Shirts are among the most popular items shipped through online shopping. But, delivering clothes to customers presents a variety of issues for eCommerce businesses. This includes how to customize packing, choose delivery methods, and select the most cost-effective shipping option. Box size, item weight, and other factors influence shipping costs.
However, we’ve put together a few ideas that will enable you to ship those shirts efficiently. This includes price comparisons for major couriers, packaging materials suggestions, and guidelines for mailing clothes in good condition.
How Do I Ship a Shirt or T-Shirt?
Whether you’re managing an e-commerce website or distributing new outfits for your local band, you’ll want to ensure that your T-shirts are shipped affordably and efficiently. Here are a few ideas for getting the clothes from point A to point B:
Get Appropriate Packaging Materials
The most cost-effective shipping method requires a careful selection of packing supplies. Additionally, employing the proper packing materials ensures that your things arrive in good condition.
You need the following supplies to package shirts the right way:
- Corrugated boxes (for long-distance)
- Tyvek envelopes (for single or few shirts)
- Cardboard boxes (for shipping a large number)
- Clipboards or bubble mailers (for precious products with embellishments or buttons)
If you’re shipping larger items, you might want to see my previous post on How To Ship Large Items.
How to Package Shirts and T-Shirts for Shipping
Regardless of the type of shirt, you plan to ship, it’s critical that they arrive in perfect shape. To begin, set aside a clean, open surface such as a table or counter, for folding the clothes.
Packaging a single shirt:
- Fold carefully. Make sure there are no creases showing. Shirts should be folded face down with the sleeves folded backward.
- After folding, place in a plastic packing bag. Place the plastic in a poly mailer after it has been sealed. You can get good quality from Metronic Store on Amazon.
- Attach a shipping label and ensure it sticks firmly.
Packaging multiple shirts:
- Stack the shirts. To avoid creasing and wrinkling in transit, send them in a box somewhat larger than the number of shirts.
- For larger shipments, use a cardboard box with packing supplies such as brown Kraft paper or peanuts. This avoids wrinkling and sliding.
- Attach a shipping label and ensure it sticks firmly.
How Do I Weigh the Shirts before Shipping?
Couriers price shipments based on weight or size, whichever is more expensive. While shipping clothing is usually affordable, you should avoid overpaying. This involves rounding up your package weight to the closest pound.
Here are some ways to figure out how much your package weighs and, by extension, how much it will cost to ship:
- Look up the weights of items online.
- Weigh small shipments using a kitchen scale.
- Bathroom scales are suitable for weighing large shipments.
If you only have a bathroom scale, you may be wondering about how you can weigh a very light item. Simply weigh yourself before and after holding the package. The item weight, approximately a pound, is the difference between the first and second measurements. If you’re uncertain, rounding up is the safest approach to avoid delivery price hikes.
However, if you ship shirts regularly, getting a cooking scale will help you weigh light shipments accurately. Amazon Basics Store offers Digital Kitchen Scale with LCD Display.
What’s the Cheapest Way to Ship Shirts Domestically?
Compare prices from multiple courier services to discover the cheapest clothing shipment. Typically, the cheapest domestic shipping carriers for shipping garments are:
If you’re only sending one T-shirt, the best solution is to use USPS First-Class Package Service with a soft envelope or poly mailer. Because most T-shirts weigh around 13 ounces, you’ll be able to send them out for a low price using First-Class Package Service. Here are some suggestions for using this service and saving the most money:
- Reduce the weight of your cargo by not including anything extra.
- Make use of low-cost, lightweight packing, such as a plain poly envelope. These 1013 mm poly mailers come highly recommended.
- The lowest is roughly $3, and the costliest is slightly below $6, depending on weight and distance.
- The shipping time is estimated to be 1-3 days.
Don’t worry if you’re sending out multiple shirts. You can still save a lot of money by shipping T-shirts via USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate Service, which is the cheapest choice among the three major shipping companies! What you need to know about this service is as follows:
- The cost of Priority Mail Flat Rate envelopes is only $7.15. (with USPS Commercial Pricing, which you can get via free online shipping software).
- The shipping time is predicted to be 1-3 days.
- USPS provides insurance as part of this service.
Another quick and economical option for delivering shirts is FedEx Ship Manager Lite. The shipment must weigh less than 68 kg (150 pounds). Manager Lite also comes with free packaging from FedEx.
UPS Ground is very reasonably priced as well. Shipping a 2-pound shipment of shirts from New York to Los Angeles costs $15.57 with a 1–5 day delivery timeframe. Alternatively, shipping the identical 2-pound item from New York to Miami costs $13.36.
What’s the Cheapest Way to Ship Shirts Internationally?
What’s the Cheapest Way to Ship Shirts Domestically?
Because there are more courier services available globally, finding the most cost-effective way to transport clothes internationally can be time-consuming.
Here’s some advice: The cheapest option to mail shirts across borders is through USPS Priority Mail International-Flat Rate. Shipping a 2-pound cargo from Connecticut to Hong Kong, for instance, is far less expensive with USPS than with UPS or FedEx, as shown below.
- USPS Priority Mail International – Small Flat Rate Box – 6-10 business days $42.15
- USPS First-Class Package International – 7-21 business days $28.85
- UPS Worldwide Expedited® – 4-5 business days $162.27
- UPS Saver® – 2-3 business days $176.88
- FedEx International Economy – 3-5 business days $159.25
- FedEx International Priority – 3-5 business days $163.98
Important Tricks and Tips for Shipping Shirts
Consider the following suggestions when packing your shirts for shipping:
- Avoid using excessive padding.
- To safeguard delicate garments, use hard packing.
- Fill affordable poly mailers with your items.
- Ship everything together.
- As you pack, weigh your items to help you make modifications.
- Before packing, fold your clothes properly.
- Instead of including printed information, email receipts are sent.
- Ship in the smallest feasible package.
- Compare the pricing of “by weight” services to flat-rate services.
- For long-distance or hefty items, consider USPS Flat Rate Priority shipping.
- Look for large quantity discounts.
