Suppliers that use UPS instead of USPS within the U.S.

Has anyone ever asked their supplier to ship your merchandise (whether dropship to your customer or directly to you) by another method?

I am going to be using some suppliers to ship small, light items (scarves, jewelry, etc) and the companies I want to use seem to all use UPS. As most of you know, a box with a few pairs of earrings in it, shipping within the US, is only a about 3.00 dollars or so. These companies I want to work with are charging between 8.00 to 12.00 to ship directly to me (not dropship).

I want to ask them to ship to me by USPS but, as a new customer, I don't want them to think I'm being difficult right from the start.

I know the tracking is better with UPS but I'm willing to risk not having detailed tracking to get my products delivered to me at a cheaper rate.

Who here has done this and can give me some advise on how to go about approaching these companies in a way that doesn't come off sounding like I'm adding more problems to their work day?

Roni

Ok, I picked one of the companies and sent them an email. It was a company that said they use both UPS AND USPS -but - they only gave details on their site with the USP information. Meaning, I could only get a rate from their site with UPS, the delivery time was only with UPS etc.

So, I emailed them and said that their site does state that USPS 'is' an option and could I have that as my carrier on smaller weight items.

They said yes! They were very friendly and very willing to work with me it appears. All I have to do is put in the comments section on my orders that I want them to use USPS.

I assume I won't know how much my shipping is in advance since their website is set up to show UPS charges but I don't particularly mind since I already have an idea from checking the shipping chart at USPS' website approximately how much a 1lb package should be.

Hopefully the other 2 or 3 suppliers that I am going to focus on will be just as accommodating.

I also sent an email to a retail company that I am NOT using as a supplier - it is just a company that I was interested in purchasing a t-shirt from for myself, not to resell.

The t-shirt was on sale for $7 and the shipping was $10 via UPS. I emailed the company and asked if they could just put the t shirt in a flat rate USPS box since that would bring shipping down to around 4.50-5.60 or so.

They emailed me back and said 'No'. They weren't rude but there was not even a hint of 'so sorry, we have to do it this was because____', just a flat 'NO we are unable to do it that way'.

Which company do you think has better customer relations? Pretty obvious, huh? Even if that 2nd company was a potential supplier on my list of companies to use, I would now cross them off because of their unwillingness to work with a customer. I might have even still considered them if they had at least SEEMED like they wanted to be helpful.

Roni

You've really highlighted a very important aspect of choosing a supplier, and that is of course customer service.

Yes, price, reliability and so on are all import things to focus on when choosing a supplier, but all of them aren't worth that much if there is no customer service in times of need.

This is even more important when drop shipping. You are relying on a drop ship supplier to be providing you and your customers with great customer service, and if they don't, then it will usually be you are gets it from the customer!

Good customer service from a supplier is an absolute requirement in my opinion!

Hi Roni,

I couldn't agree more with Marc about good (great even better!) customer service as an absolute requirement in seeking a supplier to work with.

Many companies stand out because of the level of customer/tech service that they have to offer their customers. That is why is it often suggested to engage your supplier in an exchange of communication either through email or phone so you can assess your supplier's response rate and courtesy in helping you with your concerns.

With regards to shipping preferences and others that you may have, it is best to contact you supplier directly about them. There is no written rule on how you word your inquiry just as long as your email sounds genuine and professional then you are doing it correctly so what you did was right! (pat on the back for you :))

By the way, thanks for sharing how your correspondence went :)

Cheers!