Top Issues in Choosing Pick Pack and Ship Options
Critical Factors in Selecting <A href=”http://www.fulfillmentplusny.com/direct-to-consumer/index.cfm”>Pick Pack and Ship Options</a>
As you would expect from the name, a pack and ship service handles merchandise. They tend to focus on providing services to entrepreneurs who are either unable to ship items themselves or just don’t want the bother. They provide a good alternative to developing and maintaining your own dispatch center.
<A href=”http://www.fulfillmentplusny.com/direct-to-consumer/index.cfm”>Pack and Ship</a> Services vs. Fulfillment Services
Pack and ship services generally do not warehouse merchandise, but focus instead on shipping services. Invoices, payments and all communications with the customer continue to be done by the business owner instead of the service. These services can be especially worthwhile if you would otherwise be required to have special shipping liscences or insurance in order to ship thier items.
Many pack and ship operations use several carriers – USPS, DHL, FedEx, UPS and others. Some will also arrange local transport and may provide custom drop off at airports. Most will pick up packages as well as deliver them, so you could use them as virtual addresses.
Fulfillment services typically handle storage as well as shipping. Some even pick and pack thereby fulfilling all your shipping and storage needs. The main difference between a fulfillment service and a pack and ship service is that a fulfillment service may offer to store merchandise for you. They will charge for processing orders in addition to packing and shipping.
In a direct comparision between the two there really is a clear winner. A fulfillment service is by far the clear winner simply because they offer a complete service, from storage straight through to shipping.
Specialty Services
Many pack and ship services will specialize in worldwide shipping. Their familiarity with insurance, import and export laws and costs for shipping overseas can be invaluable. Along with this, many offer:
· Assured delivery – same day, overnight and next-day.
· No size limits and custom crating for delicate or unique items.
· Cargo insurance – essential for time sensitive deliveries, perishables and foreign country shipping.
· Package tracking
· Office add-ons onsite: mail boxes, fax, copies, supplies and even notary services.
A few small pack and ship services will hold items in hand (if you rent a mailbox) and ship them at your command. However, they are not typically set up for any warehouse functions and this is only useful if you sell small items.
<A href=”http://www.fulfillmentplusny.com/why-us.cfm”>Fulfillment services</a> usually offer specialty services that most pack and ship operations do not: customer contact – receipts mailed to your customers, order confirmation, tracking information and in the case of some fullfilment services, billing services. This is incredibly convenient when the only customer contact required is a polite follow-up email.
Deciding between pack & ship and fulfillment services
Pack and ship companies might be the better choice when you are shipping odd items or if you deal with more valuable items in small numbers. They also come with the additional benefit of both shipping and recieving packages. They usually have many more shipping options than straight fulfillment services. This becomes important if you deal in valuable merchandise, when the loss of even a single item might adversely impact your bottom line. In this case, insurance and tracking become much more important than the need to store large amounts of inventory.
Pack and ship companies give you greater control over the order. Because you initiate the process you can decide when the item should be shipped. Depending on where the package is and where the customer is, a pack and ship company could be the only way to get something into your customer’s hands overnight.
