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Cost of Shipping to the UK with Amazon Shipping
Amazon Shipping Costs to the UK Explained
With 4.2 billion parcels shipped to the UK in the 2020/2021 fiscal year, an increase of 1.3 billion from the previous years, shipping to the UK has never been more lucrative than it is now. This is why, as of 2023, more companies are tapping into this gold mine. But with over 14,895 third-party logistics (3PL) companies in the UK, the paradox of choice sets in when choosing a logistics partner for your eCommerce business.
Regardless of the saturation of options, a handful of UK fulfilment companies or delivery services that operate in the UK stick out from the others, one of which is Amazon Shipping. Although this delivery company must be doing something right before it’s considered one of the best, eCommerce businesses have different priorities when choosing a shipping service. One of these priorities is shipping costs. So, what does Amazon Shipping charge for UK orders? This is where we find out.
Key points
- According to global trade management, the cost of shipping to the UK is 24.2% higher compared to shipping to other parts of Europe. The major contributor to this increase is custom fees and import taxes.
- Ordering products from international sites may subject you to pay customs fees and import taxes when your product arrives in the UK. For eCommerce businesses, a high shipping cost from a 3PL or delivery service is a dealbreaker.
- Shipping costs depend on several factors, from shipment weight to quantity, utilised services, travelled distance, etc. Each consumer has different requirements, which is why shipping costs differ.
- Nevertheless, Amazon Shipping is a major contender in the fulfilment and delivery niche, with many enterprises and SMEs under its belt.
- Amazon Shipping’s UK shipping costs are relatively affordable, depending on your order volume and other determinants.
What is Amazon Shipping?
Amazon Shipping is an affiliate company of the global eCommerce marketplace, Amazon, that focuses on order deliveries and transportation. Based in the UK, Amazon Shipping has a few offerings for large enterprises and SMEs.
How Amazon Shipping works
Amazon Shipping is a domestic delivery service that connects already shipped merchandise to their respective consumers. This service isn’t exclusive to Amazon eCommerce sellers, as retailers on other sales channels can access Amazon Shipping. These businesses can use Amazon Shipping in these steps:
- Make a sale on any eCommerce marketplace
- Ship to a UK warehouse
- Arrange warehouse pickup with Amazon Shipping
- Amazon Shipping delivers the order to your customers.
Amazon Shipping is not a full-service fulfilment provider like Bezos. It is a UK shipping service that can pick up parcels from an intermediary warehouse and deliver them to customers within the UK. Amazon Shipping’s offering is limited. The provider only offers a few logistics services, which don’t include international shipping or storage and warehousing. These limitations are why Amazon Shipping partners with third-party logistics companies like Shiptheory.
Despite its limited offerings, Amazon Shipping still charges for the services it renders. However, its shipping costs largely depend on the following factors:
Factors that affect Amazon Shipping’s costs to the UK
- Delivery location
- Package dimension and weight
- Order volume
- Carrier
- Services
- Delivery speed.
Understanding these factors helps eCommerce businesses make informed decisions when selecting a delivery service.
- Delivery location
The delivery location determines the shipping cost. Packages shipped to remote locations or those with limited access will have higher shipping costs than others. Moreover, deliveries to locations that require customs clearance can also increase shipping costs.
Amazon Shipping only operates across the UK. This means that while it isn’t open to international fulfilment, it partners with 3PL companies like ShipStation that do. However, this partnership creates room for intermediary fees that could further increase shipping costs.
In stark contrast, Bezos is a global full-service fulfilment partner with 63 fulfilment centres across 17 countries. We handle local and international order fulfilment for eCommerce brands in various industries. Hence, choosing us as your fulfilment partner means you can operate from the US and send orders to the UK, Germany, etc. As a thank you, we can help your eCommerce brand experience significant growth beyond the expected margins.
2. Package dimension and weight
The dimensions and weight of the package to be delivered significantly influence the cost of shipping packages. Amazon Shipping’s delivery charges are based on the package’s dimensional weight (DIM), which considers both the actual weight and size of the package. This means larger and heavier packages may require more resources to deliver, leading to high costs compared to smaller and lighter packages.
Amazon Shipping delivers small to large parcels up to 23 kg in weight, and as expected, the pricing for merchandise in each weight class is different. Optimising your parcel’s dimensions will help minimise Amazon Shipping’s delivery fees.
On the other hand, Bezos offers amazing savings on each order. With £1 to £2 worth of savings on each shipped order, choosing Bezos as your UK shipping service will be your eCommerce brand’s best financial and fulfilment decision.
3. Order volume
The order volume, or minimum order quantity (MOQ), also affects the shipping cost. However, this notion applies less to larger parcels than to smaller ones. For instance, it may cost more to ship a washing machine than it is to ship five towels. Hence, on the list of shipping cost influencers, order volume only precedes the shipment size and weight when it’s a bulk order.
4. Carrier
Because Amazon Shipping is a shipping service provider, it lacks the facilities synonymous with full-service fulfilment operators like Bezos. Instead, it uses the services of other carriers and intermediaries, which may append their fees to the shipping costs. Amazon Shipping has a long list of affiliated carriers. A few of them include the following:
- Metapack
- ShipStation
- Shipster
- nShift
- StoreFeeder, etc.
In retrospect, Bezos absolves you of the intermediary fees and hassles as we’re a full-service fulfilment provider that handles all eCommerce supply chain logistics stages.
5. Services
Usually, the featured services a provider offers determine the accrued shipping costs. However, this notion barely applies to Amazon Shipping’s limited services. This UK shipping company offers the following featured services by default:
- Warehouse pickup
- Package delivery
- Automated shipping management
- Tracking and surveillance.
6. Delivery speed
Delivery speed is another factor affecting the overall shipping cost. Faster delivery options like expedited, same-day or priority will cost more than standard delivery. When choosing a delivery option, it is important to consider the order’s urgency or priority and the associated shipping costs. Unlike Bezos, Amazon Shipping has limited delivery options and prioritises a few. These include:
- Next-day delivery (only applicable to UK Amazon sellers)
- One-day delivery.
In comparison, Bezos offers 10+ delivery options, which include:
- Standard delivery
- Free next-day delivery
- Same-day delivery
- Next-day delivery
- Green delivery, etc.
Each of these options has its requirements and price. Speak to our experts to start saving on shipping costs now.
Amazon Shipping’s limitations
As efficient as Amazon Shipping is, the company has many policies that make its services inaccessible or unattractive to many eCommerce sellers. Some of these limitations include the following:
- UK-to-UK deliveries
Amazon Shipping does not support international orders as it only supports UK-to-UK deliveries. Only UK-based eCommerce sellers shipping orders to UK consumers can use Amazon Shipping.
- Preferential treatment
Amazon Shipping only offers certain benefits to sellers on the Amazon marketplace. For instance, only eCommerce businesses on Amazon can access the UK shipping service’s different delivery options. Businesses outside Amazon can only access the next-day delivery plan. Hence, Amazon Shipping might not be your best bet if you’re a WooCommerce seller seeking a range of delivery plans.
- Accessibility
Accessing Amazon Shipping’s services is strictly by invitation. This might sound crazy, but it’s true. The most you can do to request a free quote is input your information and amount of packages you have. However, accessing the services this UK shipping company offers is by invitation.
Amazon Shipping’s costs
There’s no clearly defined range that Amazon Shipping charges its eCommerce sellers for UK orders. As previously mentioned, you must be invited to receive a ‘free quote’ of their shipping costs. However, it is known that the cost of shipping with Amazon Shipping decreases as the order volume/quantity increases. The provider is, therefore, better suited to sellers with over 100 daily orders to be shipped.
Contrary to Amazon Shipping, Bezos offers transparency in its pricing. Once you request a free quote, you’ll have access to gauge the different pricing plans we offer in under two hours. These plans are customisable and can be tailored to your eCommerce brand’s needs.
With Bezos, customers with many orders cut shipping costs to the UK and enjoy augmented services like multiple delivery options. Bezos grants eCommerce businesses access to a sophisticated fulfilment network, AI-enabled technologies and other comprehensive offerings at a fraction of the cost of self-fulfilling. This way, we can save your business up to 30% while helping it scale and thrive in other markets.
Bezos’ UK shipping services
As an unparalleled fulfilment service provider that deploys smart solutions for order fulfilment, Bezos goes the whole nine yards. We are a full-service fulfilment partner, which means we ship, pick, receive, pack, store and deliver orders from eCommerce brands to their customers. From local to international fulfilment, Bezos’ full-service fulfilment means we offer everything from the order’s reception to its final delivery. These services can be grouped into three categories:
- Order reception
- Order processing
- Order delivery.
- Order reception
Receiving orders is the first step of fulfilment. Once a customer places an order on your eCommerce store, you’ll confirm it before you begin fulfilling. If you’re working with a fulfilment company, you can send the products to their warehouse or fulfilment centre. With Bezos as your fulfilment partner, we will receive these orders in any of our 63 fulfilment centres in 17 countries, preferably the one closest to the consumer. We can pick up these orders from your location or receive them directly from your supplier to reduce intermediary costs.
To manage these orders, you can integrate with Bezos’ Seller Portal. This portal redefines fulfilment management and is easily integrable with 57 eCommerce marketplaces. Bezos’ Seller Portal lets you view, track and manage all incoming orders as they arrive and acts as a two-way mirror. By integrating it with your Amazon, Etsy, eBay or WooCommerce, etc. storefront, we are notified each time a consumer makes an order. Thus, we have this updated information and can initiate its fulfilment based on its priority. Speak to our experts now to get started!
- Order processing
The order processing stage of shipping involves verifying data like shipping and billing addresses. It also involves verifying the order’s availability, retrieving it from storage, inspecting, assembling, disinfecting, labelling and repackaging it.
Bezos takes great pride in processing orders meticulously. We do this to ensure your local or international order is delivered to the final consumer within 48 hours. Once we receive said order, we inspect and register it before it’s moved to storage. Depending on the order’s priority, we’ll retrieve it from storage, label and then repackage it for delivery.
With our application of advanced machine learning technologies and artificial intelligence, we can automate the order processing stage of the eCommerce supply chain. These technologies fast-track the process while our Seller Portal updates the fulfilment status in real time.
- Order delivery
Once the order has been processed, its delivery commences. Several activities go into an order’s delivery before it gets in transit, like:
- Retrieving said order from storage
- Repackaging
- Labelling – before it’s shipped to the final consumer.
At Bezos, we offer inbound and outbound fulfilment solutions that involve picking, warehousing, packing, shipping and delivery. We will first retrieve the order from storage, repackage it as requested and label it with your brand’s custom labels before sending it out for delivery. As an added benefit, we go the extra mile during the repackaging stage to ensure your customers get an upload-worthy unboxing experience.
Conclusion
UK shipping costs aren’t fixed. They’re influenced by several factors and vary from one delivery company to the next. With several UK shipping companies, choosing the best one for your eCommerce business requires a lot of research. Luckily, we’ve done the work by analysing one of the most popular UK shipping services, Amazon Shipping.
On paper, Amazon Shipping is the pride of the Amazon conglomerate, but this provider has certain bottlenecks in its services. For instance, access to its pricing options is based on invitation. Nevertheless, with other limitations like partnerships with 3PL companies to bridge the gap between order reception and fulfilment, Amazon Shipping’s UK shipping costs cannot be lower than that of Bezos, a full-service fulfilment partner.
FAQs
Is Amazon shipping free in the UK?
Amazon, the eCommerce marketplace, does offer free standard deliveries on orders over £20. However, Amazon Shipping, the premium shipping service owned by Amazon marketplace, offers 7-day delivery services, permitting sellers to deliver on weekends at no extra shipping costs.
Why is Amazon’s shipping fee so high?
Several factors contribute to Amazon’s high shipping costs. However, it’s been revealed that the company spent more fulfilling orders than it made from sales. Hence, shipping costs had to go up to even the margin.
How can I avoid shipping charges on Amazon?
You can avoid Amazon Shipping’s charges by choosing a full-service fulfilment company like Bezos to handle your orders’ fulfilment. You can also avoid these charges by bundling your Amazon orders.
