Rising international shipping costs squeeze small businesses

January 29, 2013

Reading time: 2 minutes

This morning, Ioan, SellerEngine’s founder and expert on international sales, was listening to NPR and heard an interesting story about how the new increased USPS shipping rates are affecting businesses who ship internationally.

While the cost of a 1st class stamp is only increasing a penny, to 46¢, international rates have been raised much more dramatically. The businesses mentioned in the article said that they were facing increases of up to 41%.

Additionally, as Amazon’s international sales grow, more and more sellers are beginning to see the benefits of selling in foreign markets.

But how can sellers remain profitable when faced with such steep increases in shipping costs?

Here at SellerEngine, we specialize in helping sellers grow their businesses through international expansion. As part of our Services for Amazon sellers, we can provide a variety of options that can help reduce your international shipping costs.

You can take advantage of our international presence and use relay shipping to send bulk international shipments that are then placed into the local mail upon arrival in the destination country. Using this method, we have been able to offer shipping from the United States to the UK for as little as $1.10USD per pound.

Small Box Shipments*:

100 – 154 lb =$1.48/lb
155 – 999 lb =$1.38/lb
1000 – 1999lb =$1.27/lb

*Note that each package in the shipment must weigh less than 70 pounds. Also note that all shipping costs can fluctuate over time.

Palletized Freight Shipments:

500 – 999lb =$1.19/lb
1000-9999lb =$1.10/lb

Managed Returns:

One of the largest costs associated with shipping internationally is handling returns. Even if you can send bulk shipments overseas, paying return postage on individual shipments can erode your margins very quickly.

We can receive your returns at one of our international locations, inspect merchandise and ship them back to you in bulk.

Let us Help You:

If you’re intersted in other ways that SellerEngine Services can help you grow your international business without breaking the bank on shipping costs, email us and tell us your story.

We offer free consultations to sellers of all sizes and are here to help you.