All About Shipping Costs

Breaking down and understanding the complexities of shipping costs can often feel like navigating uncharted waters, especially if this is your first deal toy project. But fear not!

Let’s talk about a few of the factors that influence the cost of shipping your deal toys to avoid surprises down the line and ultimately prevent you from going over your budget.

Firstly, the weight of your deal toy has a big impact on the overall cost of shipping. The average weight of a deal toy sits somewhere around 6lbs, which isn’t much. For projects with deal toys that weigh more than that, that is when we see freight costs start to rise. Think of any time you’ve gone to the post office, or FedEx or UPS to drop off a package. What do they always do? They weigh it. If you’re shipping something super heavy, the cost is going to be much higher than if it was an average weight. Why? Because of the additional handling and space requirements that come along with them. Unfortunately, those things are out of our control, and we are at the mercy of FedEx/UPS.

Another thing that impacts the cost of shipping is simple – what service are you choosing? If you have the luxury of time, going with Ground is always the best option. The typical timeline for Ground with FedEx/UPS is usually around 1-7 business days from when it enters the system. If you don’t have the luxury of time and you need something express shipped, expect higher costs.

It’s also important to consider the manufacturing origin of your deal toy. If you choose to produce your piece overseas at one of our factories in Asia, the odds of your shipping costs being more than they would be if you produced it domestically are high. This is especially true if your piece is being produced in Asia and you are shipping all the pieces to the United States – the longer the distance, the higher the cost.

Bouncing off that, it also matters where the final shipping destination is. If you plan on shipping pieces to multiple addresses, the total shipping costs will probably be much higher than if you were to ship everything to one address. However, since COVID, it has become increasingly popular to ship to multiple separate addresses all around the world.

Lastly, there is always the fact of how many pieces you plan on sending to any certain destination. Sending ten ~6lb pieces to a destination will always be more than it is to ship four of the same pieces to that same destination.

By being proactive, considering these factors, and leveraging the expertise at Altrum, you can navigate shipping costs with confidence and ensure a smooth delivery process for your deal toys!

Be sure to have a conversation with your account manager about the best options for your project. We are always looking for ways to make sure you get the absolute most out of your budget.