Couriers for our Chess Sales - Oh Dear!
Well, kinda. Only they make us do it instead of themselves. It’s not as if we don’t give a reasonable business over the months. We have many parcels, some small some large, but courier profit margins are so thin that they appear to try anything on to make that little extra. Our packages from chess sales are generally between 3 and 15KG’s. So how come we have entries of 44 KG’s in our bill? Human error they say, we’ll get another bill out to you. Well, hang on, what about these re-delivery charges? Half our entries for the month have corresponding re-delivery charges, which in some cases would significantly affect any profitability for the sale (once Gordon Brown has his VAT cut, the Credit Card’s have their cut, the payment gateway theirs and the transaction processing company get their cut)… And whilst you’re sorting all that out those redelivery charges, what about those prices for chess deliveries Northern Ireland, Scottish Highlands and the Isle of Man?
Yes, we’re working with new couriers for our chess store, actually a broker who will sort out the right courier for the area of country, including Europe. With billing errors, if paid, it would be a wonder that we would make any profit from our chess store at all sometimes. What with the chess suppliers trying to get every penny possible, more and more customers trying for discounts on their chess sets, customer returns and now couriers doubling their bill, its a daily struggle. Mmmm, but I’d rather be in chess than in logistics. The key is to keep an eye on everything and not to trust bills from suppliers and couriers. We have a small company do our order fulfillment, and the guy who heads it also has the task of going through the couriers bill with a toothcombe - we’re fortunate to have someone so methodical and meticulous.
We managed to get our bill almost halved for the month of May, that kind of reduction really helps the bottom line. I think we can continue working with this broker. It’s a struggle to get couriers at the right price. Any suggestions anyone?
Here’s a dump of the tracking information for DHL - for a shipment sent to Northern Cyprus. Oh Man - they sent it to Larnaca - then back to London - then right back to Larnaca.
4106****84 - Detailed Report
Date Time Location Service Area Checkpoint Details
——————————————————————————–
March 26, 2008 12:21 Bristol - UK Shipment picked up
March 26, 2008 17:27 Bristol - UK Departing origin
March 26, 2008 19:54 Bristol - UK Departed from DHL facility in Bristol - UK
March 26, 2008 22:11 London-Heathrow - UK Arrived at DHL facility in London-Heathrow - UK
March 27, 2008 06:34 London-Heathrow - UK Departed from DHL facility in London-Heathrow - UK
March 27, 2008 16:30 Larnaca - Cyprus Arrived at DHL facility in Larnaca - Cyprus
March 27, 2008 19:00 Larnaca - Cyprus Departed from DHL facility in Larnaca - Cyprus
March 28, 2008 07:26 Larnaca - Cyprus Arrived at DHL Facility
March 28, 2008 08:56 Larnaca - Cyprus Shipment arrived at wrong facility. Sent to correct destination
March 28, 2008 17:43 Larnaca - Cyprus Departed from DHL facility in Larnaca - Cyprus
March 28, 2008 21:20 Athens - Greece Departed from DHL facility in Athens - Greece
March 28, 2008 22:20 Athens - Greece Transferred through Athens - Greece
March 29, 2008 00:10 Bergamo - Italy Transferred through Bergamo - Italy
March 29, 2008 00:11 Bergamo - Italy Departed from DHL facility in Bergamo - Italy
April 01, 2008 10:27 Leipzig - Germany Shipment on hold
April 02, 2008 05:28 Leipzig - Germany Departed from DHL facility in Leipzig - Germany
April 02, 2008 08:01 London-Heathrow - UK Arrived at DHL facility in London-Heathrow - UK
April 02, 2008 17:16 London-Heathrow - UK Departed from DHL facility in London-Heathrow - UK
April 03, 2008 06:01 Larnaca - Cyprus Arrived at DHL facility in Larnaca - Cyprus
April 03, 2008 07:25 Larnaca - Cyprus Departed from DHL facility in Larnaca - Cyprus
April 03, 2008 08:17 Larnaca - Cyprus Arrived at DHL Facility
April 03, 2008 08:37 Larnaca - Cyprus Shipment arrived at wrong facility. Sent to correct destination
Comment by Baron Turner — April 3, 2008 @ 1:10 pm