Let’s talk about freight shipping, and more specifically, when does it make sense to ship freight items?
There is a threshold where it makes sense to offer freight shipping and there are times where you shouldn’t.
Freight Shipping Has Changed Our Business
In the last three months, we’ve been able to do $50,000 in revenue in 90 days, all because of freight shipping. It’s totally changed our reselling business.
We fell into freight shipping when I quit my job to do flipping full-time. My job wasn’t offering health insurance anymore which was the main reason I was sticking around. With three kids, we decided to go all in on freight shipping. We had to figure out how to make more money and that’s how we fell into freight shipping. I found a table set with chairs and had it listed for $750 locally on Facebook Marketplace, but it wasn’t selling. I threw it up on eBay for $2,250 and it sold within a month. I charged $500 shipping on top of the $2,250 and that was the first time I had to ship something via freight.
You can find some of these bigger items that people can’t move in the local market and take them to an audience where people will pay the money for shipping. That was eight years ago, and we’re still having success with freight items. I probably shipped out 10-15 pallets of freight in the last 90 days just with the items we sold.
Freight Has Less Risk Of Damage
I love doing freight shipping because it’s a nicer way to fulfill the item that you’re selling. They usually don’t get damaged in shipping either. When you’re shipping FedEx, UPS, or USPS in a box, all those boxes are getting handled by who knows how many different employees. Sometimes people aren’t in the best mood at work, and can throw a box or accidentally drop one. You don’t have control over what happens to that box.
With freight shipping, the item is going on a pallet and being handled by certified forklift drivers. They are typically picking them up and putting them into an 18-wheeler. There’s not a lot of room for error.
There are sometimes freight damages but we’ve had success because people aren’t picking the item up, throwing it, or dropping it. If someone drops a pallet, people will know.
Shipping via freight opens up a whole new market of people to your product too.
When Does It Make Sense For Freight?
There is a time and place that freight doesn’t make sense. Freight is generally reserved for larger items, but you need to think about is it worth it to my customer to pay for shipping? And if they pay for shipping is there still enough profit for you? The $200-$500 mark is something to consider whether it is worth it or not. Once you’re over $500 you’re safer, but under that it has to make sense.
If I sell a stroller that is too big to go in a box for $200, my lowest cost on freight is going to be $150-$200 so is it worth it for that buyer to pay $400 when they can get it for close to that new and shipped for free? It depends. If the item is a vintage item maybe.
We try to sell our items for 50% of retail. We just sold a stroller for $500 and it went from Florida to California and we paid $94 on shipping. This was a vintage stroller and it was in great condition. I knew it was worth the money on shipping for this item. Going freight would’ve been $120-$150, but I knew how to package it for shipping to make sure it wasn’t damaged. I could’ve put it on a pallet for a similar price. The value has to be there though for it to be worth it to ship freight.
You have to look at both sides. Is it worth it for the buyer? Is it worth it for you?
What Is The Formula That Determines How To Ship?
If you’re shipping an item and it’s under 130 inches length plus girth, then it’s typically cheaper to ship via FedEx or UPS. They will allow you to go from 130 inches to 165 inches length plus girth, but we try to stay under 130 for the best value.
There is a formula you can use to calculate that. You have three measurements on your box. You have a length, width, and height of the box. You take the two shorter numbers of those lengths and you double them. For example, a box that is 15 inches by 15 inches by 45 inches. Let’s take those numbers right there and figure out if it stays underneath that threshold of 130 inches. So the two shorter numbers are 15 and 15. We’re going to double those. That’s 30 inches plus 30 inches. You have 60 inches right there. Then add the last number, which is 45 inches. That’s 105 inches total and that is under the 130-inch threshold. It will be cheaper to ship that item through FedEx or UPS than going on a pallet. Use the formula to determine if it’s cheaper for you to go freight.
If you can stay under 130 inches, it makes sense to go FedEx or UPS and if not, it might be worth it to go freight.
Show Notes
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