How to Ship What You Sell on Ebay

My husband and I have an Ebay Store where we sell collectible toys. I have people ask me all the time about how we ship items. When you sell on Ebay, shipping becomes one of the most complicated and important details you deal with.

We have 100% feedback, which you can read on our Ebay profile, and many good remarks are made about our shipping. We have learned through trial and error what works best for us. I will share that here with you.

Our Store: http://stores.ebay.com/nowandthenvintageplushnstuff?refid=store

Instructions Things You'll Need:

• Computer
• Packing tape
• Clear plastic bags (see article about the ones we use)

1. Step 1

   The first decision you must make is what carrier you will use. Fed Ex, UPS, and the U.S. Postal Service are all reputable and reliable choices. The difference is in your particular situation. For us, the United States Postal Service is the best alternative. We use Priority Mail, and we have been very happy with the results. It is usually delivered anywhere in the United States in 2-3 days. It seems to be that it is treated with more deference than regular mail, although we usually don't do insurance or anything extra to insure its safety.

2. Step 2

   One of the first things about Priority mail that people are thrilled with is that the United States Postal Service furnishes all of the boxes for absolutely free! You can ship Priority Mail and use your own plain box, but these are really nice, sturdy boxes. They are supposed to also be environmentally friendly. They are plainly marked Priority mail.

   If you are going to do a lot of shipping, you can order them online through the United States Postal Service. If you just need one, you can probably get it through the Post Office. I have found that sometimes they don't have every single size in every single box. But, they always have some boxes available for pick-up there. They will usually allow you to take a couple of them.

   There is no shipping charge on the delivery of these boxes, either. If you don't do online shipping, you will need to order the Priority Mail labels, too, which are free.

3. Step 3

   We print our own postage online, which is one great advantage to this Priority Mail. This saves us a trip to the Post Office, because they have free pick-up of packages, too. This is arranged also online, and they will get it for free at the regular delivery of your mail. They come up a big hill to get ours when we schedule a pickup. Absolutely free.

   We go online through PayPal, and we get a discount, too. It is quite easy to do through your Paypal account, and it will show you which ones you have shipped and not.

   You also get a tracking number, and with this tracking number you can check on the package. It is emailed to your customer, and they can track it, too.

   This is so much easier than any other shipping method, because the information is stored in Paypal, and it just transfers over to the shipping label. You will fill in the information about weight and type of shipping, etc... Then you print off the postage, and you tape it to the package. Just be sure you print off the correct shipping day. I didn't figure that out for a long time. If you print the night before, set the date for the day it will mail.

   You can hand these over the counter to a clerk, or you can allow a carrier to pick it up. I have actually chased down a mail truck to hand him packages. If you are using a flat rate envelope, which mails anywhere for $4.95, you can slide these in a mail box on the side of the road, if desired.

4. Step 4

   Concerning flat rate priority mail, if you are going to use the flat rate boxes, you must have it in the correctly marked flat rate box or envelope. Flat rate shipping allows you to mail anything in one of those boxes, if it will fit, for the same price. There is, of course, a weight limit of 70 pounds. If you are shipping heavier items, this is the way to go. For instance, a small flat rate box ships anywhere in the United States for $4.95. If you can squeeze it in there, it will go.

   There are different sizes of flat rate options available, and they are priced differently. It is basically the same principle. There is also a flat rate envelope that goes for $4.95, and we have used it quite a lot.

   When you are unable to weigh an item, this is a good way to ship, too. We did our entire business when we first started in flat rate envelopes.

5. Step 5

   The way we have found that works best for our collectible stuffed animals and toys is to use a Priority mail Shipping Box that is weighed by the pound and priced by zone. You must be sure you have a regular Priority Mail Box and not a flat rate box.

   When you list an item, you need to know how much it weighs: 1 lb., 2 lb., or whatever. If it is one pound, you list it as a flat rate shipping to everyone in the United States. $4.95 is the price. If it is more than one pound, you list it as calculated shipping. You will enter weight and size of box, and it will calculate shipping by their zip code. You will quickly learn the size of the boxes you use. I use mainly the 14" X 8" X 6" shoebox. A stuffed animal can usually go for one pound in one of these, with some exceptions, naturally.

   Priority mail is always $4.95 for the first pound for delivery to anywhere in the United States. After that, it is weighed in even pounds. If your package is 1 lb. 1 ounce, it will weigh in as 2 lbs.
   This actually simplifies things, because you don't have to worry too much about exact weight, just rounding to the highest pound.

   We use a good quality baby scale that we bought at the Goodwill Store to weigh our packages. We had been using a very old scale that used counterweights that were missing. We substituted grocery items, which had the weight clearly marked. You could hear us remark that something weighed a "mustard and a butter," etc...!

6. Step 6

   Now for a little secret that we use to make our Ebay packages more professional. We buy these clear plastic bags that we put our products in. If it is a larger stuffed animal, we use two. One goes over the head, and one from the feet up. We buy a cheap quality storage bag that is closed with a tie, instead of a ziplock. They do not even look like food storage bags. We get around 100 of these for around two dollars.

   This has added such a professional touch to the way that our packages arrive. It also adds a little protection from dampness, if the package is exposed to the elements. If you use a flat rate envelope, I would definitely wrap it in plastic. These are a thin cardboard.

There is a Paper envelope that has a coating on it that feels like plastic that weighs by the pound. Many Ebay toysellers use these for stuffed animals. They don't weight as much as a box, and if we are close to one pound, we will often use an envelope.

• Just remember that you have two categories of Priority Mail: flat rate and regular zone mail. They both will get there in 2-3 days. One is dependent upon poundage, and the other is the same price for that box, regardless of where it goes or how much it weighs, up to 70 lbs.