Cheapest way to ship CD's

JG96

JG96

Active member
So for the first time my band has made hard copies of our album. People are interested in buying them and most are local but for those who are not I need to figure out shipping. I have done some research but I'm having trouble finding the cheapest way. How do you guys mail your CD's? I'm in the US btw.
 
Why are you not using website?
It is the best way to market song at any place in this world. People who are living outside can get song by visiting you website.
 
Hmm... Logistics, far from my strong suit but I'll give it a go.

If your looking for reliable distribution, to each and every doorstep I'm sure the us postal service offers some sort of sign on delivery service (we call it registered post) if its a case of maximising your CD sales overall and keeping costs low I'd take a very different approach;

First and foremost establish your target market,
If 90% are within say a 50 mile radius just sell em when your there. cut your losses and sell local only, if its a case that you have a following in several cities consider making a contact who'll do distribution, certain cd stores will sell for you but take a cut, but you save on bulk ups / dhl / fedex / whatever shipments to that region

Second work out your chains of distribution,
If you sell most of them at gigs just bring a guy who can carry a table, box for takings and box of cd's and let him work his magic, again remember his cut, or just get a good friend, / partner to do it on the long and never.

If you plan on selling online make sure people are aware of your channels, ie. why pay to have it hosted on x.com if noone knows about x.com this includes iTunes and amazon.

If you're planning on selling internationally the best option then is to find a band in that country in a similar style, put your fans in that country on to them and make them aware that they stock your cd at gigs if you ask for it, provided of course you return the favour.

The final option get a lable to do it for you
 
For small enough numbers of individual CDs, USPS is most certainly your cheapest and easiest option.

First class mail for a CD within the states costs < $5 apiece.
 
Padded 6x9 envelopes from Walmart or Staples, about $3 for 6. If your CDs are in plastic 'jewel cases', there is a fair amount of breakage going this route, if you are using ecopacks or sleeves, no problem. USPS about $3 each for first class (less if sleeves only).
 
Thanks everyone. Most are going locally at gigs, but I have friends in other states who would like hard copies as do my band mates. I ordered 15 padded envelopes on ebay for 5 bucks and I plan to ship them via USPS.
 
Ask for media mail. Most of the time, it'll be the cheapest option, though it depends on your area...sometimes first class can be cheaper, but just the same, ask when you get to the post office. And 5.00 to ship one package seems pretty steep. I just shipped some packages myself, and it seems to go more by weight than anything else. Here's what I did: I put about 15 cd's (no cases, just paper covers I made myself) and 5 cassettes in a box about 6x6x8 from Colorado to Ohio where I have a lot of friends, gonna have my brother pass 'em out. Cost me 3.00 media mail. Depending on where you're going, and how heavy your packages are, I wouldn't think you'd pay more than that.
 
Media mail gets the sh!t beat out of it - don't send plastic jewel cases that way! Actually, if you read the USPS guidelines, Media Mail is only supposed to be for libraries (or people shipping to libraries). Luckily, few of the people working the ocunters a the USPS know this. Also, nothing with any advertisements in it can ship via Media Mail (so no magazines, for example).
 
Yeah, I'd say that anything sent less than freight has the *potential* to be damaged, though I personally have yet to have a problem after 15 years of buying and selling. The last time I shipped, I found out that media mail has a free $100 insurance guarantee with it, so you might want to ask about that too. Personally, I consider this win-win.
 
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