Even amateur sellers know success is bundled with great products and a great delivery system. Getting services or merchandise quickly and safely into the hands of customers is a major goal with any seller, and it can be done with the right logistics and a plan to get your products on their way without a hitch or glitch. As a new player in the game, getting your products out there can seem daunting. Whether just local to your country or international, knowing the right logistics for your shipping will make all the difference in how you interact with customers.
Make or Break Shipping and Tracking
How you approach shipping and tracking packages to their destination can be a make or break situation with any business. Many customers simply won’t buy a product if shipping and handling fees are beyond reasonable. Most buyers will actually increase their purchases if shipping is reasonable or free. You want to come up with the right strategies to increase business while not slowing it down with inadequate shipping and tracking procedures.
If you’ve got the basics down on the selling end with a good business internet plan and website checkout system, you now want to tie up any loose ends that involve procedures with shipping and tracking your customer sales. There are strategies that do work and many are straightforward and easy to use.
Shipping Labels
You can print your own shipping labels through USPS (Postal Service) where a tracking number is provided with the label and you don’t have to leave your home or work location to do it. You simply sign up for an account through USPS and link to a credit or bank card for postage payment.
Once you’ve submitted the customer address information into the label system, you connect to your printer and print out the label and affix it to your package. A tracking number and printout will then be assigned with the label.
Your days of making back and forth trips to the post office will be limited as you can either hand your labeled packages to your local postal carrier or call for pick up. Your packages are scanned and the tracking number is then entered into the postal system. Both you and any recipients can track shipment of packages from the time they leave your hands until they are in the hands of your customers.
Shipping/Tracking from a Seller’s Platform
If you handle your sales through an online platform like ebay.com or amazon.com, both offer built-in access to shipping and package tracking. You can create shipping labels for items you have sold and print USPS (Postal Service) labels and FedEx labels, which can include insurance and other options.
When you go through eBay, you only pay shipping costs and any other shipping services you select. They offer a shipping discount as opposed to going through the Postal Service. There is even an international shipping option that handles every aspect of the shipping process from packaging, to labeling, to tracking and delivering.
Other Means
There are other online means for shipping and tracking your products, such as e-commerce store builders like Shopify that help you start an online store, plus allow for printing of USPS labels, shipping, and live tracking for customers. If Facebook Messenger is incorporated in a Shopify setup, customers can be messaged about their purchases and delivery, and another service, Postmates can also be integrated in your Shopify account that provides same day delivery. There are even apps like Tractor and Trackr that can be integrated with many different carriers that indicate real time tracking for you and your customers.
Amateur sellers can make package shipping and tracking a breeze with these easy to incorporate steps. Sales will increase, customers will know when to expect their purchases, and your reputation as an amateur seller will steadily progress to that of a full-fledged professional.
