Pack And Ship Services
As the name suggests, a pack and ship service handles merchandise
. They typically focus on providing services to small businesses that are either incapable or simply dont want the bother of shipping items themselves. They provide a good substitute to setting up an in-house mailroom.
Pack and Ship vs. Fulfillment Services
Pack and ship services usually do not warehouse products, but concentrate on shipping services. Invoices, billing and all contact with customers are handled by the retailer. They can be especially important if you need to ship hard to package items or items that need special shipping or insurance.
Many pack and ship operations use several carriers DHL, UPS, USPS, FedEx and others. They may also arrange local transport and might handle custom drop off to and from airports. Some will even pick up items as well as send them, so they can serve as virtual addresses.
Fulfillment services typically handle storage as well as shipping. Some even pick and pack to meet order requirements. The main difference between a pack and ship service and a fulfillment service is that fulfillment services might offer to store merchandise for you. Fulfillment companies usually charge for order assembly in addition to packing and shipping.
Pick-up is an option rendered by pack and ship companies. However for any significant volume, a fulfillment service might make more sense just because they offer an all inclusive service, from warehousing right through to shipping.
Specialty Services
Some pack and ship services specialize in worldwide shipping. Their experience with insurance, import and export laws and international shipping costs can be priceless. Additionally many offer:
Guaranteed delivery same day, overnight and next-day.
No size limits and custom crating for fragile or unique items.
Cargo insurance essential for time-sensitive deliveries, perishables and oversees shipping.
Package tracking
Office add-ons onsite: fax, mail boxes, supplies, copies and even some notary services.
A few small pack and ship services will hold items in hand (if you rent a mailbox) and ship them on your direction. However, they are not typically set up for large-scale storage and this is only practical if you sell small items.
Fulfillment services usually provide specialty services that most pack and ship services don't: customer contact receipts sent to your customers, order confirmation, package tracking and in some cases, billing services. This is incredibly convenient when customer contact requires little more than than an email or an invoice placed in the package.
Deciding between pack and ship and fulfillment services
Pack and ship services are good when you are shipping occasional items or if you need to send very few expensive items. They also come with the benefit of being able to accept, as well as send, packages. They usually have many more shipping options than straight fulfillment services. This becomes very important if you want to send valuable merchandise and just can't take the chance that items will be damaged. In cases such as this, insurance and package tracking become much more important than the ability to store large amounts of stock. Of course if storage is more important to you then a pack and ship service would be better suited to your needs.
Because you initiate the process at a pack and ship company, you have more control over when an item actually ships. If the item has a longer distance to travel before it reaches the hands of the customer, a pack and ship company would also be more likely to ensure a speedy arrival.
by: Jeff Ehrlich
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