Selling hair extensions online is a great way to make extra money.
Have a shipping question not answered in the article? Did this article help you? We want to hear it in the comments below!
A lot of our clients utilize Dropshipping, where the Private Label team will pack & ship the orders for you or you. Others are buying Wholesale Hair and packing the orders themselves. The most successful clients do both.
Today we are going to focus on packing and shipping your hair orders at home or in your office. Our team has packed hundreds of thousands of orders and has tons of experience with shipping hair.
Now you can learn all the tips and tricks on how to ship hair, what mistakes not to make, what are the best shipping supplies, and more!
*PRO TIP - Dropping GEMS! Make sure you check out my Pro Tips throughout the article!
Best Shipping Supplies
I am not going to make any computer suggestions in this post, but a standard desktop or laptop will be needed.
Your computer will connect you to your online shipping system and, of course, your label printers.
We can start here.
Best Printers For Shipping Hair Extensions
I suggest having two printers in your shipping station. An inexpensive laser printer to print packing slips as well as a label printer.
You can get away with printing shipping labels on regular 8.5" X 11" paper, use scissors to cut the label, and then tape to the package, but it's going to look messy, unprofessional, and take a lot of time.
This is where the label printer comes in.
Best Printer for Shipping Labels
Our shipping department has had the best results using Dymo Label Printers.
Our favorite is the Dymo 4XL.
Some of our Dymo printers have shipped over 50,000 labels for shipments. What's great about these is that it's a thermal printer and doesn't need ink. That can be a huge money saving when printing. We all know how expensive those ink cartridges can get!
Along with the Dymo printer, you will need the 4" x 6" Dymo Shipping Labels.
If you want to save some money, you might want to try these Dymo Compatible Shipping Labels.
Make sure you have a few extra rolls on hand at all times. There is nothing worse than running out of shipping labels! You know hair clients need their hair ASAP, and you don't have time to run to Staples only to find they are sold out.
I know from experience btw!
These generic Dymo labels usually work just as well as the original labels and can save you big bucks if you start shipping a lot of packages.
*PRO TIP - Be very careful with the Return Address name that is printed on the package. If your name says "Extensions" or "Wigs," then it will be a target for theft. At Private Label Extensions, we just use PLE as the ship from company name. Get it?
Dymo has been the shipping label leader in the industry, so we like to stick with them. Having an excellent printer for shipping labels is crucial!
Best Printer For Packing Slips
Let's talk about packing slips!
Packing slips are usually formatted to be shipped on 8.5" X 11" standard paper.
You have two options for printing on standard paper, InkJet, and Laser.
I am not a fan of InkJet Printers because they are generally more expensive to print per page. We also don't need a color printer because this is going to mostly be used to print packing slips to go with your orders.
We highly recommend going with an inexpensive, rock-solid, laser printer.
Check out this budget-friendly Laser Printer from Brother.
We have recommended this printer to many clients over the years with great success. It's small and light-weight so you can move it around quickly.
Laser printers will print a packings slip in seconds, so you are not wasting any time while shipping out your hair orders.
Best Shipping Supplies for Hair Extensions
Let's first cover the most cost-effective way to ship hair extensions.
USPS offers competitive shipping rates for weights under one pound using their First Class Mail option. Once you go over one pound, you will need to compare prices between USPS Priority Mail or UPS & FedEx Ground. We will get into that later in the article.
The key is understanding light-weight shipping because it starts to get expensive when shipping an order of products over 1 pound.
Lucky for us in the industry, most of your shipments will be under one pound.
Here are some average shipping weights for popular orders:
- Hair Bundle Deals with 3 Bundles - 12 oz
- 3 Bundles and a Closure - 14 oz
- 3 Bundles and a Frontal - Just under 1 pound (Whew!)
- Bob Wig - 7 oz
- Average Lace Front Wig - 9 oz
- 180% Density Wig - 11 oz
As you can see, many of the popular orders will be under 1 pound, which is excellent news for you.
Shipping with Poly Mailers
There is nothing more light-weight for shipping than a Poly Mailer.
There are many different sizes, but the team at Private Label Extensions prefers the 10" X 13" Poly Mailer.
This poly mailer is a versatile size that can easily fit three bundles and a frontal, two wigs, and a combination of products.
*PRO TIP - If you are shipping a lot of products, you can save on the price per mailer by purchasing 1k at a time.
I have had clients over the years want to have fancy poly mailers with custom designs and colors. I highly DO NOT RECOMMEND this.
Learn from Kylie Jenner and her disaster with stolen packages.
There are plenty of SAFER ways to brand your business.
Shipping with Boxes
There is no better place to buy boxes than Uline.
When you have packages over 1lb and need to use a box, make sure you have a couple of different sizes available. If you are going to ship items like Hair Growth Serum, it's essential to have it shipped in a box.
I have been a client of theirs since 2006 and have always received great products and services.
Uline sells packing tape, but we always find ourselves getting Packing Tape from Amazon with free shipping.
What's our favorite? The 3" Shipping Tape from Tape King.
Yes, there is a cheaper 2" version, but we always feel it's just "not enough" when taping up boxes. You then find yourself using more tape when trying to cover up more of the box.
*PRO TIP - Use the 3" wide tape. It's worth the cost!
Same as with Poly Mailers, buying tape in bulk should save you money. If you are just getting started, you should not go overboard with shipping supplies until you are getting a lot of orders. Please consider that!
Free Shipping Supplies
The major USA shipping carriers offer free packaging to use for shipping.
Sometimes this is great; sometimes, it ends up costing more.
I honestly see a ton of posts on social media about how USPS has free padded Priority envelopes.
The problem?
At the time of writing this, the cost to ship one of Priority Mail Padded envelope around $10.50. If you are sending three bundles and a closure to a client, you are paying an additional $5 for shipping.
Are you doing this now? Don't worry; we made the same mistake at Private Label Extensions back in 2014. Once we realized that it's not the best option for shipping smaller orders, we switched to poly mailers and First Class mail.
*PRO TIP - We wasted thousands of extra dollars shipping with USPS Priority Mail envelopes in 2014. You don't have to make the same mistake!
Shipping costs can add up, and because of places like Amazon, you can't charge a lot for shipping and get a high-volume of orders. Choosing the right shipping option is going to save you a lot of profits!
What Shipping Carrier Should I Use?
You will want to use USPS as well as either FedEx or UPS.
USPS will be used for most of the lighter packages under 1lb to be shipped via First Class Mail.
*PRO TIP - USPS First Class Mail will arrive just as fast as Priority Mail. It just costs a lot less and is only available for packages under 1 LB.
I would make my decision between FedEx and UPS by the service offered in your area. If either of them has a local branch near you, it could also be a benefit.
Lost Packages, Stolen Packages, & Customer Issues
You might have done everything right during the shipping process, but I can guarantee you that you will still have to deal with some ongoing shipping issues.
All carriers lose Packages. That's a fact!
Packages will be stolen off of doorsteps as well as by the carrier if they know something is valuable inside.
PRO TIP - It costs a little more, but having packages with Signature Confirmation can reduce issues related to stolen packages and customers saying they didn't receive them.
I just want to make sure you know this is going to happen and to be prepared for it. It's something all E-commerce businesses that sell physical products deal with.
Best Practices for Shipping Hair Extensions
Here are some of my favorite tips when shipping hair extensions that you should consider following. If you have any additional tips, please leave them in the comments below so we can add to the article and help others.
Take Photos of Every Order Shipped
Want to help reduce the chances of fraud and also make sure you are shipping the orders correctly?
Take a photo of the shipment right before it's going into the box or poly mailer.
We do this for all shipments at Private Label Extensions. At the end of the day, the shipping team will upload the photos to Google Drive for safekeeping. If we get a message that something was shipped incorrectly, we can review the photo.
Sometimes you might have forgotten to the product inside the shipment, and other times a customer will claim they didn't receive an item. Often after sending a photo of the delivery, the product is miraculously found.
It's a quick and virtually free way to protect your business.
Add a Thank You Card to the Shipment
If you are shipping a high volume of products, I would suggest getting postcards printed. Maybe you are just starting and have enough time to write a personalized thank you note. That's always a nice touch!
You can keep them very simple with a clean design. It's also a good idea to put your contact number and email address on the card, so it's easy for t to get in touch with you.
A creative idea could be designing a card that says "Give this to a Friend" and possibly have a client help grow your business.
The sky is the limit with the messages you can use. Be creative and try different ideas to find the best rate of success.
Have a Dropshipping Account as Backup Plan
You have been working hard all year, and it's time for the week vacation you have been so excited about.
WAIT!
Who is going to pack and ship your orders? Your Mom doesn't want to do it?
Having access to Hair Dropshipping can be a total lifesaver in this case. You can manage your orders and have them shipped out while you are busy traveling the world. Doesn't that sound nice? We have tons of clients doing it!
It's always good to have a backup plan for your business.
Ready to Start Shipping?
Shipping hair extensions is not rocket science. If you use the tools and tips in this article, you will do just fine. Don't beat yourself up if you make a few shipping mistakes. It happens to the best of us.
Shipping is a significant expense for your business with equipment, shipping supplies, and the time it takes to ship each package. The faster you become more efficient and learn how to save costs, the more profits you will see.
Have a shipping tip? Comment right below to help the hair community!
