In today’s podcast, we are venturing into what many find to be the second most complex part of running an online store with physical products, and that is shipping. As with taxes, it’s a maze of variables and choices that can often bog you down. And to help you to get a better grip on planning our shipping, we invited Robert Gilbreath, VP of Marketing & Partnerships at ShipStation. Robert provides some great guidelines that not only help you get started but also to get you thinking on preparation for scaling as your product inventory grows.

We chatted about:

* The first two important steps to make once you know the product that you need to ship

* How to navigate the maze of shipping options

* Some of the major challenges store owners face when working through the shipping process

* What products can be a challenge to ship

* Robert’s four points to consider when planning your shipping

* When shipping is no longer a DIY part of your business

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: WordPress eCommerce Show Episode 77 May 17 2017

Bob Dunn: Hey, everyone. Bob Dunn here, known as BobWP on the web. In today’s show we are going to touch on a subject that many online retailers need to know. We’ve talked about taxes, which is huge and have yet to touch on the subject of shipping.

Now we know that taxes make a very broad and complicated topic when it comes to online sales. Possibly it’s the most complicated, but shipping kind of falls right behind that because there are certain challenges, especially when you’re looking at a store with a lot of products shipped across the world. Even local shipping has to be done right. So if you’re someone just starting out as an online retailer or looking to increase your product line, today I’ve asked Robert Gilbreath, V.P. of marketing and partnerships at ShipStation, to join us. Hey Robert, welcome to the show.

Robert Gilbreath: Hey, thanks for having me.

Bob: My pleasure. Now Robert, before we really get into the questions, what I’d love to do is have you tell us a little bit about yourself and what ShipStation does.

Meet Robert Gilbreath, VP of Marketing & Partnerships at ShipStation

Robert: Sure thing. I feel like I have a pretty interesting story because before I joined the team here at ShipStation, I was an eCommerce retailer for most of my career. I started selling on eBay in the mid- 90s, a year or so after eBay launched. My dad and I started selling auto parts on eBay.

That was sort of my toe in the water and I got hooked really quick. I learned a lot about online marketing and search engine optimization originally by learning how to be a good seller on ebay. I had done some other sites outside of the auto parts world and then became a thought leader and an executive at several rather large online retailers. Most recently, before I joined ShipStation, I was running eCommerce for calendars.com which is an internet retailer, top 500 reseller of calendars Yes, people still buy big paper calendar—lots of them.

Bob: My wife does. She loves hers. She has to have that one that’s on her desk.

Robert: Yeah. The loyalty and affinity to some calendars is pretty amazing. But, you know, so I spent most of my career being a retailer and the opportunity came to join a ShipStation and I literally have been, any size customer that ShipStation’s going to have whether it’s mom-and-pop like my dad and I selling a few auto parts on e-bay, all the way up to guys who ship a quarter million thin...