So how can you send your gifts without breaking the bank?  Well, here are a few tips to save you some money on shipping this year!

When using Express mail, compare costs! Different carriers have different rates, and every little bit counts.  Instead of visiting every carrier site to compare costs, use AdShip’s Shipping Quote to quickly and easily compare between the three major carriers rates.

Consolidate! It is oftentimes cheaper to send one larger package than many smaller packages, so when possible, send one large box.

Use flat-rate boxes! Many carriers offer flat-rate boxes that cost the same no matter how much they weight.  You’ll save several dollars per package if you are shipping heavy, small items, so pack as many as possible into the box (without breaking anything, of course!).

Use AdShip! Now, I don’t say this only because I work here; this is really one of the best ways to save on shipping.  You can save anywhere from $0.50 to several dollars on each package by shipping through AdShip, and every little bit of savings helps during the busiest shopping(shipping) season of the year!

REALLY?!  I know for many business owners (especially online retailers) this news is at best, disheartening.  After all, consumers are making increasingly frugal choices about what to buy and why, and shipping will msot certainly bne a factor in those decisions. 

But what is FedEx to do?  They are, after all, beholden to their shareholders.  The point of shipping, to your carrier, is not to get you package from point A to point B.  That is merely a means to an end; the real point is not only to make but to INCREASE profit, and the only access they have s how much they charge for shipping. 

So who’s to blame?  Frankly, WHO CARES?!  Everybody can win here, FedEx and retailers alike.  Just like shipping carriers, retailers can now turn a profit on every shipment they make.  This is the purest example of synergy: everybody wins.  Thanks to Pay-Per-Ship advertising, you can make money on every shipment you send.  It’s this easy:

Step 1: Create you shipping label using AdShip’s online platform (if you are not already a registered user, click here).

Step 2: Select an advertisement to insert into your package.

Step 3: Enjoy anywhere from $0.50 to several dollars off your shipment (or bank your dollars to save them up over time) depending on the ad you choose.

Step 4: Bill for the normal amount of shipping; we provide an invoice that lists shipping costs minus the incentive!

Now, I’ve heard before that it’s just not fair to charge your customers the normal cost of shipping when you are enjoying a dollar off.  To that I say: FINE!  Pass it along to your customer.  Consumers are savvy these days, and in a few clicks of a button they can compare how much it costs to ship from one site and another.  Offering reduced shipping costs will likely attract more customers to your site, and thereby increase your sales.

So with all this synergy, nobody has to be mad at FedEx!  Everybody wins!

So, now what? Where can retailers and service providers focus their resources to get the most effective bang for a buck?

Enter Pay-Per-Ship advertising, the newest advance in multimedia marketing. Using this model of marketing, advertisers pay the users of mail services such as FedEx and UPS to insert paper advertisements into their packages. While at first glance this may seem akin to direct mail marketing, upon further investigation it becomes clear that AdShip’s Pay-Per-Ship advertising is a category of it’s own: in addition to print advertisements, digital ads are inserted into all tracking correspondence relating to the package that is sent, meaning that for one price, advertisers actually get between 3 and 4 impressions.

Perhaps the most beneficial feature of this model is the bidding system used to determining the price for each ad. Advertisers select targets by geographic location and recipient category (telecom, gift and flowers, etc), and then bid against other advertisers who want to reach the same category. This means that they decide how much they are willing to pay to reach a certain category, and can prioritize resources in a way never before possible. And, since you pay only for advertisements that are sent, if the model doesn’t work for you, you pay nothing!

While individually, no aspect of the Pay-Per-Ship model is completely original, they have been packaged together in a way that’s not been done before. The unique collection of media used to make impressions create a branding experience for package recipients. In addition, each impression is included in an integral part of the shipping process, meaning exposure to your message is practically guaranteed(after all, who doesn’t check UPS or FedEx packages to be sure they haven’t missed anything?).

So, now it’s time to take action! Visit http://www.adship.com/UserPages/Advertiser/Public/advertiser_registration.aspx to get started with Pay-Per-Ship advertising. It’s the best Christmas gift you could give yourself.