How To Get Your Business Ready For International Shipping
International shipping is one of the cornerstones of selling overseas. But it is also one of the most painful expenses for business owners. You may end up exhausting your growth budget sooner than you expect if you do not plan this function strategically. Additionally, it often causes complexities with delays, duties, and penalties. These are the last things you want to encounter as a start-up in the overseas business domain. However, these challenges should not keep you from pursuing your global outreach goals. Knowing some facts and following some tips gives your business the right start with international shipping. Let us share a few actionable tips to get you on the right track.
Define a shipping strategy
Defining a viable shipping strategy gives your business a good start. You must start by understanding the shipping costs and factors that determine them. These include product volume, weight, dimensions, destination, and expected delivery speed. You can use these parameters to estimate the costs and plan your budget. Another significant aspect of your strategy includes finding the right carrier as you expect to collaborate with one offering excellent services without costing a fortune. You can explore the option of working with a third-party logistics company to store and drop-ship your products.
Get familiar with regulations
Expanding your business to overseas markets requires more than understanding the selling potential and competition. You must also familiarize yourself with the local rules and regulations. Pay attention to the prohibited items you cannot legally ship to the area, and skip the destination if your products fall in the category. Staying a step ahead of regulations ensures smooth delivery and seamless expansion. Also, bear in mind that these regulations may change from time to time. It means you must check them before every shipment instead of taking a set-and-forget approach.
Be aware of duties and taxes
Shipping costs more than what you pay to your carrier company, so you must be aware of additional costs to prevent unpleasant surprises. With international transit of products, customs, duties, and taxes come into play. Besides knowing the costs of these elements, you must understand the documentation and processes as well. Going wrong with either of them can lead to delays and penalties. Experts recommend letting a seasoned customs broker handle this part of shipping for you. They ensure you use the apt codes, have your documents in place, and do everything right to make the process a smooth sail.
Negotiate the rates
Good negotiation skills can take you a long way with savings on international shipping costs. You can focus on maintaining relationships with a carrier to get discounts and deals with them in the long haul. Try benchmarking as a negotiation tactic by checking the rates of a company that trades in similar products and volumes. The more you negotiate, the better the chances of increasing your profit margins. Most carriers are happy to lower prices if you stay with them and provide frequent orders.
Get smart with packaging
Ramping up the international shipping game is also about getting smart with packaging. Remember that the cost of packaging can add up when you send consignments regularly, so you can economize considerably by choosing the right options. You can buy packaging in bulk to cut down costs. But never compromise quality because the last thing you want is to ruin the products due to cheap material. Right-sizing is equally important because large packaging can increase the costs with extra padding requirements. Moreover, you may have to pay more if your carrier follows dimensional weight calculations. Reusing packaging is another good idea.
Value products accurately
Valuing your products accurately is another rule you should follow while shipping internationally. It is tempting to undervalue them to save a bit on insurance, customs duties, and taxes. But steer clear of the practice because it can have dire consequences. These include fines and delays at customs. The carrier may also debar you from using their services in the future. Undervaluing can cause immense loss if your goods get damaged or lost in transit. You will get only a fraction of the value as a claim despite the product being an expensive one.
Shipping should be a priority if you wish to grow and thrive as an international seller . You cannot skimp on these services because they can risk your products. Choose the best provider, follow the rules, and pay your customs duties and taxes to ship without hassles. You will not have to worry about the consignments with these best practices in place.
Define a shipping strategy
Defining a viable shipping strategy gives your business a good start. You must start by understanding the shipping costs and factors that determine them. These include product volume, weight, dimensions, destination, and expected delivery speed. You can use these parameters to estimate the costs and plan your budget. Another significant aspect of your strategy includes finding the right carrier as you expect to collaborate with one offering excellent services without costing a fortune. You can explore the option of working with a third-party logistics company to store and drop-ship your products.
Get familiar with regulations
Expanding your business to overseas markets requires more than understanding the selling potential and competition. You must also familiarize yourself with the local rules and regulations. Pay attention to the prohibited items you cannot legally ship to the area, and skip the destination if your products fall in the category. Staying a step ahead of regulations ensures smooth delivery and seamless expansion. Also, bear in mind that these regulations may change from time to time. It means you must check them before every shipment instead of taking a set-and-forget approach.
Be aware of duties and taxes
Shipping costs more than what you pay to your carrier company, so you must be aware of additional costs to prevent unpleasant surprises. With international transit of products, customs, duties, and taxes come into play. Besides knowing the costs of these elements, you must understand the documentation and processes as well. Going wrong with either of them can lead to delays and penalties. Experts recommend letting a seasoned customs broker handle this part of shipping for you. They ensure you use the apt codes, have your documents in place, and do everything right to make the process a smooth sail.
Negotiate the rates
Good negotiation skills can take you a long way with savings on international shipping costs. You can focus on maintaining relationships with a carrier to get discounts and deals with them in the long haul. Try benchmarking as a negotiation tactic by checking the rates of a company that trades in similar products and volumes. The more you negotiate, the better the chances of increasing your profit margins. Most carriers are happy to lower prices if you stay with them and provide frequent orders.
Get smart with packaging
Ramping up the international shipping game is also about getting smart with packaging. Remember that the cost of packaging can add up when you send consignments regularly, so you can economize considerably by choosing the right options. You can buy packaging in bulk to cut down costs. But never compromise quality because the last thing you want is to ruin the products due to cheap material. Right-sizing is equally important because large packaging can increase the costs with extra padding requirements. Moreover, you may have to pay more if your carrier follows dimensional weight calculations. Reusing packaging is another good idea.
Value products accurately
Valuing your products accurately is another rule you should follow while shipping internationally. It is tempting to undervalue them to save a bit on insurance, customs duties, and taxes. But steer clear of the practice because it can have dire consequences. These include fines and delays at customs. The carrier may also debar you from using their services in the future. Undervaluing can cause immense loss if your goods get damaged or lost in transit. You will get only a fraction of the value as a claim despite the product being an expensive one.
Shipping should be a priority if you wish to grow and thrive as an international seller . You cannot skimp on these services because they can risk your products. Choose the best provider, follow the rules, and pay your customs duties and taxes to ship without hassles. You will not have to worry about the consignments with these best practices in place.
