEx Ship Manager in conjunction with this.

You shouldn’t think that because your shipping has been discounted, that your shipping needs are going to be any less important. The FedEx discount program is designed to aid small businesses in their shipping needs while still delivered an efficient service.

USPS Through eBay Labels

If you use eBay labels, this will provide you with a fast way to print out your discounted USPS shipping labels. This is easy to use, and convenient as all you have to do is print, ship, and they will take care of everything else. If the ease of this process wasn’t enough to convince you, how about the fact that you could receive up to 25% off the usual USPS retail rates. If you want an idea of what this can save you, you are going to be looking at something like this. Down below are the average eBay label savings over retail rates.

• First Class Package Service - 22%
• Priority Mail - 13%
• Priority Mail Express - 14%
• First Class Package International Service - 14%
• Priority Mail International - 16%
• Priority Mail Express International  - 24%

This data is based on eBay's top sellers, who complete over 300 transactions per month. However, the maximum that you could save with eBay labels is:

• First Class Package Service - 25%
• Priority Mail - 24%
• Priority Mail Express - 14%
• First Class Package International Service - 14%
• Priority Mail International - 19%
• Priority Mail Express International - 24%

As you can see, for some of these options, you could end up saving yourself/your business quite a fair bit of money by using the eBay labels. These percentages do lower for those people who are completing less than roughly 300 transactions per month. Let’s now take a look at what it looks like when you put it into money terms by comparing the 2018 average retail rate, with the 2018 average eBay label rate.

• First Class Package Service - $4.05 to $3.12
• Priority Mail - $10.53 to $9.06
• Priority Mail Express - $32.34 to $27.80
• First Class Package International Service - $17.25 to $14.76
• Priority Mail International - $56.13 to $46.91
• Priority Mail Express International - $69.80 to $53.05

The USPS eBay discount process is simple too. Once you have sold an item on eBay, you just need to click the ‘Sold email’ notification. This will allow you to preview and print the label. Once you have done this, you can then package and shop and product to your supplier at a discounted rate. You still get all the same benefits with a typical package shipped through eBay including a USPS tracking number and final delivery confirmation.

DHL Discounts

The more you ship with DHL, the more chance you have of earning rewards. This company offers you reliable services and has a range of promotions to help give you the best price for your shipping needs. They are currently offering up to 25% off when you ship internationally, and this will be based on a variety of factors such as your shipping profile. All you need for this discount is to have an account with DHL so that you can use your customer number.

If you don’t have an account, you don’t have to worry because DHL are still going to offer you discount shipping at 20% for international shipping when you use your credit card. This discount is special to those who don’t have an account with this company.

Also, if you are a small business, then DHL can offer you exclusive discounts, and speciality services so that you can get the most from your shipping. So, this is worth looking into if you are a small business who completes a fair amount of shipping.

UNA

UNA in Latin means “together. When you work with this organization, they aim to deliver better savings for your company. The system is designed to improve the revenue streams of companies operating in the US. One of the ways they do this is with shipping discounts. When you sign up for their service, you can gain access to discounts on ground, air and exports using their shipping program. You will need to determine whether using a service like this will be worth it in your company model. However, the savings are impressive.

First, it’s important to realize that there’s no minimum shipping requirement. This means that you can get discounts regardless of how much or how little you send with:

• 20% off standard list rates for overnight services
• 20% off standard list rates for select ground services
• 20% off on certain express international services
• 20% off standard rates on air and priority services

Be aware that when you use their service, they will choose the shipping partner for you. While this might be one less issue you need to worry about, it does also limit your level of control on how your shipping is handled.

Free Shipping Coupon Code

Something that you can do if you want to access shipping discounts is use a coupon code. There are many of these available at many different companies. Some may offer you discounted shipping, where others might offer you completely free shipping. It all depends on the type of code that you have. This is just one of the ways that you could go about getting a shipping discount, and this is going to apply whether you are a small business, large business, or if you are having a personal item shipped.

First Time Shipping Discounts

When you sign up for a service, make sure you do check for any special discounts on your first initial shipping cost. The savings and discounts available here can vary. However, it is well worth exploring as some companies offer discounts of 10% up to $200. As such this can be a great way to save when your company is still finding its feet.

As you can see, there are some tremendous discounts available from all major shipping companies and providers, from a range of different resources. When selecting a shipping company, it is important to consider these discounts but also explore reviews and reputations of the providers. The price of shipping is always going to be just one part of the equation when choosing the right service for your needs and that’s why at First Mile we consider all the factors before choosing a provider for our clients.

If you still have questions about the small business shipping discounts that are available to you after reading this article, you can get in contact with First Mile today, and we will be more than happy to aid you in any way that we can. Your ecommerce company has never been in better hands than when you trust us with your shipping requirements. We are one hundred percent focused on delivering the best possible solution to customers after exploring all the options available on the market., So, if you’re curious about learning the cheapest way to ship a package for small businesses, feel free to let us know and we will be happy to assist you further.