uShip teams up with Etsy for delivery of large, bulky items

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Updated Mar 11, 2020
Elizabeth Orton started a furniture home delivery business last year and is keeping her trucks full with freight from the uShip marketplace.Elizabeth Orton started a furniture home delivery business last year and is keeping her trucks full with freight from the uShip marketplace.

Shipping marketplace uShip recently teamed up with Etsy, a marketplace for artists and sellers across the globe, to offer shop owners a convenient way to ship large and bulky items.

Traditional shipping options are typically not cost-or time-efficient for small shop owners who well furniture and other large items on Etsy. They can’t get volume rates, and most freight carriers expect sellers to pack and crate items before pickup. And parcel carriers are not equipped to handle oversized items, often resulting in high rates.

With uShip, Etsy sellers can get blanket-wrapped, room-of-choice delivery and full tracking. They also get shipping price estimates, transparent rates, insurance, and fewer handoffs per shipment. For each uShip transaction they also get an account credit.

Sellers get to choose their own carriers from uShip profiles with reviews and ratings from their past customers. Before booking, users can review each carrier who submits a quote and communicate about the shipment in advance.

“The emergence of the marketplace economy has opened the doors for retailers micro to macro to sell anything and everything online,” said Kris Lamb, chief executive of uShip. “Etsy is a leader in enabling these sellers to build their businesses. However, shipping friction, especially large and bulky items, remains a challenge. We’re thrilled to be a solution for Etsy’s vast group of shop owners.”

Etsy cites research that shows shoppers are 20% more likely to purchase an item if it’s offered with free shipping. The company prioritizes search results for sellers who offer free shipping. With uShip’s pricing calculator, sellers can predict and roll in shipping costs to each item.

Brad Stanwick operates a store specializing in English furniture on Etsy. His store, TheParsonsNose, rolls shipping into prices or displays a flat, up-front delivery rate on the item’s listing.

“Using uShip has been better for my bottom line,” Brad says. “I ran the numbers and figured out that I can ship my furniture almost anywhere in the country for about $250 to $300 through uShip. So, I took a leap.”