It is widely understood the most cost effective way to ship overseas from the USA is via the United States Postal Service’s First Class International (FCI) mail service. There is nothing comparable when it comes to cost and allows many commerce shippers the ability to open the borders for International commerce. The main drawback of FCI, besides its relatively slow delivery times, is the lack of true package tracking. It is true that FCI does not have [...]

Once again following UPS, FedEx has announced their 2012 rate changes. The changes will take place on January 2, 2012; the same day that the new UPS rates take place. Below is a list of some of the changes FedEx Rate Changes for 2011: Rates increased an average of 5.9%. The rate increase was partially offset by adjusting the fuel price at which the fuel surcharge begins, reducing the fuel surcharge by 2%. Minimum rates for FedEx Express services [...]

ShipStation: Powerful shipping, simplified. ShipStation is a new, web-based shipping solution from the developers of the Auctane Shipping Manager eBay Application. Since the program is web-based, there is no software to install on your computers and you can ship from any computer station (pun intended). It currently supports shipments sent via the United Stated Postal Service (USPS), UPS, and through Express One. They also provide you with a free DYMO Endicia account, which allows you to print [...]

We would like to offer a P.S.A. to make sure that you understand that the shipping carriers are providing declared value coverage, not real parcel insurance (or real shipping insurance). Please read our post The Difference Between Declared Value and Insurance for further clarification. Remember, Shipsurance offers complete coverage for your packages in transit and our coverage is real, regulated insurance for parcels and packages shipped domestically and worldwide. We apologize for interrupting your holiday shipping!

It is that time of the year again. The weather is getting colder, festivity is in the air, and the holiday shipping season is among us. If you are an internet retailer or retail shipper, this is the time of year to buckle-down and show your customers what you are made of. As always, we have some tips that you should keep in mind when dealing with your holiday shipping rush. You may recognize some [...]

Whether you insure your packages with Shipsurance, with the carriers, or do not insure at all, there are certain pitfalls to look out for when shipping. We have put together a small ‘cheat sheet’ called “Safer Shipping Guidelines”. Click here for a printable PDF version.

Shipwire is a fulfillment solution that removes the overhead involved with the shipping aspect of your business. Imagine just managing the sales and marketing of your products. With Shipwire, that is your only focus. They store your merchandise and ship it to your customers whenever there is an order. Their system ties into most shopping cart programs so the process is fully automated. Shipwire recently added the ability to manage the fulfillment process for items stored in [...]

Second in our Shipping Tools series: ReadyShipper. TrueShip is an industry leading shipping software developer.  Their flagship product, ReadyShipper, offers users one of the most robust and easy-to-use shipping systems available.  It gives you one platform to import, organize, process and print all your shipping labels.  Every download includes fully integrated USPS shipping featuring Stamps.com with your choice of UPS or FedEx.  ReadyShipper also offers incredible discounts on USPS priority, flat rate and express mail.  [...]

eBay sellers have always been the responsible party when shipping a package to their buyers. If something goes wrong in shipping they must make their buyer whole again. Shipping insurance is the best way to protect the seller from mishandling by the shipping carriers. eBay sellers have a great resource in the ShipSaver Insurance App. It was designed specifically for eBay sellers to insure their shipments sent via the USPS, UPS, and FedEx. The coverage [...]

We wanted to follow-up with our article “If You Are An International Shipper Know The Restrictions” with another reminder to make sure you understand the International shipping restrictions of the shipping carriers. Specifically; the United States Postal Service. We found the following video and it reminded us of something we see too often. When shipping Internationally, please make sure that the items that you are shipping are not prohibited. Make sure to bookmark this link: International Mail [...]