What to Charge Customers for Lost Shipments
I'm a very small business with limited means. I sent a shipment to Australia from the United States via USPS Priority Mail. I charged the customer the USPS's cost $34.80 for shipping plus for three of my products which are $39 each. USPS promises delivery in 6 to 10 business days. The shipment didn't arrive in 10 business days. The tracking information says its in Australia somewhere. I asked the customer to wait and if nothing was received I would re-send.
It's now been almost a month. I requested my insurance money from USPS. They said they will pay me in one month if the shipment hasn't arrived. I suppose they're betting that it will eventually show up. I bet they're right.
I got a quote from UPS and they want to charge $143 (FedEx was similar). Resending three products plus $143 would cost me months of profit.
What if anything should I charge the customer for reshipment?
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I got a package returned as non-deliverable from another country after 6 months... USPS Priority, too. – Littleadv 11 years ago
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To prevent this, you can leave it to customer to select the service. – Xaqron 11 years ago
1 Answer
If the customer didn't do anything to cause the reshipment - rejecting delivery, mail forwarding, etc - then you shouldn't charge them anything.
Yes, I know it sucks.. but think about it:
Would you do business with a company that punished you when someone else made a mistake when you had no control, influence, or even information on what happened? On another point, if $143 is "months of profit" you should re-evaluate your numbers and process. Maybe it's just not cost effective for you to ship internationally?
