What Is Blind Shipping?

What's in this article?

What Is Blind Shipping?
Is Blind Shipping the Same as Drop-Shipping?
Why You Should Use Blind Shipping
Protect your supply chain
Stay ahead of the competition
Run your business on autopilot
How to Do Blind Shipping
Are There Issues with Blind Shipping?
Conclusion

Every businessman is always looking for ways to maximize profits; cutting operational costs is one of them. For example, if you have a business that constantly makes deliveries to customers, you might consider blind shipping.

Blind shipping is an excellent way for sellers to reduce shipping costs while maintaining high-quality standards. But there's more to blind shipping than just cutting costs. It might just give your business an edge.

In this article, we'll cover everything you need to know about blind shipping, including what it is, why you should use it, and what to keep an eye out for to maximize business returns with low risks.

Blind shipping allows you to sell items without revealing the name of the manufacturer or seller, nor the shipping address, at times. E-commerce businesses often use this method because it makes it easier for them to sell anonymously; customers won't know where the item originates.

Blind shipping is a type of drop-shipping whereby products are shipped directly to the consumer without knowing who the actual seller is.

Drop-shippers do not have any minimum quantity requirement, which means they can ship products even when it's only for one item. However, this would be too costly for blind shipments as there is a minimum handling charge for a bill of lading.

Additionally, drop-shipping is a shipping service used by companies that don't keep their inventory; suppliers ship directly to their customers, skipping the need for distributors or retailers.

Blind shipments are ideal if you're looking to hide your suppliers' identities and if you don't mind sending your products to someone anonymously.

Alternatively, a double-blind shipment is when an original invoice or packing list is not attached. Instead, you receive one containing a unique tracking number. When you receive the package, you open it, inspect the contents, and then sign a delivery receipt when everything appears in order.

Blind shipping is generally carried out for business purposes. However, not all businesses are suited to blind shipping. It's mainly when there is sensitive information involved in your business do you need blind shipping.

1. Protect your supply chain

Blind shipping helps make an efficient supply chain by removing the need for a distributor or a retailer, which functions as a middleman between the seller and the buyer.

With blind shipping, you can ship goods directly to individual customers, avoiding the hassle of losing customers buying from suppliers directly.

2. Stay ahead of the competition

Blind shipping helps you maintain a competitive advantage.

As a blind shipper, when you send a product to someone who doesn't know where it's from, there are fewer chances that competitors will find out about your supplier. As a result, you'll be able to be competitive over others who deliver packages without blind shipping.

You can protect your business by keeping your supplier's information secret through blind shipping.

For instance, if you have a good relationship with your suppliers and they give great deals on their products or services, your competition might find out who your suppliers are and try to approach them.

3. Run your business on autopilot

Blind shipping allows you to run your online store without worrying about inventory management. You don't need to keep any stock on your premises at all, as your suppliers take care of shipping your orders for you while remaining anonymous.

By not keeping stock, you save on storage costs and won't need to write off any damaged or obsolete goods as expenses, making blind shipping a cost-efficient way to send goods.

Furthermore, you'll be able to delegate the shipping process to third-party logistics providers rather than managing your own distribution fleet. This allows you to utilize the services of those with expertise in controlling multiple shipments and delivering on time.

When customers opt to have their goods sent through blind shipping, they are informed only of the online store's general information and nothing about the supplier.

For instance, let's say a customer ordered a product online from a manufacturer in the United States and wants it shipped to Singapore. However, this manufacturer has partnered with a distributor in Australia and a retailer in Malaysia.

The distributor makes a profit by buying from the manufacturer and selling to the retailer. However, the retailer can decide to buy directly from the manufacturer if they determine that the price is lower than the distributor.

Therefore, to protect themselves and maintain their profits, the distributor would sell to the retailer using blind shipping, concealing any information about the manufacturer.

Blind shipping essentially allows the manufacturer to replace their company name on the bill of lading, which is attached to the product that is shipped with the customer's name.

Blind shipments are more complex than regular shipments because carriers don't always know what they are transporting. They might be carrying something utterly different than what it says on the manifest, which could lead to delays, damage, or even loss of goods.

Therefore, you should always check if the carrier has a bill of lading attached to its shipment. If there isn't one, you'll need to ask the carrier to add one.

This is important because you can use a bill of lading to track your shipment. Furthermore, a bill of lading can serve as proof for any discrepancies, such as when a different item is shipped instead of what is written on the document.

The carrier might try to charge you extra fees for the delay or damages, but you can use the bill of lading to prevent this.

Another issue to look out for is product quality. As the goods will be shipped directly from the manufacturer, sellers can lose control over the quality and consistency of the products sent to customers.

If the quality isn't consistent, it could damage your customer relationship. In turn, this could lead to a higher number of returned orders.

Customers may try to have the faulty goods returned, which will lower your sales and increase your costs as now you'd have to deal with the low-quality goods. Then, you'd have to determine whether to try and resell them or dispose of them completely.

Conclusion

You can realize the full potential of your business with blind shipping. Not only to cut costs, but blind shipping is also useful for sellers who want to manage their supply chain better by concealing the identities of their suppliers.

Blind shipping may also be beneficial to maintain a competitive advantage over other sellers while adopting a more hands-free approach to their businesses.

Here at A1 Auto Transport, we fully understand the benefits and risks of blind shipping and how you can utilize it to maximize your business.