How much do you spend on shipping? The answer to that is probably “too much money.” While it can be difficult to rein in these shipping costs, there are cheap ways to ship large packages that can mitigate these expenses. From doing your due diligence to planning far in advance, you will find that your business has some extra money at the end of the month.

Unsure what to do? Here are eight of the cheapest ways to ship large packages:

1. Plan Ahead & Ship Large Packages Early

One of the cheapest ways to ship large packages is to ship early. Typically, the faster any item needs to be shipped, the more it will cost you. So, if you’re thinking of shipping a large package today that needs to arrive in two days, then be prepared to pay a hefty premium. How can you prevent this from happening? It’s simple: plan ahead and ship early.

If you know ahead of time that something needs to arrive at a specific location at a specific time, then you should prepare shipment in advance rather than waiting until the last minute. Or, if an order has just taken place, then do not make grandiose promises of having their product arrive in 24 hours – unless they’re willing to pay the premium.

The slower the delivery time, the lower the prices will be.

2. Negotiate with Multiple Shipping Carriers

Every carrier is clamouring for your business. In other words, they will do anything to ensure that you will spend your loonies and toonies at their company, not the competitor’s. To achieve this, they will attempt to offer you the best deals and attempt to outmatch the other guys in the shipping industry.

Ultimately, if you wish to save money on shipping your heavy items, then speak with several carriers, not just one.

3. Research & Compare Shipping Rates

To complement your quest to getting the best price possible, there is another thing you can do: research and compare. In addition to negotiating with a handful of other companies, you should do search the web, find out what other carriers have to offer, and then compare these rates.

Also, there are plenty of comparison resources to take advantage of, including ShipGooder and Secure Ship.

4. Use Free Supplies for Padding Large Packages

Rather than spending additional cash on shipping supplies to protect the item in question, you can reuse plenty of free supplies that you get from your own orders. Or, you can be ingenious and use things like empty egg cartons or plastic wrap. To limit your shipping costs, it is best to avoid buying shipping supplies, especially when they’re marked up by the carrier.

5. Pay with Online or Prepaid Shipping

There are two ways to save: use online shipping and prepaid shipping.

First, you can save as much as 60 percent on online shipping, which then comes with several perks, such as free pick-up service and perhaps even shipping supplies.

Second, prepaid shipping can yield savings of as much as 20 percent. This entails of paying your shipping and everything else that comes with upfront. Moreover, the benefit of prepaid shipping is you know exactly how much you will be spending on shipping the same orders repeatedly.

6. Buy Third-Party Shipping Insurance

For the most part, you can expect to spend as much as a buck for every $100 of insurance. Do you want to circumvent this cost? You can slash this expense with third-party insurance as the cost is approximately half of what you will spend with a conventional carrier.

7. Calculate Shipping Fees Before Billing Clients

Shipping costs are one of the biggest factors for digital retailers and brick-and-mortar fronts. Businesses typically factor shipping costs into the price of a product, or they charge an additional fee for shipping if it is under a specific amount.

This is the only way to handle the shipping aspect: calculate your fees before you bill clients. You will always want your customers to cover most of the shipping tab.

You also need to consider the actual fees that vary, from Saturday shipping to fuel surcharges to fees that require a signature (why? Who knows?).

8. Think About a Shipping Courier

A courier service is economical, convenient, affordable, and reliable, whether you’re shipping heavy boxes at the other end of the city or outside the province for next week. A full-service courier service utilizes a wide array of transportation options, like airplane, automobile, or ocean freights. These are the most reliable for heavy items, like home appliances, auto parts, or industrial equipment.

In this ultra-competitive global economy, businesses – large and small – are attempting to find cheap ways to save on anything and everything. While a lot of companies are successful at reining in their spending, there are just some things that seem like it’s impossible to save on, including shipping. However, with these cheap ways to ship large packages, you can ensure that you’re doing your very best to reduce your shipping expenses.