I often hear people shocked about the cost of postage for their puzzle order. I get it. Shopping for puzzles from the comfort of your couch is great but when you get to the cart and see the cost of shipping your heart sinks.
It leads to the question of why.
Why is it expensive to ship puzzles?
Shipping cost calculations use both size and weight. While puzzles aren’t very heavy their boxes are bulky and this means the shipping adds up fast.Sometimes smaller stores can't get the great rates available to businesses who ship more parcels.
At THINKercise I focus on the most efficient, cost-effective ways to ship your items. While still protecting your parcels with strong packaging to minimise the parcel size.
How can you pay less shipping for puzzles?
This is based on tricks I've discovered to keep shipping costs down at THINKercise. The analysis is based on the shipping rates I can access. That said, the approaches may be useful for all your online shopping options.
Idea one - consider a less expensive carrier.
Sometimes this can mean slower delivery times or less tracking. I now offer Sendle and Australia Post options for shipping. The price difference between the two can be notable.Â
In the following ideas the examples all refer to shipping with Sendle.
Idea two - experiment with what happens to the shipping cost with a few more or a few less items.
If you buy more puzzles the shipping cost per puzzle changes.
It’s not as simple as buy more pay less though. There are points where the shipping cost jumps. Â
A parcel with more puzzles should give you a better rate per puzzle. There are some price breaks that make it a little more complicated.
For example, three puzzles jumps up in price bands and the price per puzzle is marginally higher than for two. However, that same package could have a fourth puzzle at no additional charge giving a lower price per item.
If you place an order with 10 puzzles you’ll be paying as little as $2.60 per puzzle for shipping (with Sendle depending on your location).
Idea three - Consider how you order puzzles
Do you place many orders and pay for shipping on each one? Consolidating your orders into one can help with shipping costs.
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If you made 4 individual orders of one puzzle each you’d pay $42.92 in shipping.
If instead you bought all four puzzles in one transaction you’d pay $16.57 – a saving of $26.35. That’s like the cost of a puzzle.
Idea four - shop with a friend
Do you have a puzzling friend living nearby who you can combine orders with? This is a way of ordering more puzzles without needing to commit to buying many at once for yourself.
Idea five - go box free
The last suggestion is one from left-field that may not appeal at all. When setting up puzzle rentals I figured out that the postage was a major challenge. To manage it I send puzzles with no boxes to reduce the cost. This would reduce resale value if that’s your thing.
If you’d like to investigate this option please send me a message.
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I'm always looking for ways to be more efficient and hope that these thoughts have been useful. If you'd like advice or help with analysing your shipping options please let me know - I'd love to help.