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Every single day, beauty companies large and small send lotions and creams to customers all over the country—and all around the world, for that matter. While lotions and hand creams are typically small products, their density gives them a good amount of weight, and the cost to ship them can add up quickly if you’re sending multiple containers in one box. In any case, Shipping School has got you covered. This article is about the cheapest way to ship lotion and hand cream, which service to choose from, and how you can access special dimension-based rates to keep the most money in your pocket. Let’s dive in!
Table of Contents
- Lotions Don’t Contain Hazardous Materials and You Can Ship Them With Any Service
- USPS Ground Advantage is the Cheapest Service for Shipping Lotion and Hand Cream
- Pack Your Lotion Shipments With Enough Absorbent Material to Prevent Leakage
- Use Shipping Software to Save Money on USPS Labels and to Access Dimension-Based Rates
Lotions Don’t Contain Hazardous Materials and You Can Ship Them With Any Service
Since they fall somewhere between liquids and solids, lotions and body creams are considered somewhat tricky products to classify. That said, most lotions don’t contain any ingredients that shipping carriers classify as hazardous materials, and as such, they are relatively straightforward to ship. You can use any service to send lotions, including both ground-based and air-based services from the major U.S. carriers. Some of the most popular shipping services at your disposal from both USPS and UPS are as follows:
- USPS Ground Advantage
- Priority Mail
- UPS Ground
- UPS Second Day Air
- UPS 3-Day Select
While you can use all of these services, you’ll only get the cheapest rates possible with one of them…which we’re about to get to in the next section.
USPS Ground Advantage is the Cheapest Service for Shipping Lotion and Hand Cream
If you’re looking for the cheapest service to send lotions and hand creams, look no further than USPS Ground Advantage. Ground Advantage is the Postal Service’s most affordable shipping service, with rates coming in at much lower prices than other USPS services such as Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express. Ground Advantage labels also come with $100 of built-in USPS insurance, which is a nice layer of protection that you can claim in case your box goes missing or its contents arrive damaged.
All that said, while Ground Advantage is the cheapest USPS service, it is also the slowest. Delivery can take anywhere between 2-5 business days, and as the name of the service suggests, all Ground Advantage shipments travel via ground transportation only. Priority Mail shipments, on the other hand, travel via air transportation and typically reach their destinations much quicker (between 1-3 business days).
Why Choose Ground Advantage Over UPS Ground?
Ground Advantage is also cheaper than its “competitor” service UPS Ground, if only by a few dollars here and there. UPS Ground delivery tends to be quicker, though, with estimated delivery timeframes of 1-5 business days (UPS often delivers Ground shipments overnight if the box doesn’t have to travel too far). That said, lotions and body creams typically don’t require time-sensitive delivery, and most shippers don’t mind opting for slightly slower delivery in exchange for more affordable service.
Pack Your Lotion Shipments With Enough Absorbent Material to Prevent Leakage
Before you’re ready to ship, we suggest lining a small, corrugated cardboard box with absorbent packing material like towels or rags. These will help soak up any leakage that may occur if your lotion container takes damage or spills during transit. Lotion can get messy if the contents spill all over the place, and lining the bottom of your box with a rag or some thin towels can ensure that the cardboard box you’re using doesn’t become damp and soggy.
Once you’ve done that, give your lotions and creams an added layer of protection by wrapping them in bubble wrap or styrofoam sheets, and then fill out any “void” space in the box with other kinds of packing material such as air pillows or packing peanuts. A good way to test whether you’ve used enough packing material is to pick up the box and shake it lightly once you’ve packed it. If you feel your items moving around too much within the box, then you need to add more material to fill out the space inside.
Use Shipping Software to Save Money on USPS Labels and to Access Dimension-Based Rates
While USPS Ground Advantage is the most affordable way to send lotions and creams, there’s still a way that you can save even more money on these shipments…and that is to use online shipping software to purchase discounted USPS labels.
When you use shipping software, you gain access to a tier of USPS discounts known as Commercial Pricing. This is a special pricing tier that USPS typically only grants to huge shippers sending over 50,000 boxes per year. However, many shipping software companies pass these discounts onto their customers thanks to the economies-of-scale contracts they enter into with USPS.
Dimension-Based Rates Can Save You Even More Money on Heavier Lotion Shipments
Some shipping software options let you access “secret” dimension-based rates within Ground Advantage service, where the cost to ship your box is only determined by how big it is and not how much it weighs. That means that you can load up your box with as many lotion or cream products as you can fit, and the cost of shipping it won’t change! In some cases, these specially discounted dimension-based rates can save you up to 89% off what you’d pay to ship the same box with Ground Advantage at the Post Office.
While dimension-based Ground Advantage rates are a surefire way to keep the most money in your pocket, not every shipping software option offers them…and you’ll need to do some research to find the ones that do.
Looking for the right shipping software for you?
To get the deepest discounts on USPS Ground Advantage labels, check out our guide:
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