Shipping Costs Eating Your Budget?

First, a disclaimer: The purpose of this note is just to share information that has been enormously useful to us at Heartfelt. We are not selling any of the services described below.

We at Heartfelt have had communications with three different customers in the last couple months about shipping costs. They've reached a point where shipping fiber to the mill or directly to us is so costly that at least some farms are questioning whether or not it's still cost-effective to have their fiber processed.

This was on my mind when a chance question at our local post office led the post office manager to refer us to Gina Anderson, a senior inside sales representative for the USPS. The Postal Service apparently has partnerships with several commercial shipping support companies that provide customers with discounted shipping. Heartfelt recently became a customer of one of these companies, and we're clearly getting better pricing than we did on our own. And because of the link to the USPS, there will never be any subscription fees for our use of this service. As an example, I can't remember the last time (if ever) that I shipped anything from Missouri to the West Coast for less than $50. I sent a customer order to California in March for $26.

I set up the Heartfelt account with a link from Gina Anderson, entered my UPS and FedEx account information, and now with each order, I can click a button and compare UPS, FedEx, and USPS rates. I choose the service I want, click another button, and my shipping label prints out.

Here's what Ms. Anderson has to say:

"I can provide an information sheet about the shipping service that will allow you to get discounted postage. Once in your account, you can get it set up. There is no monthly fee when you use my link. Please let me know if you would like a demo of the shipping program, and I can get that set up for you.

"I can also provide a comparison sheet with different tabs showing the postage rates for Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail Flat Rate, Regional Rate and Weight and Zone pricing, First Class, Media Mail, a cubic calculator with rates, and a dimensional weight calculator.

"The Postal Service also has great ways to help you connect with your current customers and help you find new customers using Direct Mail.

"Please let me know if you would like to set up a meeting to discuss how the Postal Service can provide your with great service and help reduce your shipping costs."

If any of this is of interest, Ms. Anderson can be reached at regina.k.anderson@usps.gov.