Help Please: I'm looking for discounted shipping rates for roasters

[almico]

I'm getting my "big boy" roastery up and running soon. Till now I was roasting mainly for brewing at my "tourist town" coffee bar and selling retail bags over the counter. I have an online store where people that like my coffee can purchase through the mail when they get home. It's been growing steadily, especially during Covid, but I haven't been promoting it because I roast at home and I'm the only roastery employee.

But now I'm moving into an official roaster space and will have employees to help with the bagging, boxing etc, so I'm going to start marketing a bit. I will also try to branch out into a little wholesale.

Till now I've been using USPS Priority mail to ship. It gets it there quick and I get boxes for free. I offer free shipping over $45 and sell mostly locally where shipping runs $7-8 a box. Shipping from NJ/PA to parts of CA can be as much as $18!

So I'm looking to find a shipping service where I can negotiate some discounts. FedEx, UPS, USPS? Any suggestions?

 

[Musicphan]

First, sign up with a shipping aggregator like shippingeasy.com or similar... (that's what I use)... it will immediately give you Commerical Plus rates on USPS rates. I shop anything under a lb first class in my own box, above Regional Rate A boxes. Also you get discounted UPS rates but I don't often use UPS unless it won't fit in a priority box.

 

[BlackInkCoffee]

Hey! Congrats on the expansion. We use Pirate Ship which they get the best USPS discounts as a middleman and pass them onto us (the roasters). All prices will be going up over the holidays, but that'll be consistent with everyone (FedEx, UPS, USPS, etc.). Yes, shipping costs to California suck, but it is what it is. I see it this way, would you rather get their business and make a smaller profit margin in hopes they'll share and grow your brand, or would you rather not have them and they can just go to Walmart and buy Folgers haha? You'll also learn that profit margins will be tighter the larger you grow and the more competitive the market becomes. I just stepped onto Amazon, man it is tough there haha. Best of luck!