If you’re shipping anything, you may wonder whether or not billable weight applies here. It can, and it can affect your shipping weights. Here, we’ll discuss what it is, and what you can do to reduce the costs of such.
What is It?
Billable weight is a type of technique in pricing that does reduce the costs of shipping that does factor in the weight and dimensions, and the weight of your shipment too. Usually, the weight that’s greater is what they take, and that’s the shipping rate they go for. Until about 2015, they used to have the weight of the package and how far it was to calculate shipping.
This however was scrapped when smaller packages took more cargo space on the carriers. The problem with this is that the shoppers wouldn’t optimize the package for tinier items and weren’t charged for the dimensions of the package too.
That means, that depending on what you choose to use, such as a small, light item in a big box, or a heavy item in a small box, they usually take the one that’s heavier. But this can eat at shipping costs right? How can you fix this?
Look at Packaging
One of the biggest mistakes that businesses make is that they use incorrect packaging. It may be a bit less of a headache for just using boxes, but the thing is, boxes carry a much larger dimensional weight than the billable weight, and it ca eat away at costs. It also may not be the best experience for customers too, since if it’s tiny in a big box, it comes off as super wasteful.
You also may end up spending a lot more on excess. One way to fix this, is to choose the right shipping containers for you to use and be mindful of this. It saves you money and looks a whole lot less wasteful too if you choose to go this route.
Switch to Poly Mailers
Boxers aren’t always in the right dimensions, don’t have flexibility, and usually have a lot more padding than a poly mailer may require. If you’re shipping stuff like clothes including t-shirts, then you may want to use a poly mailer instead.
They’re sturdy, take up a lot less space, and are light and will also self-seal. It does save you ample costs on the types of packaging supplies that you’d be using for this. They are great for shipping smaller options, and if you’re going to ship something small, this is good. But be mindful because stuff like glassware and other fragile stuff is not good to ship in a poly mailer, for obvious reasons.
Use SIOC Packaging
This is a ships in own container packaging, which means that the product is shipped in the same packaging, and it doesn’t need an over box. For example, shoes don’t need this in some cases, and it is great because not only does it get rid of the excess packaging so it makes you look less wasteful, but it also reduces your billable weight too.
Choose a 3PL
A 3PL usually saves you money, even if you’re getting someone to work with you, since they can choose the right packaging for you to use, and they can offer a cheaper and more efficient sort of means to do this. They also look at the metrics which are there, to help you determine the correct shipping costs of such too.
Regardless, be mindful of the weight here, since it plays a big part in the costs of shipping various goods too.