As the world shifts from dropping by a store to packages dropped on your doorstep, clear and concise standards around shipping, in the form of a shipping policy, are becoming a necessity for web vendors of all forms. A shipping policy is simply a clear statement of how your company ships goods. It can include:

• Costs
• Methods and how long each method will take
• Handling times
• Times orders must be placed for certain guarantees such as same-day shipping
• Restrictions on delivery, such as no P.O. boxes
• Any other useful information for the customer

In this article, we'll discuss why you need a policy, where it should go, what should be contained in the policy, and how it interacts with other documentation such as your terms of service.