THE UPS STORE: How Much Do UPS Store Franchise Owners Make?
The UPS Store ads call The UPS Store franchise “the perfect opportunity to be your own boss,” a way to “take control of your business future & benefit from a world-class support system.”
How much do The UPS Store franchise owners make for their initial investment of $154,947 – $293,473, ongoing expenses and sweat equity?
According to an one ex-franchisee: not much.
“Former Store Owner” calls The UPS Store franchise a “dirty little scam” that basically exploits wannabe entrepreneurs by seducing them with visits to exceptional, high-volume stores, then, once they’ve signed up, squeezing the profitability out of their stores with mandatory purchases and exorbitant royalties.
Are you familiar with The UPS Store franchise opportunity? Please share a comment below.
To make matters worse, says “Former Store Owner,” their namesake shipper competes directly with franchisees by encouraging consumers to print out their own labels from home and simply drop off their packages at The UPS Store. The UPS Store franchisees get only $1.00 per drop off package, and are cut out of any share of shipping revenue.
Here’s the account we received from “Former Store Owner”:
I remember visiting the area stores and being allowed to ask questions with the area guy standing right there listening. The store owners would not speak freely and would ONLY answer what WE asked. So you had to know what you were looking for. So later, when people came to our store alone and asked about the franchise… we told them the truth and they ran for the hills!
We were driven to all the top performing stores and were duped into thinking this will be us. Little did we know that few stores make that much. Many owners that do OK only get about $40,000 a year. My wife had a job making 60,000!!! We owned the store for a few years and we made NOTHING, zero, nada!!
Here are the problems with the franchise…
They opened way too many stores that have to now compete with each other!
You are FORCED to buy overpriced equipment from the home office. You could easily buy it elsewhere for way less.
You are FORCED to obtain color copiers where you lose money each month. There are already businesses dedicated to this service and you cannot compete.
But here is the biggest dirty little scam!!!
The royalty fee is 8.5% of the gross sales. You are allowed to deduct the cost of stamps and packaging materials. You get 40% of ground package and 50% of air package costs. Shipments are the bulk of your business income.
Sounds great, right?
OK, if you shipped $20,000 in packages you have to pay the UPS 50-60% of that in your next bill so you never earned that money. You really only took in say $10,000.
But you pay a royalty on….. wait for it… $20,000!!!! So the 8.5% royalty is really 17% and that is nuts!
The store shipping rates are the same as the counter but they will NOT advertise that EVER! Many people still believe the outside stores charge more and.. they do!! All of those that are not UPS Stores.
At one point.. UPS was charging people 10% less than the store if they printed their label online. They drop it off at your store and you get… $1.00. But the customer would want YOU to tape their box.. for FREE! So UPS was making out at your expense.
We sold the store a few years ago and now… they have since been evicted and the store closed!
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE UPS STORE FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY? PLEASE SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
Pingback: Buying and Owning a UPS Store Franchise - My Experience and Review
Wow! stumbled upon this site. Guess I’ll be another person saving their initial franchise fee.
Thanks to all of those that shared their experiences and unfulfilled expectations. I’m truly enlighten and thankful I hadn’t invested yet.
Good luck in your future endeavors.
SOOOO???? IT DOESN’T SOUND LIKE I SHOULD ATTEND THIS HUH????
Hi
We’re excited that you registered for an upcoming event with The UPS Store. Attendees receive valuable information on franchise ownership from business experts and local representatives.
Did you know?–Nationwide live events offer an in-depth look at how centers operate, what services they provide and more!
Time is allotted for answering the questions that matter most to you.
Here are the details for your upcoming event. Please save this email for reference. You can also register for more events by viewing a complete schedule. We look forward to meeting you.
The UPS Store Franchise Live Event in Odenton, MD
When: Tuesday, June 18, 2019 7:30 pm
Location Details:
The UPS Store 3595
1121 Annapolis Rd
Odenton, MD 21113
Pingback: UPS Store Franchise Cost, Earnings and Review - Dollar Store DIY Crafts
We were considering purchasing an existing under-performing The UPS Store located in Canada in 2020 which has been in operation in a Downtown Location for over 6 years before the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis hit.
As a result of Canada and the United States declaring “States of Emergency” with only “Essential Services” being able to operate, we have decided to put our investment decision in a The UPS Store on hold for the indefinite future. Since The UPS Stores are considered “Essential Services” across Canada and the United States, they remain open but like most businesses, their operations may be financially impacted. We would not be comfortable managing a The UPS Store in this current Pandemic Environment for the safety and health of ourselves and others in the community.
We have come across the “Unhappy Franchisee” site and reviewed some of the Comments which are mostly from The UPS Stores Franchisees in the United States. Most comments also are from several years ago, and many do not reflect positive experiences with owning a The UPS Store.
Are there any The UPS Store Franchisees in Canada and/or the United States who might be able to weigh in with some more recent experiences of whether or not owing a The UPS Store is a good investment at the present time? Any honest advise and/or recommendations from current and/or past The UPS Store Franchisees would be sincerely appreciated. Thank you!
Save your money and sanity and DO NOT buy any Franchise biz. You will only be signing a one-sided agreement to make 1 person money-the Franchisor.
I have only heard of 2 franchises that actually wish their Franchisees well and to make money; The Works out of Vermont and The Simple Greek.
All others just leverage the franchise agreement to provide themselves with cash flows from all sources that come from the franchisees. They will have no qualms of driving franchisees into bankruptcy if it saves their cash flows and own profitability.
I am a franchisee of a certain fruit franchise and the founder and current owner has the utmost contempt for franchisees, most of whom have been at it for 10-15 years and made him and his brother multi-millionaires.
Hello Anyone:
My husband and I are looking at a location to purchase. I did notice many of the comments are rather dated. Do any of you still own your location? And if so, how has it been?
It is a challenge but you can make money with the UPS Store franchises. While a percentage of them are struggling to be profitable, I know many who are doing very well.
Every owner is different, but the ones who are really into running their store on a continuous daily basis and have been doing it for at least 8 years are well into 6 figures with their annual compensation. Some super smart folks are able to do it quicker and some make several times that amount.
I’ve been doing it for 15 years and the key to me seems to be perseverance, patience, paying attention, not being greedy at the beginning, being cash cautious and not doing anything ‘stupid’. For the most part, it follows the tortoise path instead of the hare of the old Aesop’s fable, The Tortoise and the Hare.
Franchises are not for everyone, and it is a love hate relationship however I own 8 Ups store franchises with 3 more under contract. It’s a lot of hard work but I’ve been very successful, and I’ve been an owner for 16 years. Please talk to owners in your area before turning down any franchise opportunity.
I throw the BS flag at Greg Martin. Are you a paid shill for UPS? There are some stores that make money, but they are niche and have an edge in the area like no printers for miles and miles or no post office for miles and miles. Everything else is garbage. They are too close and in today’s overpriced shipping cost market, it is a disaster opening a store. If anything at least buy an existing store for far less than the cost of a new one. You will save big like depreciation on a car.
The shill is correct about not being greedy. Make the money when you can. If a customer is apprehensive about cost, find a way to discount. Don’t let anyone leave without buying a service. I was involved with another packing and shipping outfit. We did very well because we responded to customer needs and our local market, not a pre-fixated list of what to charge. When things were slow, we discounted, when things were busy we charged more. This formula works in every business. We thrived in our franchise and tripled our money on the investment after 4 years. Taking in six figures profit was the norm after year 2. This while others came and went and died on the vine holding out for corporate’s magic formula on what to charge.
Hi there ! Any one real interesting open independent Mail shipping like UPS , Fedexpress… . I have great ideas open without go thru Franchise. Please join , support, exchange information make it happen.
Thank you