Shipwire.com Launches "On-Demand Shipping and Receiving Department"

Los Angeles, California - January 13, 2006 - Shipwire.com (http://www.shipwire.com), a leading online shipping service, today introduced a suite of services for managing envelopes, packages, freight, packaging, order fulfillment, and relocations, all from the Shipwire Web site. This suite brings together over 40 partners, and nearly 2 million square feet of storage space nationwide. In December, its final month of beta release, the Shipwire Web site coordinated over 10 thousand shipments.

Beyond FedEx and UPS

Until now, most merchants relied on FedEx and UPS for shipping, and hired a shipping manager when their businesses needed more. The shipping manager would then stitch together the dozens of vendors needed to coordinate the merchant's trade shows, warehousing and inventory management.

Shipwire changes all that. The combination of 15 services beyond FedEx and UPS, accessed through one central Web site and phone number, delivers on the dream of a sophisticated shipping and receiving department, with discounts significantly greater than a merchant could negotiate directly; all delivered with the full benefits of "on-demand."

"People don't realize that FedEx and UPS make up little more than 5% of the shipping and logistics industry," said Damon Schechter, CEO, Shipwire.com, and best-selling author of Delivering the Goods: The Art of Managing Your Supply Chain. "By partnering with the best of the other 95%, and giving merchants one central Web site and phone number to access their services, Shipwire is creating a new era of innovation, choice, and efficiency that just isn't possible with FedEx and UPS.

On-Demand Shipping and Receiving Services

The first of these 15 new services is a multi-carrier shipping application. Designed for merchants that pack and ship merchandise from their own facility, this Web service alerts users to the fact that carriers have very different retail prices — deep discounts from one carrier can often be beaten by "retail" prices from another carrier. The reason for this is differences in carrier infrastructure, i.e. the trucks, buses and planes they own. For example, Greyhound has 2,400 buses and 18,000 daily departures, often with extra capacity for bulky and multi-piece shipments. Combine this with door-to-door courier service through the Shipwire Web site, and the resulting price is often 50% less than anything offered by FedEx or UPS. Shipwire's multi-carrier shipping application lets users compare Greyhound, the US Postal Service and FedEx, side by side, and choose the best carrier for each shipment.

The second new service is a Web service for auditing a merchant's FedEx, UPS and DHL invoices. Merchant's are alerted to the fact that as much as 15% of all shipments are overcharged, delivered late, lost, or damaged. The carriers will issue refunds when these shipments are identified and a claim is filed. However billions of dollars go unclaimed every year, due to the onerous process of identifying and resolving claims. As part of Shipwire's money-back auditing service, Shipwire will recovers refunds on behalf of merchants.

The third service is a trade show shipping service, offering merchants a hassle-free way to transport trade booths around the country. Thao Le, Marketing Director of Hyland's Homeopathic, relies on this service for her business.

"My experience with Shipwire has been positive from the beginning," says Ms. Le. "Shipwire provided fast service by returning phone calls with the initial estimate. They offered a smaller fee compared to three other competitors. When problems arose with one of our events, Shipwire provided excellent customer service, by making sure no extra fees were charged and interfacing between the event service provider and us. Knowing that Shipwire was involved, I didn't have to get involved. This saved me a lot of time and energy. When you're transporting materials that are worth a lot, it's really important to know your carrier is taking good care of you, and that's exactly how I felt."

Shipwire's new less-than-truckload (LTL), truckload and import/export services are designed for businesses that ship merchandise in bulk from their own facility, or need help getting merchandise into Shipwire facilities. The online portion of these services provide for price comparisons, automated completion of a Bill of Lading, and scheduling of a pickup. Alternately a dedicated phone representative can manage the complete inputs of a business's just-in-time (JIT) delivery system, and make sure Shipwire warehouses receive merchandise on schedule.

Shipwire's new online packaging services alert merchants to the fact that the right packaging can save more money (and create more business) than the cheapest packaging.

And now for the crown jewel of Shipwire's new on-demand shipping and receiving department: a Web-based fulfillment service. Regardless of whether a merchant ships 60 or 6,000 items a month, Shipwire's fulfillment service can save them a lot of hassle, while significantly lowering the total cost of shipping and handling. Merchants can get access to almost 2 million square feet of prime, convenient storage space, strategically split between Los Angeles and Chicago, where Shipwire can receive, store, pack, and ship orders on their behalf.

Merchant's manage the Shipwire fulfillment service entirely through Shipwire.com. The service, perhaps surprisingly, lowers a merchant's total handling cost. This is because an investment in employees, facilities, and taxes, for packing and shipping merchandise from a merchant's facility, can rarely compete with Shipwire's pay as you go warehouses, where the resources (and costs) are spread across hundreds of businesses.Shipping costs can be lower as well, since merchant's can split their inventory between both of Shipwire's warehouses, while the Shipwire Web site determines the cost of shipping each order from Los Angeles and Chicago, and routes the order to the less expensive facility.

Advanced versions of Shipwire's fulfillment service are also being introduced, to meet three specific needs of merchants and manufacturers: end of season inspection, multi-vendor consolidation, and retail channel fulfillment.

Finally a carefully selected pair of relocation services offer merchants help with moving their home or business. These hassle-free services are fully integrated with the Shipwire Web site, and are available at deeply discounted prices. Merchant's can move the equivalent of a 5 bedroom house across the U.S., for a fixed and transparent price, without needing to speak to a single person.

Summary of On-Demand Services

Envelope/Package Services
• Multi-Carrier Shipping - Merchants can get a centralized online account, where they can compare discounted prices on postage from the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx Express and Ground, and Greyhound PackageXpress, side by side, and choose the best carrier for each shipment. Shipping labels print on plain sheets of 8.5" x 11" paper. Free client software from eGrabber imports addresses from eBay and Outlook, with just one click.

• Money Back Auditing - Merchants can get access to the first-ever Web-based auditing service, to identify all overcharges and service failures made by FedEx, UPS and DHL, and to recover the refunds. This service is basically free. By free, this means that Shipwire will split 50/50 with a merchant any refunds recovered.

Freight Services
• Trade Show Shipping - Merchants can coordinate a single shipment or multiple corporate trade show itineraries. The Shipwire staff specializes in coordinating complex itineraries, with special load-in and load-out schedules, weekend services and time critical expediting.

• Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) - Merchants can compare discounts on Greyhound PackageXpress and other well-known carriers, deep discounts on operator-owned trucks, and deeper discounts on extra capacity — empty cargo holds, backhauls. Merchants can choose the best option for each shipment, print a bill of lading, and schedule a pickup online, or by phone.

• Truckload - Merchants can get access to Shipwire's on-demand network of over 7,000 step decks, dry vans, reefers, and flat beds across North America. Merchants can view pricing online, and can have a dedicated phone representative guide them through each step of a shipment. Merchants can save up to 40% off their transportation costs by consolidating less than truck loads into truckload shipments with multiple stops.

• Import/Export - Merchants can get control of their international shipments, while saving money. Shipwire will walk a merchant through the documents needed to move freight internationally, and control the shipment from booking through delivery, while the merchant follows the process online.

Packaging Services
• Shipping Supplies - Merchants can shop in an online packaging store, that combines low prices with on-demand free samples, all of which can be ordered without picking up the phone.

• Custom Printing - Merchants can order custom printed boxes and mailers through the Shipwire Web site. This service is unique in that merchants can order as few as 25 custom boxes at a time.

• Box Optimizer - Merchants can get access to an innovative Web-based software application, that simulates the exact size and weight of cartons and containers. Merchants can learn their carton requirements upfront, thus reducing the carton materials and filler they purchase, and helping determine the optimal carrier for each shipment.

Order Fulfillment Services
• Fulfillment for Online Stores and Catalogs - A merchant can store goods in Shipwire's Los Angeles and Chicago warehouses, with the full benefits of on-demand. Customers shop on the merchant's Web site or by phone, and pay them directly. Shipwire packs and ships each order from the center closest to the customer. Orders can be entered online or through Shipwire's XML interface. Yahoo! Merchant Solutions are fully integrated with the Shipwire Web site; no coding required. 24-7 InTouch Call Centers are integrated as well, with exclusive discounts available.

• End of Season Inspection for Retailers - Merchants can have merchandise sent from retail stores to Shipwire's Los Angeles or Chicago warehouses. From there, merchandise can be inspected for any dirt or use, and re-priced. In the case of apparel, each item can be checked for the right size and stock number, and either folded and placed in a box, or covered with plastic on a hanger. Merchandise can be stored in boxes, or hanging on rail, depending on the business requirement, and then shipped to the merchant's product centers for redistribution to the retail stores.

• Multi-Vendor Consolidation for Retailers - Shipwire can consolidate inbound supplier orders, in Los Angeles and Chicago. In other words, Shipwire can receive numerous inbound orders per week on a merchant's behalf, and consolidate these less than truckload orders into full truckload orders. This reduces unnecessary repetitive work for the merchant's receiving department, while saving expensive less than truckload costs (an estimated 40% savings).

• Fulfillment for Manufacturers - Shipwire can customize its bar coding, radio frequency scanners, and sophisticated warehouse management system, to manage a specific manufacturer's inventory. E-commerce, EDI, and document imaging technology can facilitate the fast flow of freight information from and to Shipwire facilities. Manufacturers can also monitor their inventory, and submit orders, online at the Shipwire Web site. Shipwire facilities are in compliance with all major routing regulations, and can handle anything but haz-mat materials, temperature sensitive materials and illegal merchandise.

Relocation Services
• Greyhound PackageXpress - Merchants can go to Shipwire.com for instant pricing, and scheduling, of door-to-door or terminal-to-terminal service, for up to 99 packages, at incredibly low rates. Each package can weigh up to 100 lbs, with maximum dimensions of 30" x 46" x 72".

• Door to Door Storage & Moving - Merchants can save up to 25%, by pricing and scheduling door-to-door service online, for up to 10 storage units. The interior dimensions of each unit are 4’10” wide, 7’10” deep, and 6’7” tall, the door opening side to side is 4’. Each unit is rated to hold over 2000 lbs.

Pricing and Availability

The 15 new services are available immediately through the Shipwire Web site, at http://www.shipwire.com. Most services are pay-per-use, while order fulfillment starts at $65 per month. No annual commitment is required for any of the services, and there are no startup or cancellation fees. Detailed pricing is available on Shipwire.com. There is no software to buy, install or maintain. All that's needed is a standard web browser, running on a Macintosh, Windows or Linux computer.

About Shipwire.com

With over 40 partners, and almost 2 million square feet of storage space nationwide, Shipwire.com offers the first ever on-demand shipping and receiving department. From one central Web site and phone number, businesses of all sizes can manage their receiving, storage, packing, and shipping on-demand, at a much lower cost than owning a warehouse. With everything from online postage to hassle-free moving services under one roof, businesses are left with just three questions to answer themselves: To whom shall I sell products? What products? Where should they come from? Shipwire takes care of the rest.

As of December 31, 2005, Shipwire.com ships over 10,000 shipments per month. Shipwire.com has headquarters in Los Angeles. For more information please visit http://www.shipwire.com, or call 1-888-SHIPWIRE.