Retailer delivery costs

grahamor

Hi ,

I am setting up an eCommerce shop that will be selling various small accessories in Ireland. The products will be coming from brands based primarily in France and Spain.

One retailer we want to work with says the cost for delivery for orders over €900 is 10% which seems quite high. I doubt we would be in a position to haggle when we are new clients.

A friend suggested we create a DHL business account that collects the order and delivers to us instead of paying the high retailer delivery rates.

I realize the DHL rates would depend on size and weight etc. for the delivery but does it seem like a more economical solution than paying the retailer ?

Thank you for any advice.

jimmii

Depends how the retailer calculates it. They might just be guestimating and use 10% as their guide or else that's just how much it costs with the courtier they use. Get the dimensions and weight and stick it in a courier comparison site see how it stacks up. 900 worth of small accessories seems like it would be a few bulky boxes and depending on what it's like mass wise could be quite heavy. €90 for 3 large boxes wouldn't be excessive really all just comes down to size and weight.

L.Jenkins

Okay so I work for an eCommerce company in the area of IT and Accounting. We have a number of suppliers here in Ireland, but they arrange their our couriers and we factor in these costs when selling online. Granted, about 95% of the products we sell are relatively small, so the cost to deliver isn't all that expensive, regardless of the destination within Ireland or around the World.

From what I understand, your suppliers are from France and Spain and you can expect relatively high delivery costs. I would need a little more information to go on. Are you delivering items to Ireland in bulk or as individual items? Are your customers exclusively Irish?

If I were you, I'd shop around. There are a variety of couriers and when you're seeking information, request a spreadsheet or other format with the cost of delivery by weight and delivery destination Country.

GLS, DPD, An Post and FedEx do good rates to the EU and the US. Especially from the EU to Ireland. If you're delivering to the UK and injecting to a delivery service, consider the Royal Mail, DPD and GLS. Do not under any circumstances consider Yodel as a solution. Yodel as a courier is a no go from my own experience.

If you can provide any other information, that would help if providing better advice.

antoinolachtnai

Shop around for sure, but the problem is going to be that it all takes time and you will save relatively little money. If there is a misunderstanding between your shipping company and your supplier it could cause a delay of a few days.

One thing to remember is time is money. A lot depends on the speed that they can get the stuff delivered. If they can get it delivered next day for that price, then it might be very good value, because you can start selling immediately it arrives. If it takes three or four days to arrive, then you won't be able to take in any money until you have the stock. This effectively means you need extra capital.

If you are making large orders then it will be worth your while getting a better price on the shipping. If you are only ordering 900 euros a go, you might be as well sticking with their courier.