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What Is “Economy Shipping”?
“Economy shipping” is low man on the totem pole. It is, wherever the term is used, the absolutely lowest-cost option, and by extension, the slowest. If the carrier offers an economy shipping option, there won’t be a slower, less-expensive option than that.
With economy, you’re essentially telling the carrier, “I don’t care how long it takes to arrive; just give me the cheapest possible option.” Economy aslo means exclusively ground shipping, except for when the journey from origin to destination covers sections that wheels can’t be used (such as going overseas).
As far as shipping timelines, economy shipping methods tend to be the least precise, though five business days is a common estimate (and a mostly reliable one). But it can be… longer than that.
Shipping within zones one to four won’t actually be much slower than more expensive options. Shipping to anything beyond zone five, though, will likely see much longer times. And heaven help you if you’re shipping coast to coast or (*shudder*) outside the Lower 48.
Additionally, if you’re choosing an economy shipping option on a retailer’s site as part of a purchase, it’s important to be aware that you’re not just telling the retailer to ship it via the slowest method, but that you don’t care how long it takes to arrive.
This lack of urgency has an effect on how they prioritize the fulfillment of the order and, in some cases, they will fulfill a more urgent order first if there’s a conflict (such as insufficient inventory).
So just be aware, if you choose economy, you’re essentially electing to go last.
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What Is “Flat-Rate Shipping”?
There’s at least one shipping “method” that falls neither into a discussion of timeline, nor transportation method. Some carriers will offer what’s called “flat-rate shipping.” This simply means that the price of shipment is predetermined—usually based the container used for shipping—rather than the weight of what’s in it or where it’s going.
Most of the time, the price to ship something depends on a) how far it has to travel, b) how it’s traveling, and c) how much it weighs. After that, there are additional costs depending on how quickly you want it to get there, among other things.
This is what’s happening when you’re ordering something online, and the shipping price changes as you change the destination, the delivery speed, etc.
Well, some businesses have started to realize how annoying it is for customers to not know how much shipping will cost until the end of the process. Want this solid gold replica of Darth Vader’s mask? Well, surpises: it will cost twice its actual value just to get it to you. Nobody likes that.
That’s where flat-rate shipping comes in. You throw all the stuff you want to ship into a single box (usually a specially designated box provided by the carrier), tape it shut, and hand it to the people at the counter. Then, those wonderful individuals with the sharp uniforms charge you the predetermined cost to ship the box, regardless of its weight, destination, or otherwise.
Flat-rate shipping usually has a preset shipping speed as well, though you can sometimes pay more to get the box there faster. And there are usually limitations associated with it (even if only a maximum weight limit). Other than that, though, you only pay the flat rate, hence the name.
Ecommerce businesses have their own version of this (which we discuss more elsewhere), though how it’s implemented varies; here are some examples:
“Free Shipping”
Loyalty/membership-based shipping discounts
Time-based/seasonal shipping discounts
Minimum order thresholds
Should I Ship Flat-Rate?
We don’t want to give you the wrong impression, here. Flat-rate has a lot of advantages, but much like clothing sizes, no shipping option will be an optimal fit for every use case.
Shipping via a flat-rate service will benefit you most when the package is small in size, but comparatively heavy weight-wise. The closer the item is to the upper weight limit, the greater the shipping savings, in most cases.
Which makes sense: if most fees are based on item weight and distance, then a standardized flat rate would most benefit parcels on the higher end on both of those scales. The further you get from either of those extremes, though, the more likely it is that you’re losing on the deal.
Take the USPS for example. Their flat rate offering is Priority Mail Flat Rate. It’s useful because of it’s predetermined cost, it’s “free” boxes (which are included in the flat rate price), and their Priority Mail status, which promises better service and delivery times. But it’s not the only Priority Mail service available.
Priority Mail Regional is similar; it uses an official box like flat rate, but the shipping costs are also determined by how far the package has to travel. This means that shipping somewhere close by can actually prove cheaper via this service.
Similarly, Priority Mail Cubic can be a cheaper way to ship, provided your package is small enough to qualify, and weighs less than 20 pounds. Depending on weight and distance, this can be a better choice than Regional.
Finally, if the item is light enough, it may be best to ship it via weight-based methods. As an extreme example, if you’re shipping a big box full of styrofoam, you’ll be losing quite a bit shipping via flat rate methods (when the weight-based cost would be negligible).
In other words, consulting an expert on what service will save you the most can do wonders for lowering your shipping overhead (especially if that consult is free).
Conclusion
In the end, flat-rate shipping can be very advantageous under the right circumstances. Implementing it wisely is key, as shipping fees vary wildly, and what’s best for one package isn’t necessarily best for another.
Even if the majority of your sales are comparable in size, weight, and so forth, shipping distance alone will make it difficult to standardize. And don’t get us started on delivery speed…
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What Is a “Shipping Method”?
When you order something online, or box something up and take it to the UPS store, post office, etc. (more about them here), you’ll be asked what your desired “shipping method” will be.
Depending on context, this term will have one of two meanings: either the specific shipping process your parcel requires, or the urgency with which it will be delivered (check the “Tempermental Timelines” section of the glossary to learn more). Let’s talk about the former of those two.
For starters, there are significant differences between “domestic” and “international” shipping methods. “Domestic,” which means the package won’t have to leave the country, is pretty straightforward. That’s business as usual for shipping carriers.
“International,” which just means “between nations” (like an “international flight,” or an “international man of mystery”), gets a little more complicated. There are customs and other legalities involved, not all carriers serve all the same countries (and a hand-off to a local carrier is often required), and so on. Suffice it to say that it’s a can of worms we’ll be opening another day.
Transportation Methods
Whether the package is going across state lines, or across national boundaries, though, there are a number of ways for it to get where it needs to go.
Ground Shipping
The most common (and least expensive) is “ground shipping.” This just means that they’ll load the parcel on a truck, slap the back closed, shout “Giddy Up!” and send it your way.
(Ok, maybe there are a few more steps to the process than that, but you get the gist).
While every parcel will travel at least part of the journey in a ground vehicle, whether that’s from the pickup point to the docks or airport, or from the port of call to the delivery point, it’s almost impossible to get a shipment somewhere without loading it onto something that drives on roads at some point.
But shipping ground means that the package will only travel via roadways. In other words, this is primarily a domestic shipping method, as it’s hard to get international without crossing some major body of water.
Air Freight
If you’re feeling bougie, or just really eager for the parcel to get where it’s going, you can send it via “air freight” (aka “air shipping,” “next-day/overnight air,” etc.). Giving your package a plane ride, much like taking a plane ride yourself, is almost universally more expensive than loading it into a truck or van and driving to the destination.
It can, however, improve the speed of delivery, depending on the point of origin and the destination, and the distance between the two. And depending on the delivery destination and time of year, it may be the only way to make the delivery.
Case in point, some locations in rural Alaska aren’t accessible via roadways. About a century ago, this very circumstance gave rise to the first Iditarod journey. These days though, villages like Barrow rely on “bush planes” to receive pretty much everything—mail, groceries, supplies, retail goods, and so forth.
Maritime Transport
Finally, we have the type of transport that puts the “ship” back in “shipment.” “Maritime transport” (aka “waterborne transport”) is when things travel some or most of the distance via some form of watercraft.
This shipping method usually comes into play when shipping international, especially if the item in question is a) being shipped in large quantities, or b) is too large or heavy to efficiently transport via air freight. In fact, most overseas shipping is done this way, for the same reasons that most domestic shipping is done via ground transportation: it’s less expensive.
Of the three methods, this is the one that requires the most logistical legwork, usually because it’s a third-party outfit that’s running the ship itself. Carriers often have their own ground and air transports, or have established relationships with partners who do.
With maritime transport, though, the arrangements are a little harder to put in place, and the maritime team typically only handles things from port to port (i.e., any part of the journey that requires a set of wheels is “outside their jurisdiction”).
It should be noted, however, that international shipping is not the only use case for maritime transport. There are a number of domestic applications, typically for locations that (like the Barrow, Alaska example above) aren’t accessible by road. In these cases, smaller ferries are used to transport items, people, vehicles, and other things.
Now, all these different ways for a package to travel mean there are a lot of variables that go into determining shipping price, you might be wondering, is there any way to pay a flat fee for it?
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What Is “Parcel Shipping”?
A “parcel” is a thing. An item, or even a collection of items, if you will. Sometimes, the thing is placed inside of a box, but not always. What is required for a thing to count as a “parcel” is that
Beyond that, parcels tend to be individuals. As in, they’re each a different item, or they each have a different destination, for example. They’re kind of like season-agnostic Christmas presents (which might explain why grown-ups get so excited when they see the Amazon truck).
Most deliveries aren’t shipped as a parcel the entire way, though: most of the time, the item will start its journey stacked on a pallet and shipped via 18-wheeler to a local distribution center. Then it will be sorted into the appropriate delivery van/truck, where it’s loaded loosely and sent out for delivery.
So now you know your package is a “parcel.” The next question is, just how is it getting to you?