What I Have Learned So Far - eBay and Shipping Efficiently
Last updated 8/3/2023
I am sitting at the car dealer getting some service done, so thought I would get another blog post done. I am at Porsche Southpoint in Durham, NC - great folks (hey Roy!). This is the only place I love coming to get car service done…other than paying the bill…but this is warranty work, so all good.
Note that I sell in a lot of categories so vintage anything, books, albums, China replacements, art and pictures, smalls, larges, etc. your category specialties may have different patterns.
1. PirateShip.com
When I can’t use eBay, I go to PirateShip.com. They don’t charge a subscription and just put in the size, weight and shipping info and it gets billed back to you. Pretty straight forward. I use this once a month or so, and pricing is pretty good. One example where I can’t use eBay is if I am shipping some sheet music and eBay for whatever reason, does not support USPS Media mail for this category. So I just go to PirateShip.com and do the label there and put the tracking number on the eBay order, all nice and tidy. I have no affiliation with them and items in this list are in the order they flowed off my fingers.
Update: PirateShip also has special Cubic rates for USPS Ground Advantage and Priority. If usually applies to boxes under .5 cubic feet.
2. Pay With Pending Payouts
Initially, I would have the shipping charges from eBay just go to my credit card, the theory was that I would get points for that. That is all true, but it kinda gave me an unrealistic view of sales…since shipping accounts for over 30% of your costs, not to mention a whopping credit card bill which was deflating. So I now use the option to pay for the shipping out of your Pending Payouts. Once you set it, it will default that way for all future labels.
Update: I use PirateShip.com more than 50% of the time now and it’s linked to PayPal which is linked to my checking account.
3. eBay’s Global Shipping Program
I honestly don’t know why someone would not use this, unless it requires use of Managed Payments or something (which I do). It is kind of a no-brainer. You only pay for shipping to a distribution location in Kentucky and they handle all the customs forms and ship to the final destination. During the order part, eBay will handle charging the international shipping portion separately and you never see it. Global sales account for maybe 5%, but its transparent. Yes, there is a small international per transaction fee. Also, a few times prospective buyers asked me if I can ship to them for cheaper than eBay was going to charge…one I could not and the other was a very small benefit. Do it.
Update: International orders account for 3-5% of my sales. Since all shipping is calculated, no real downside and those would be sales I missed out on. Like the one guy that bought a Hoover One vacuum cleaner for $10 and paid over $200 to ship to UK… I made more money on shipping discounts than on the item I sold.
4. Buy Supplies in Bulk
When I started out, I would go to Walmart, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and wherever to get supplies. Here is where I am at. I over pack, so use a LOT of wrapping paper and bubble wrap (small and medium cell, I don’t even buy large cell anymore).
Wrapping Paper: Believe it or not, the cheapest place I found wrapping paper is at any of the Public Storage self-storage centers. $12.99 for a 10 pound pack, have not found anything close yet; it isn’t cost effective to get this on Amazon because of the weight and its built into the price even with free shipping
Update: Since I do a lot of framing as well, I sometimes come across rolls for cheap Kraft paper and cut it into sheets and it’s been over a year since I have had to buy wrapping paper.
Bubble Wrap: Bubble wrap (small, medium and large cell), I just get on Amazon. Look around, but you can get Bubble Cushioning Wrap 300 ft (3 rolls of large cell) from Amazon for $22.21+ tax. I just store it in the attic. I have also found Bubble Cushioning Wrap 700 ft (4 rolls of small cell) from Amazon for $31.10…do the math, that’s pretty good. Also, sometimes you will find used rolls of bubble wrap on Amazon for cheap too.
Update: Prices change a lot so always checking around as these prices are always increasing. At time of this update 2 years later, bubble wrap prices have doubled. Bubble wrap, tape and glue sticks are some of my most ordered staples. I just get my bubble wrap and glue sticks off Amazon and Fragile tape off Amazon.
Poly bubble mailers are always the Sales4Less as I like the quality. I buy these by the 100 now in the Sales4Less #4 9.5” x 14.5” from Amazon and 50 quantity in the Sales4Less #5 10.5” x 16” from Amazon.
But at the end of the day, if you have consistent use of supplies, then buy in the largest quantity you can afford, the benefit is significant.
Update: I was buying a lot of bubble mailers for books and transitioned to making book mailers out of cardboard (easy, see my YouTube video on it). Now I don’t buy mailers much anymore.
5. Packing Tape
A few things on packing tape. Crappy tape makes for a lot of frustration. I did get some good cheap (110ft rolls x 6 for $10…those are double rolls and work well, ULine I think). At least until you lose the end back to the roll and tape is so hard to get started again. Me, my go-to is the Duck-brand EZStart 4 Pack from Amazon. Thicker tape, very good sticking quality, and get this…quiet! I just get it at Amazon or Walmart for less than $8 for 4 rolls. And now I can pack in the house while family is sleeping.
Update: I now have firmly committed to Uline S-423 packaging tape from U-line directly and buy by the carton, splitting the case with another eBay seller. It’s cheaper than any price you will find elsewhere. I also don’t pack at home anymore and haven’t for a long time.
If you have an eBay store subscription, you probably get a $25 credit every quarter for supplies…I think you can get 12 rolls for $25 or so of the eBay branded tape, I normally get the packing tape (black, not colored) and use that for the external taping of boxes, give it a little professional touch. Then use the clear tape for labels and any internal packing use. Their tape is noisy, but sticks well.
Update: now that I have more eBay tape than I will need for years, I use the credit to buy some of the more common smaller box sizes. I don’t use much eBay tape, just enough to brand the box and then use mostly clear tape…looks more professional.
I also spring for a roll or 2 of the AGU Fragile tape from Amazon…but its expensive at $7 or so a roll. The good news is that it lasts forever, very strong and usually order 2 rolls at a time and lasts me for months. Suspect I can find that cheaper too if I looked.
Update: I now buy this in 6 packs.
6. Recycle
I am not an overly “green” person, but at the end of the day, I will recycle boxes, packing and loose cardboard wherever possible, but make a conscious effort to keep it clean/professional looking. For example if you use an Amazon box…remove the threaded tape they use and then use the eBay tape which mostly hides the Amazon portion. I also use that to cover up any preprinting on boxes as well or use a wide permanent marker. I use used boxes mostly for odd size boxes and not as a norm, I also use those boxes and cut them down to make backing boards for books, magazines and other use…very handy.
7. Custom Boxes
Building on recycling above, sometimes you just need a very specific box. Make your own. There are tons of YouTube videos on this so won’t go into that. All you need is a 36” straight edge/ruler, glue gun, utility knife and a bone scoring tool (if you can, its worth it)…and maybe some creativity. All boxes basically follow the same formula and once you do a few, you will get pretty efficient at it. Also a great use of those used boxes and when I find a large box, I brake it down and keep it…and when I run out, then I go to to Walmart and buy me a few of the largest boxes they have for reserve.
Most of the time I don’t need to make a box from scratch. I can usually just cut down a larger box or change the dimensions of the box as long as the length and width total what I need. I also frequently get 2 identical boxes and slide them on top of each other, for example USPS has these 12x12x8 boxes, and by doing that, I can easily get up to a 12x12x16 box - oh, and did I mention they are FREE (you can cut off any excess for weight savings, though I rarely do). Totally legit to do this, just not with the flat rate boxes.
I bought one of those “box reduction tools”….skip it, wasted money.
Update: I don’t get used boxes much anymore. The reason is I go to Costco (or Sam’s or BJs) during our normal shopping and get 30 to 40 large blank sheets of cardboard that they use to separate items on the pallets. Then I make those into standard and custom boxes. I have hundreds of these stockpiled. I also rarely will waste time cutting down boxes and opt to just make a custom box.
8. CraigsList and Estate Sales for Supplies
It’s a little hit and miss, but check CraigsList to see if anyone is trying to sell off excess supplies, sometimes you will find someone that buys in bulk, and sells off their excess cheap (like Bill who I now buy stuff from). Tape, bubble wrap, boxes, etc….may get lucky, I did. The guy I get boxes from has been a good friend and he now gets me garbage bags full of foam cell for free as a friend of his just wants to get rid of it and wants it to get reused if possible.
Estate sales are a great source for boxes for me as well as other supplies. At least once a month I will go to a sale and find stacks of flattened boxes, big rolls of wrapping paper, or just some stuff I need. And the estate companies will let it go for super cheap and it’s just part of your growing pile so often helps to get other resell items cheaper too. Thinking about using Christmas wrap too.
Update: I found some packing peanuts for free on CraigsList and turns out they were from a pet online supplier. I forged a relationship with them and now get a lifetime supply for free. Look for those opportunities.
9. Estimating the Weight for your Listing
It is important that you estimate the item shipping weight reasonably good. You dont have to be perfect, since the law of averages will work out that some will be over and some under and it will net out. I don’t over think this and reality is that a little experience goes a long way and I can weigh a raw item and visualize the packing needed and adjust the shipping weight.
Pictures and large objects are a little trickier. I normally will go on a formula that the weight will end up being 50% than the raw weight. These will most often probably ship via UPS Ground and I way overpack pictures as they are usually costly and big. The largest I have done was a 30” x 40” but have an even larger one that is listed. I watched a few YouTube videos on this, but dont worry too much about following their methods to a tee…I make my own boxes for these and the packing fundamentally is about multiple layers of cardboard and bubble wrap and keeping flex to a minimum. One of the funner things I get to do. Therapeutic. I have a blog entry on picture and book packing specifically.
10. Pack first, Weigh last
My ultimate goal is to ensure that the item purchased gets to the person in as-described shape. I rarely will “target” a packing job to a specific weight or size, but focus first on packing it the best I can for minimal risk of damage. If its more, so be it, I will eat the cost, if less, great…law of averages and stuff. This is also where the experience comes from. UPS for large packages has a great contract with eBay so the discounts sometimes go over 40%, so you have a lot of wiggle room and could also intentionally reduce the posted shipping weight knowing you can come under or offer in the listing your great goodwill on saving them money.
For complex packing jobs, I have setup a few specialized eBay Shipping Profiles that have a handling charge as well. Face it, a 30” x 40 glass picture takes materials and lots of them, just packing materials exceeds $20 and 1-2 hours of your time.
Update: I no longer charge any handling fee on most things, however shipping tube have gotten very expensive so do add $1.50 handling charge if a shipping tube is needed.
11. Go Up, Not Down
Sometimes you may have listed an item to be shipped as USPS First Class (up to 1 pound which eBay shipping), but after its packed, it needs to go USPS Priority Mail as it might be 1 ounce over. In this case, its not a major cost issue as the rate above 13 ounces is pretty close to the Priority Mail rate anyway. Since this is ultimately an upgrade to the buyer (at no cost to them), I just do it and don’t even communicate it.
That said, it is not true the other way (for me, anyway). If buyer pays for USPS Priority Mail shipping, they get it, even if it weighs 1 ounce - I never downgrade the shipping they paid for.
Update: USPS Ground Advantage replaced First Class and Parcel Select, and eBay discounts them. I also use PirateShip.com heavily for smaller items over 12 oz as they often can qualify for the cubic cheaper rate. Finally, check the price between USPS Priority and Ground Advantage, there are times it’s lower priced or a tiny bit more but you get to use the free boxes or dazzle customer with a free shipping upgrade.
12. USPS vs UPS and Large/Bulky Items
As I mentioned above, for larger items and heavy items, I go to UPS Ground primarily, that has consistently been the cheapest and has discounts sometimes over 50%, but I sometimes compare Fedex and UPS when needed. Large bulky items are a double edge sword sometimes. You get deep discounts with UPS and FedEx, but the shipping is so expensive, it makes the overall item cost high. I am going to start under quoting the weight to make the shipping cost a little more palatable.
Update: Decided against underquoting weight…shipping cost is what it is.
13. Several Scales
There are some items which are over 10 pounds which I need a reasonably good weight on. To do this, I actually have a bathroom scale and an old fashion postal scale and take the higher of the 2 weights. Take your pick, but for estimation, its a minor item anyway, but you need to be over and not under on weight vs what is printed on the label…I make sure there is no chance of error. I also have a small table Cuisinart scale which I use for anything 10 pounds or less. I later bought the Amazon 50 pound scale for $25 or so…well worth it.
With Books, I can pretty much just feel the weight and make a good guess and maybe round up if its close. Difference between a pound of error is minimal. The problem though is that USPS Media Mail is not discounted with eBay, and you cant use USPS free supplies either. I can now get bubble mailers very cheap and books are wrapped in a sheet of new wrapping paper, a cardboard backing board put on both sides (slightly larger than book to protect if dropped), and then put in a Mylar bubble mailer. Has worked 100% fine with hundreds of books. I will use a box for very high dollar books, international, and large books.
14. Free supplies USPS (store.usps.com)
There is absolutely no reason for you not to get boxes for free at USPS store (store.usps.com). They have lots of sizes and it is perfectly legal to Frankenstein them as needed (just not flat rate boxes). You can usually only use these for USPS Priority Mail level and not First Class, Parcel Select (now Ground Advantage) or Media Mail, but hey…its free. I have heard you can also use the Regional boxes for Priority mail under 2 pounds as well since they are the same rate, they have some good size boxes too. I don’t use Flat Rate much.
Update: USPS has done away with Regional Rate, but you are allowed to use those boxes for any Priority rate shipping. I don’t use nearly as many of these boxes as I used to and all Priority mail listings now default to Ground Advantage….99% of buyers just want the cheapest rate.
15. Neighbors and Family
I ask my neighbors and family to keep their boxes they get and give them to me. A couple times a week I get a couple boxes, packing materials, etc. left on my porch. Even used bubble mailers come in handy as I use them to wrap breakables before I put them into storage so they don’t get chipped or broken. My daughter gets her dog’s food from Chewy and will use those boxes and cut them down for backing board. Also, went to the ABC (liquor) store and guess what…10’s or even 100’s of empty boxes they allow people to take, so now I can use those for backing boards as well (and a cool touch as well).
Comic book people are a finicky bunch. Collectible comics should only ever be shipped in proper Gemini mailers. Whatever…Got them off Amazon and just use them. Wasn’t worth the battle. Sorry, went off on a tangent there…they are not cheap and while I can make a stronger mailer, they are asked for my name….using them also let’s buyers know you are serious about comic books.
16. 1 Business Day Shipping
So, to be a Top Seller on eBay you have to offer 1 day shipping. For a Sole proprietor like me that may seem easy. But sometimes you have to leave town for a day, partner doesn’t have time to pack your orders for you (as much as I beg)…what can you do. So far, what I have been able to do (and I do this rarely) is for example if traveling on Tuesday: First I make sure I ship everything through 5pm the prior business day, Order comes in on Monday evening, I don’t print the label until I get back in town Tuesday night before Midnight, then I ship it on Wednesday morning. For some reason, I have never been dinged as not complying with the 1 Business Day rule, but I didn’t have a choice, so it is what it is. Your mileage may vary. Obviously, this doesn’t work for time where you have to be gone for more than 1 day. I did happen to find that you can get a 2” x 10” x 12” packed book into a slot at the post office that is open 24x7…there is a specific max size, and apparently I exceeded it one day and my package got stuck…I called them and apologized and that I learned my lesson (and Zabrina made them brownies and cookies too, that helped). See related #17 below.
Oh, one other trick. It turns out that Town & Country Hardware (and maybe Ace Hardware and other places) have USPS contracted post offices inside and they stay open til later hours, say 6 or 7pm. While it wont go out that day and there is a small risk someone could take your package, you can drop it off with them and it will go out the next morning. So if I am out of town on Monday, I can take my packages Sunday evening and drop them off and at least the problem is smaller.
Update: I just use the Time Away feature of eBay…so much less stress. Start it one day earlier than you are leaving.
17. Get to Know your USPS Post Office Team
Lastly, the folks at the USPS Post Office are your friends and its good to build that relationship. For one, they are good people, they work hard, and do the best job they can. Secondly, when you forget to put a label on a package and see the label it sitting on your printer, its good to know you can call them up, they know your name, and ask them if they have it. I have had to do this twice…get to know them, they are good people in most cases. I try to do most of my business at a specific site and use others with less frequency for this reason.
18. Free Shipping
I do not do free shipping (unless for a customer who wants it priced that way). Most likely from lack of research, but with Managed Payments, you can not block US territories (or at least not at the time but think this has changed now…yep, it has). I got bit on this when I offered free shipping to the US and some lady ordered from the Northern Mariana Islands and I ended up losing money on a large and pricey item (why didn’t I just cancel the sale? See my “washer dryer” blog post). So I stopped. One day I will investigate how to block locations with Managed Payments, but for now, separate shipping is working fine. Anyway, I prefer to just have them see the cost of the item and shipping separately.
Update: I don’t worry about this too much any more and just use eBay calculated rates. My sizing and weight estimates have improve and not really an issue any more.
19. One package in process at a time
Technically I qualify as a senior now being 56. My memory is touchy at best and find I have to implement repeatable processes which ensure accuracy (like…um, not leaving a shipping label on a printer…ouch). So, I have structured my process such that I pack one item, I print the label, I affix the label and put in the outgoing bin. Only then do move onto the next shipment. Haven’t figured out the “last package, get the label off the printer challenge yet, but soon!).
Update: I still do this and have never had a package sent with wrong label since I implemented this.
20. Pre-package before you put in your storage location
Some don’t like this and think its wasting supplies, but I would rather waste supplies than have a defect reported as a cancelled order due to breakage. Also, I get foam from a local framer for free, so supply cost is no longer an issue. I have excess rolls of heavy kraft paper and that works fine too.
Update: I am more efficient on this and use the Amazon bubble mailers from my orders, also ask for paper at the grocery store (and ABC store :-)…free money!
21. There is no substitute….
There is no substitute for a perfectly sized box. Less packing material used and more secure to ship. I use the array of boxes I get from friends and family and keep them around for that oddball item. And I probably make custom boxes for half of what I ship…a good skill to have.
22. Priority Flat Rate Envelope with Priority (non-flat rate) Small Box
Watched a YouTube video describing the legal way you can product small items and use the cheaper flat rate envelope. you are allowed to use any Priority free supplies in the course of shipping, you can you use one of the small free Priority non-flat rate boxes and put it inside of a Flat Rate Envelope. This provides safer transport at a slightly lower cost.
Update: All still true, but I rarely do this, just not a priority and most items ship USPS Ground Advantage.
23. Supplies, Largest quantity is not always the cheapest
Sometimes, when you need to buy supplies, common sense would indicate that always buying the largest quantity will get you the best price. This isn’t always true and sometimes the larger quantity will tip a shipping cost level and will end up costing more (even if its free shipping, your still paying the shipping). I see this occasionally on bubble mailers and bubble wrap, so always good to check the different quantity packs and pricing to get the best deal.
24. Rollo Wireless Thermal label printer
OMG…Game changer. Worth the investment. Just buy direct. No more expensive inkjet cartridges and it has already paid for itself in less than a year. I bought 5000 labels and that will last me years. I have a blog post on it, just search for it.
25. Invest in Quality Tools and Equipment
Utility knife (Milwaukee), blades (Fiskars), tape dispensers (Tendo), scissors (Westcott Titanium), rulers/straight edge (I have a few, but like the SpeedPress 40” Safety Ruler), Bone Folders/Burnishing Tools (Ecohu), Cutting Mat (Dahl Vantage 36” x 48”)…buy good quality tools and equipment…you’ll be using them a lot and they will last a long time. I ship between 5 to 10 packages a day, not super high rate, but enough that I appreciate quality tools and equipment. I have multiple tape dispensers for each tape type (clear, eBay branded and Fragile). I also keep some Frog painters tape around for times when you just need it.
Be weary of buying the cheapest thing and do a little research, these are things you won’t have to replace too often.
26. Make Custom Boxes, get a good Glue Gun
Once you start making custom boxes, you’ll want to invest in a food cordless glue gun. I use the Ryobi as I have a number of Ryobi tools, but there are a few good ones out there. Using the glue gun looks more professional and is stronger than tape.
This looks like it overlaps with #7, but it’s SOOO critical to my operation.
Wrap up
Everyone, I don’t work for eBay or represent PirateShip.com or any other business or agency. I am just a seller like all the other sellers. I go onto the eBay Seller Community forums and they are not a happy crew. Maybe I too will not be happy after some time, but so far…well, I like it. Yeah, there are quirks, but such is life.
That’s it for now, let me know your tips and tricks for efficiency as well or any different experiences you have had; its not one-size-fits-all. Everyone is different and what works for me may not work for you or you may just have better ideas…lets hear them in the comments.
To see my growing list of go-to shipping supplies, see the blog entry for Shipping Materials Shopping List, its a living blog and I update this as time permits.
John
Comments
Post a Comment
No URLs, I delete comments which appear to be be advertising.