Help with selling on ebay?

[marvelvscapcom2]

Hello everyone,  i am new to selling on ebay and I wanted to ask everyone for tips and suggestions as well as how to ship once an item sells.  I have a pretty fair idea of what to do especially with Listing, pricing and adequate packaging i am all pretty good at that from all the buying i have done but my only confusion now is the tracking label and the post office part and i just want to confirm to make sure i don't get a negative feedback or make a mistake my first time selling.   

Do i go to the post office and they print the shipping label?  .   Ebay says i get a discount from using the Ebay shipping label but i don't have a printer.  I could go to the local library and they let me print things for 10 cents but how does it save money when compared to the post office printing labels?     

I know many of you are well versed in selling on ebay so i figured no better place to ask for help 

So here is my plan if something sells,  let me know if it is a good one and if i am right on with the norm.

1. Item sells
2. Go to store and buy a bubble mailer for 50 cents (or a box with bubble wrap for something larger)
3. Go to library to print my Ebay shipping label. 
4. Place item in bubble mailer, affix shipping label to the package
5. Bring to the post office
6. Post office takes care of the rest.  (Gives tracking, packing slip, ships it out, ect...)

   

How do i get tracking number?  Is that also something the post office gives or is it on the ebay label?

How do i stay protected and make sure i have proof that i shipped the item?  shipping recipet and such?  is that also at the post office?

I feel like such an idiot asking these questions because i know they are probably extremely obvious common sense type things but i truly have never even mailed so much as a letter.  I am new to all of this and their is so many options to choose from on the ebay sell page.  I have a rough idea of what to do but i just need confirmation because i don't want to be a bad seller.  It's the one thing i hate from all the buying i have done is an incompetent seller.  So i want to be certain i am not making a mistake.

I assume the post office will weight my packaged item and then charge me based on that and then ship it and give me a tracking number and package slip.   It seems simple.   But i want to confirm with everyone who is more experienced at selling.   

Thanks for any help anyone.  I will be very appreciative of any suggestions and tips. 

[hoshichiri]

Your plan seems largely sound & is probably your best bet, provided you aren't using first class shipping.

Ebay has things worked out with the post office to allow them to charge less for shipping. It's a volume discount- USPS knows Ebay does high volumes of mailing, so by letting Ebay setup an easy way to buy postage through them helps them make more money by getting more people to use the post office over, say, UPS or FedEx.

If you print your label from Ebay directly, Ebay will record your tracking number and send it to your buyer for you. You don't need to take any extra steps to prove you shipped your item.

However- if you're shipping First Class, you will only get a tracking number by shipping from the post office- specifically from an actual person at the counter (no kiosks!) In that case, your tracking number will be on your receipt and you'll have to manually enter it into Ebay. You should be covered at that point, but keep the receipt as a backup until everything's delivered & approved of. This does mean you won't get a discount since you're not shipping from within Ebay- but for first class, the few cents you'd save are easily offset by actually getting tracking!

[burningdoom]

^ Your tracking number is right on your receipt. You get a receipt with the kiosks, as well.

[ignition365]

Buying postage on ebay or paypal comes with free tracking.  That includes first class.  So you are saving right there, plus you get the online price.  It isnt necessarily a deal with ebay or paypal, because if you buy postage online through usps, you still get a discount.

If you want a receipt proving that you shipped the item, you will need to bring the package (with the postage label already affixed) and have them do an acceptance scan and print you a receipt, that is your proof of shipping.  Tracking provides proof of delivery.  Personally, I insure every package over $50 in value because as the seller, YOU are liable if the package doesnt arrive, not ebay, not USPS.  First class packages have a higher loss rate than priority, and priority comes with free $50 insurance, but it is still more expensive than shipping first class.

First class ships domestically up to 1lb. (16 oz.).  Everything over 1 lb you will want to decide on alternative shipping methods.  Parcel post is fairly unreliable, so I dont know much about it.  Priority mailing can get quite costly depending on the size, but at a certain point you may do better shipping UPS or Fedex.

As for weighing the package, you will have to do that yourself if you want to print postage online.  You can get a good digital kitchen scale for a bit over $10 at Walmart.

You can actually do this all from home too, but I don't think they will give you an acceptance receipt for a home pickup.

[marvelvscapcom2]

Buying postage on ebay or paypal comes with free tracking.  That includes first class.  So you are saving right there, plus you get the online price.  It isnt necessarily a deal with ebay or paypal, because if you buy postage online through usps, you still get a discount.

If you want a receipt proving that you shipped the item, you will need to bring the package (with the postage label already affixed) and have them do an acceptance scan and print you a receipt, that is your proof of shipping.  Tracking provides proof of delivery.  Personally, I insure every package over $50 in value because as the seller, YOU are liable if the package doesnt arrive, not ebay, not USPS.  First class packages have a higher loss rate than priority, and priority comes with free $50 insurance, but it is still more expensive than shipping first class.

First class ships domestically up to 1lb. (16 oz.).  Everything over 1 lb you will want to decide on alternative shipping methods.  Parcel post is fairly unreliable, so I dont know much about it.  Priority mailing can get quite costly depending on the size, but at a certain point you may do better shipping UPS or Fedex.

As for weighing the package, you will have to do that yourself if you want to print postage online.  You can get a good digital kitchen scale for a bit over $10 at Walmart.

You can actually do this all from home too, but I don't think they will give you an acceptance receipt for a home pickup.

Thank you so much everyone for all the help , i have learned alot and feel fairly confident.   I only have one more question.   On the few items i have listed i chose "standard" shipping.   That essentially means 1st class right?  I figured standard meant you can pick later and was pretty much just universal.  I hope i didn't choose a pricey and inefficient sales method

Also for traditional DVD sized game cases with manual and book that way about roughly 8 Oz or so.  what is the best delivery method for those?   That would be 1st class as well?    Also what is economy?   Does economy come with tracking?      Thank you everyone.   

[ignition365]

Standard and economy are really just ebay terms.  They are mostly meaningless.  Economy being the slowest cheapest (parcel post) and standard being a middle ground (first class), expedited being fast (priority).  But again, the terms are meaningless, unless you state a specific and explicit shipping method, it is up to you how you ship.  If you say 1 day handling or guarantee arrival by a certain you better make certain you stick to your terms or some users will get snippy.  I usually do free economy shipping so they cant complain, but i usually ship same day and fast as reasonably possible.

Despite what folks will tell you, you shouldnt ship video games as media mail, it can bite you in the ass because it is against the terms for media mail.  They do random inspections of media mail, and if they find video games they will return to sender or send it priority and do a COD for the difference.  I cant recall which.  Most folks will tell you they have never had it happen, but I have from ebayers and I have known ithers who have as well.  And it is clearly detailed in the terms for medial mail that it is a no no.

I think a DVD game with manual is usually 6oz in a bubble mailer but it could vary depending on the weight of the manual.  First class is the way to go.  Add insurance if you are concerned it might get lost.

[marvelvscapcom2]

Standard and economy are really just ebay terms.  They are mostly meaningless.  Economy being the slowest cheapest (parcel post) and standard being a middle ground (first class), expedited being fast (priority).  But again, the terms are meaningless, unless you state a specific and explicit shipping method, it is up to you how you ship.  If you say 1 day handling or guarantee arrival by a certain you better make certain you stick to your terms or some users will get snippy.  I usually do free economy shipping so they cant complain, but i usually ship same day and fast as reasonably possible.

Despite what folks will tell you, you shouldnt ship video games as media mail, it can bite you in the ass because it is against the terms for media mail.  They do random inspections of media mail, and if they find video games they will return to sender or send it priority and do a COD for the difference.  I cant recall which.  Most folks will tell you they have never had it happen, but I have from ebayers and I have known ithers who have as well.  And it is clearly detailed in the terms for medial mail that it is a no no.

I think a DVD game with manual is usually 6oz in a bubble mailer but it could vary depending on the weight of the manual.  First class is the way to go.  Add insurance if you are concerned it might get lost.

Thank you so much for all the help .    I sold and shipped my first item today.  .  I ended up buying a cheap 30 dollar Canon printer that came with ink for the purpose of printing shipping labels.  It was so much cheaper to ship than i thought it would be .    It was only 2.67 to send a game in a bubble mailer to California which is very far away from where i live.   I used first class method instead of media or priority.  It seemed like the best middle ground.

It was a fun experience .     

[ignition365]

Standard and economy are really just ebay terms.  They are mostly meaningless.  Economy being the slowest cheapest (parcel post) and standard being a middle ground (first class), expedited being fast (priority).  But again, the terms are meaningless, unless you state a specific and explicit shipping method, it is up to you how you ship.  If you say 1 day handling or guarantee arrival by a certain you better make certain you stick to your terms or some users will get snippy.  I usually do free economy shipping so they cant complain, but i usually ship same day and fast as reasonably possible.

Despite what folks will tell you, you shouldnt ship video games as media mail, it can bite you in the ass because it is against the terms for media mail.  They do random inspections of media mail, and if they find video games they will return to sender or send it priority and do a COD for the difference.  I cant recall which.  Most folks will tell you they have never had it happen, but I have from ebayers and I have known ithers who have as well.  And it is clearly detailed in the terms for medial mail that it is a no no.

I think a DVD game with manual is usually 6oz in a bubble mailer but it could vary depending on the weight of the manual.  First class is the way to go.  Add insurance if you are concerned it might get lost.

Thank you so much for all the help .    I sold and shipped my first item today.  .  I ended up buying a cheap 30 dollar Canon printer that came with ink for the purpose of printing shipping labels.  It was so much cheaper to ship than i thought it would be .    It was only 2.67 to send a game in a bubble mailer to California which is very far away from where i live.   

It was a fun experience .     

Price jumps when weight exceeds 1lb. (16oz.)  First class is pretty damned cheap.  Media mail is also cheap for strategy guides and such.

[burningdoom]

For whatever reason, regular video games do not count as computer software and does not qualify for media mail. Don't ask me why, I've had this argument with the post office before.

And being that it's media mail, it's subject to inspection. If it's discovered that it's doesn't qualify, it may not make it to your buyer.

Now, I've seen many games that slipped by and didn't get inspected and made it to me just fine. But the chance is still there, and it's a risk you're taking as a seller. Keep that in mind.

If it's just one game, I always use First-Class. It's cheap, and fast. But if it's over a pound, it won't qualify for First-Class.

[ignition365]

For whatever reason, regular video games do not count as computer software and does not qualify for media mail. Don't ask me why, I've had this argument with the post office before.

And being that it's media mail, it's subject to inspection. If it's discovered that it's doesn't qualify, it may not make it to your buyer.

Now, I've seen many games that slipped by and didn't get inspected and made it to me just fine. But the chance is still there, and it's a risk you're taking as a seller. Keep that in mind.

If it's just one game, I always use First-Class. It's cheap, and fast. But if it's over a pound, it won't qualify for First-Class.

It's very explicit about such things.

http://pe.usps.com/text/CSR/PS-334.htm

[desocietas]

Only other thing I wanted to mention outside the things that people have already recommended:
I love it when a seller takes extra care in packaging outside of just throwing a game into a bubble mailer. Even putting the game inside another wrapper or plastic bag is nice. If there's room, adding a piece of cardboard on either side of the game is also much, much appreciated. First class mail doesn't increase in price too much (if at all) for these little steps, but it makes a huge difference for some people and how their local mail people treat bubble mailers. Packages get rained on, punctured in weird ways, etc. I buy based on pictures of the item, so if I'm expecting a pristine item because of pictures and see that it got ruined because of poor packaging, I get really upset.

I've bought a nice "very good" quality Gameboy Advance game before (cardboard box and all), and the seller threw it into a bubble mailer by itself, causing it to be crushed in shipping. Defeated the point of looking for a non-crushed box... I know plastic cases hold up much better, but those, too, can be crushed or pierced.

[marvelvscapcom2]

Only other thing I wanted to mention outside the things that people have already recommended:
I love it when a seller takes extra care in packaging outside of just throwing a game into a bubble mailer. Even putting the game inside another wrapper or plastic bag is nice. If there's room, adding a piece of cardboard on either side of the game is also much, much appreciated. First class mail doesn't increase in price too much (if at all) for these little steps, but it makes a huge difference for some people and how their local mail people treat bubble mailers. Packages get rained on, punctured in weird ways, etc. I buy based on pictures of the item, so if I'm expecting a pristine item because of pictures and see that it got ruined because of poor packaging, I get really upset.

I've bought a nice "very good" quality Gameboy Advance game before (cardboard box and all), and the seller threw it into a bubble mailer by itself, causing it to be crushed in shipping. Defeated the point of looking for a non-crushed box... I know plastic cases hold up much better, but those, too, can be crushed or pierced.

Thank you so much for all the helpful advice .  I am going to use some of these packaging tips with my next sales in the future .   I love the idea of putting the game in a little baggy before putting it into the bubble mailer.   It will add more protection and look more professional and neat for the buyer too.  .   

[ignition365]

If you are shipping anything sensitive or fragile, such as games in boxes (N64, SNES, etc) you should be shipping that box inside of another box.  Some folks will put the SNES box inside of a small flat rate box and then put that box inside of a larger box with plenty of padding.  I don't like small flat rate boxes in general so I don't do that.  I will put the box inside of a bigger box with plenty of those bags of air and bubble wrap, tons of cushion and nothing that will crush the N64 boxes.

Also, insurance.

[jdsizzleslice]

I'm pretty sure it has already been stated, but shipping depends on a number of variables: mostly dependent on weight and price. First Class shipping is great for items under 13oz. Priority Mail is good for larger packages (up to 10lbs, my opinion). If you have something very heavy but is small, a flat rate box would be the way to go. These are found at the local USPS Post Office in your area and shouldn't cost anything to get. I personally haven't shipped too many things with flat rate boxes, but they can come in handy with the right item. Also, make sure that when you ship an item with a corresponding USPS box, that it is the right box. You cannot ship first class mail in a priority mail box. I made this mistake several times when I was first starting off a couple years ago, and I learned that if you use USPS printed boxes, that they can only be designated for that specific type of shipping that the box says. Boxes that have nothing on them can be used for any type of shipping (depending on the size requirements that each type of shipping has, obviously).

But mostly, it depends on your item (weight of item, cost of item, size of item, worth of item, etc.) and how you are listing the item. You can list the item with free shipping or add a shipping charge. Personally, I add the shipping charge and reduce the price of my item to adjust for the shipping price added onto the listing. Paypal is very user-friendly when it comes to shipping via ebay, and I highly recommend that you use Paypal for transactions on ebay (buying or selling).

If you are investing in a long-term ebay selling profile, then you also might want to invest in a scale. I have never had too many problems with USPS, but you always want to make sure that what you are shipping out matches the weight that the postage label says. You also might want a tape gun, so that it makes taping boxes easier and faster.

Another note: always save bubble wrap and boxes in good condition! You never know when you'll need a box that fits your sold item perfectly with padding.

This few tips and tricks have helped me the past 5 years while selling on ebay.

[xsuicidesn0wmanx]

One thing I like to see when I get a game is sometimes a seller will add a small peice of bubblewrap or cardboard inside a game case(dvd or cd) so that the disc doesn't pop loose and rumble around inside the case during shipping.

Another thing is to make sure you use some good clear packing tape on the label. Make sure you cover the destination address and return address, but do not put tape over the barcodes they need to scan. Also print out the item you sold from your listing and put that in the box along with a few small pieces of paper with your return address and destination address mixed in. Should something happen to the label you'll have back up info inside the box. Should the box end up damaged or opened, they'll still be able to deliver the package.

My mother used to sell a lot on ebay and worked for the post office, these are things she did to protect outgoing packages.