The Shipping News

Whether you're running a small business or sending a summer camp care package, shipping is a bear! And if you're not careful, you can waste all sorts of money. Seems there ought to be a way to comparison shop your shipping options just like you do everything else in your online life, right?

I just took a sneak peak at RedRoller, a site scheduled to launch live next week and being demonstrated out at eBay Live!. Taking its cue from the travel industry, RedRoller partnered with a bunch of local and national shippers to give us a one-stop comparison shipping destination.

When I went on the site to look around, I expected that one shipper—FedEx or UPS, for example—would dominate the top of my compare list. It turns out that there are enough variables at play to make the best shipper at any given moment a constantly changing scene. The ZIP Code that you're sending the package from and to, the weight of the package, the time it gets sent out and needs to arrive, special deals and promotions, and other factors are all compared on this site to give you an optimum choice. Once you compare, you complete the transaction right on the RedRoller site. In addition, you can buy your consumables—boxes, labels, and what have you—there as well.

EBay sellers get some shipping news of their own today. They'll be able to embed the RedRoller icon onto their My eBay page. The information from their auction is automatically used to create the printed mailing labels and the entire comparison shipping site surfaces. Verification, tracking, and email notifications are all a part of the transaction. "Shipping," says CEO Bill Van Wyck, "is the last frontier for small businesses to control costs."

And that's the shipping news.