subject: Are Shipping Rates Negotiable? [print this page] Anyone that has ran a business for any length of time learns quickly that you have to try and save money in every single location that you can. One of the things that this certainly means is that you quickly learn that you have to try and negotiate prices on as many things as you can. This means that if you do business with a St. Louis courier service on a regular basis, you may also want to think about a way that you can negotiate a better shipping rate from them.
Far too many people assume that the bill that they get from their courier company is always going to be the final word, and that there is no possible way they may be able to negotiate on their courier rates. This isn't true. There are courier companies out there that want nothing to do with negotiations, and on whom you might be wasting your breath by trying, that is true. However, there are also a great number of courier companies that have policies in place for negotiating with customers, and who might be able to get you a better rate if you go after it.
A few guidelines can help you get started negotiating a shipping rate. If you don't have an account with a courier company, then you might as well forget it. Although courier companies will ship goods that belong to people without an account, most of the benefits of working with a particular courier company only emerge after you've opened an account with them. This certainly extends to the possibility of getting your rates negotiated.
Next, you are going to have to go after a better rate proactively. Your courier company isn't suddenly going to decide that you've done business with them a long time so they're going to offer you a discount. They want to make each transaction as profitable as possible, as do you. If you tell them that you're shopping around for other couriers though and were wondering if they could offer you incentive to stay, then you are taking a firm step towards negotiating a better price.
Start by trying to negotiate an overall discount for your firm rather than aiming for savings on a particular shipment. Even if the discount seem like a tiny amount, as long as you stay in business the savings will mount, and over the long term this will prove to be the more valuable negotiation.
by: Scott P Gallagher
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