Shipping Costs Rise for Small Businesses

Internet postage firm Endicia reports that 84 percent of small businesses saw their annual shipping costs increase this year, according to its recent survey.

The online poll of 512 small businesses (maximum $1.5 million annual gross) who sell their goods on the Internet was conducted in October. Here are some more findings from the report.

40 percent of respondents have incurred a fuel surcharge from their shipping carriers;
34 percent didn’t know if their shipping providers added a fuel surcharge;
60 percent of those surveyed that spend less than $500 per year on parcel shipping absorb the fuel surcharge themselves; and
60 percent of those respondents that spend more than $10,000 annually on shipping pass the fuel surcharge on to their customers.