The Complexities of Shipping & Handling Fees

If backorders are high, says Mollo, “You’re shipping multiple packages per order, so it costs you more to ship.” More outgoing orders means more picking and packing expenses, plus you lose the cost benefits of shipping one package versus multiples. “If it’s 1.1 or 1.2 [packages] per order, then that’s great. If it’s more, it costs you more to ship the order because you’re dealing with multiple packages,” he notes. To alleviate this situation, sometimes catalogers will hold orders for a day or two if items will be in soon—that’s if they’re not expedited orders, Mollo says.