Actually, we do, through our business shipping partner, Pack & Send.

Let me explain how this works using a real example of equipment sold through our store.

Example

I asked the customer for $150 to cover packing and shipping from Perth to Sydney, explaining that if it were more, I’d let them know and they would need to make up the difference. I got a quote from Pack and Send, and it was $231. I should have simply charged the customer as I said I would, but he’d indicated that $150 felt high, so, instead of doing that, I did something I stopped doing a decade ago: tried to save a customer who probably makes far more than I do, money.

Here’s what that cost me, and why I’ll not be doing it again. Remember, shipping costs have absolutely nothing to do with me.

I drove to AusPost to try to find a box, but they didn’t have anything the right size. Then I drove home and looked for packaging materials. Nothing. Next stop, Bunnings, where I bought a box and some bubble wrap. Because I don’t pack and ship things, I don’t keep packing and shipping materials. All that took over 60 minutes.

It took me 30+ minutes to carefully wrap and box up the equipment, but to me, the box felt flimsy, so it was back to Bunnings for another box so I could double-box it, and another 30+ minutes and some more packing time, on a hot Perth day. By now, AusPost was closed, and my dehydration headache was fully formed. I had to wait until the next morning to take the box to AusPost, another 30+ minutes round trip.

False Economy

The total cost for shipping and insurance with AusPost was $97 vs $231 for packing, shipping and insurance via Pack & Send. You’re thinking: Mike, Mike, that’s great, you ‘saved’ the customer $53, or $134, depending on how you look at it! Well, maybe, if the equipment packed and drove itself, but it doesn’t, does it!

Here’s the real equation: my costs were $15 for materials, $10 for fuel and a conservative 150+ minutes of billable time, coming to $400. The bottom line: saving the customer $134, or $53, cost me $400. No money was saved here; it was much more expensive doing things this way, and I paid for most of it, which is ridiculous!

This is what I tell people about using ‘cheap’ repairers too, BTW. It’s always the same.

Time & Motion

This is why I don’t get involved in packing or shipping, other than to take equipment to people who deal professionally with it, like Pack & Send. For those who don’t run businesses or charge for their time, the idea of time and motion costs, billable hours, etc., might not make sense. Some might think that my time is not a real cost, but when you are the business, it most certainly is.

I can’t afford losses like this on one-off sales when shipping is a customer cost. I’m not responsible for shipping costs, and whilst I wish they were cheaper, it is what it is, and we simply have to work with that.

Lessons

Strangely, this probably needed to happen to remind me of precisely why I don’t do this. I’m more annoyed at myself because, really, this was my fault, despite the good intention. So, the next time you’re wondering if we offer a packing service or use Australia Post, you’ll know why the answer to those questions is no.

Whilst the up-front costs of using a logistics specialist are a little higher, the total cost is much less and more importantly, doesn’t become my cost. No more packing or shipping for Liquid Mike!