BizSugar.com › Finance › More small businesses haggle to cut shipping costs

Article discusses new ways to get USPS discounts along with how to negotiate with shipping companies.

From article:

The U.S. Postal Service, making itself more competitive with commercial mailers and shippers, is taking some steps away from what it calls a "one price fits all" policy that had customers paying the same price for all pieces of mail in certain classes of service. For example, Express Mail has had one price whether a piece of mail was sent 10 miles or 1,000 miles.

Express Mail will be priced based on zones, allowing customers sending mail nearby to pay less. Customers can also get volume discounts or save money by purchasing Express Mail online or through corporate accounts. Meanwhile, customers who use Priority Mail can save an average of 3.5 percent if they use electronic postage or meet other requirements and there will be discounts on Parcel Select and Parcel Return Service.

Shipping and mailing costs have been going up lately along with the price of gasoline and diesel, so the Postal Service is clearly trying to win away some business from its commercial rivals. Shipping and mailing services are all feeling the pain of a slower economy, and they're hungry for business -- and savvy company owners know how to turn a difficult situation to their advantage.

"Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate," said Nancy Baughman, owner of eBiz Auctions, a Raleigh, N.C.-based online auction service. She said she's been able to get a better rate from shipping companies by telling them what their competitors are willing to do for her.

"Don't be afraid to use one against the other," she said. "We do it all the time."