Key Takeaways
- Incorrect parcel weight and dimensions can lead to additional courier charges
- Poor packaging can increase costs through damaged products, returns, repacking, and unnecessarily high volumetric weight.
- Missing courier pickup cut-off times may delay dispatch and create extra operational costs for small businesses.
- Poor tracking communication increases customer enquiries and makes failed deliveries harder to resolve.
- Using a multi-courier shipping platform helps Malaysian businesses compare delivery options
Small business shipping mistakes may look harmless when you are sending five or ten parcels a day. But once your business starts processing 50, 100, or even hundreds of orders, an extra RM1 or RM2 per shipment quickly adds up.
Ever packed a tiny item inside a huge box and wondered why the courier charge was higher than expected? Or promised a customer, “Your parcel ships today,” only to realise the courier pickup had already passed?
These are not just delivery problems, they are also profit problems.
Hence, ParcelDaily will break down the most common shipping mistakes Malaysian small businesses make, how they increase delivery costs, and what you can do to avoid them.
1. Declaring the Wrong Parcel Weight
One of the easiest ways to accidentally increase your delivery costs is entering the wrong parcel weight. Yes parcel, not product.
Your courier does not transport the product by itself. The actual parcel also includes:
- Carton box or polymailer
- Bubble wrap
- Paper fillers
- Tape
- Product packaging
- Promotional inserts
Courier services also consider volumetric weight, which represents how much space your parcel occupies inside a delivery vehicle.
For example, J&T Express Malaysia states that domestic volumetric weight is calculated using:
Length (cm) × Width (cm) × Height (cm) ÷ 6000
The courier then considers actual weight and volumetric weight when determining the shipping cost, with the higher weight affecting the charge.
2. Using Weak or Oversized Packaging
Packaging protects your products, but the wrong packaging can cost you twice.
- Too little protection increases the chance of damage.
- Too much packaging increases the parcel’s dimensions.
Poor packaging may also create additional courier costs. Ninja Van Malaysia states that parcels that are not properly packed or labelled may be repacked or relabelled at the shipper’s cost, or rejected.
Do not use oversized carton for every product.
Instead, create several standard packaging sizes based on your commonly shipped products.
| Parcel Type | Better Packaging Approach |
| Clothing | Polymailer or compact carton |
| Cosmetics | Small carton with protective fillers |
| Fragile items | Strong carton with bubble wrap and cushioning |
| Documents | Document envelope or flyer |
| Multiple products | Right-sized carton with empty spaces filled |
We have a whole guide on packaging materials for fragile items if you’re interested, so go check it out!
3. Not Having a Delivery Cut-Off Time
“Order today, ship today!” sounds great for customers but becomes a problem when your business does not have an actual system to support that promise.
Every courier has its own collection schedule and operating arrangement.
For example, Ninja Van Malaysia currently lists pickup hours between 9am and 7pm, with a 2pm same-day pickup cut-off. Orders created after the cut-off are scheduled for the following day.
That does not mean every Malaysian courier has a 2pm cut-off but you need to know the requirements of the courier you are using.
The best way to do it is to set your own internal cut-off
For example:
12:00pm → Same-day order cut-off
12:30pm → Orders sent to packing team
1:00pm → Packing completed
1:30pm → Shipping labels printed
Before courier cut-off → Parcels ready for collection
Without an internal cut-off, late orders can cause:
- Missed courier pickups
- One-day dispatch delays
- Staff overtime
- Emergency courier drop-offs
- Broken same-day shipping promises
- Customer complaints
4. Poor Tracking Communication With Customers
Once the courier picks up a parcel, some sellers think their job is finished.
Then the messages begin.
- “Boss, parcel where already?”
- “When will my order arrive?”
- “Courier coming today ah?”
One tracking question may take only two minutes to answer. Multiply that by 50 customers and your staff have suddenly spent more than an hour answering questions that could have been prevented.
Customers should receive their tracking number once the parcel enters the courier network. They should ideally be able to check important shipment stages such as:
- Picked up
- In transit
- Out for delivery
- Delivery attempted
- Delivered
There might be cases where the parcel is stuck in transit that requires follow up on the seller’s side.
5. Entering Incomplete Customer Details
Sometimes the courier is blamed when the problem started before the parcel left your office.
Common address mistakes include:
- Missing apartment or unit number
- Incorrect postcode
- Wrong phone number
- Misspelled street name
- Missing building name
- Incorrect recipient name
For condominiums, offices, gated residences and apartments, missing one small detail can make the rider’s job much harder.
Before printing an airway bill, always verify:
- Recipient name
- Mobile number
- Unit number
- Full address
- Postcode
- State
For ecommerce stores, it is worth adding an address confirmation step before fulfilment, especially for expensive orders.
6. Using the Same Courier for Every Shipment
Loyalty is great, but blindly using one courier for every parcel is not always great for your shipping budget.
A courier that offers a competitive rate for a 1kg parcel from Kuala Lumpur to Selangor may not be your best option for:
- Sabah and Sarawak deliveries
- Bulky products
- Heavy parcels
- COD orders
- International shipments
- Urgent deliveries
- Out-of-delivery-area destinations
Shipping prices can change depending on parcel weight, dimensions, origin, destination, service type, and additional services.
“ParcelDaily’s dashboard allows businesses to enter shipment details, obtain delivery quotes, select available courier services, and track shipments all in one platform!”
7. Ignoring Failed Delivery and Return Costs
A failed delivery does not always mean an immediate loss but repeated failed deliveries can become expensive.
A parcel may fail because:
- Nobody is available to receive it
- The recipient cannot be contacted
- The address is incomplete
- Building access is restricted
- The customer provides the wrong address
If the parcel eventually returns to you, your original shipping expense has produced no completed sale.
Depending on the service and circumstances, there may also be return or redelivery charges.
Use this shipping checklist before dispatch:
- Weigh parcels after packing, not before.
- Measure all three dimensions accurately.
- Calculate volumetric weight for bulky parcels.
- Use right-sized packaging for different products.
- Create a daily order cut-off based on courier collection times.
- Check recipient details before generating the shipping label.
- Compare courier options instead of automatically choosing one.
- Send tracking details to customers promptly.
- Monitor failed delivery attempts every working day.
- Record damaged, returned, and overweight shipments to identify recurring problems.
For higher-volume sellers, standardising these steps into a simple SOP can make an even bigger difference.
Ship Smarter and Keep Delivery Costs Under Control
The cheapest courier rate means very little if your shipping process keeps creating additional costs. Remember:
- Measure all parcels accurately
- Pack efficiently
- Set clear fulfilment deadlines
- Check customer details
- And Compare courier options
At ParcelDaily, Malaysian SMEs and ecommerce sellers can compare courier options, book deliveries, manage bulk orders, calculate volumetric weight, and track parcel deliveries through one platform.
We’re here to help e-commerce owners to manage hundreds of deliveries every day wit our user-friendly systems. Ship smarter with ParcelDaily, because every ringgit saved on an avoidable shipping mistake is a ringgit your business gets to keep.
