All About Blind Shipments

Blind shipments protect the identity of the buyer, the sender, or both. Blind shipping means one or more participants in a transaction are “blind” to the other participants. Blind shipments require pre-payment and pre-determined package delivery services.

Distributors, who want manufacturers to ship directly to customers, initiate most blind shipments. In many instances, customers place the order with the distributor and just assume the order comes from that distributor. In these cases, manufacturers know the identity of the recipient. The bill of lading will often list the distributor as the shipper or be blank.

A shipment may be double blind, where the manufacturer does not know the item’s ultimate destination. A distributor may send double blind shipments to protect his customers’ identities or to prevent the manufacturer from doing business directly with his clients. Double blind shipping protects the identities of the client and the supplier.

Blind shipping provides many benefits for the distributor as well. Distributors do not have to maintain inventory, which is always expensive and time consuming, especially for small and micro businesses. Furthermore, blind shipping allows distributors to earn even more profit by taking advantage of the difference between wholesale and retail price differences. Blind shipping also helps distributors offer a wider variety of custom and personalized products without having to manufacture those items.