eBay Insanity

[Mr_Misanthropy]

Hello Loungers
I have a lot of stuff I want to sell on eBay, as well as a friend with a house full of antiques that I can sell for a percent of the profit. Sounds great, but i'm having problems. What is the best way to ship all of this stuff? I don't drive, so, going to the post office every day is out of the question. I understand USPS, FedEx, and UPS all have pick up services, but how do I pay for the shipping? Can I use my own boxes? I've gone to the websites, and it's just mind boggling. USPS has about 385,734,987,593 different ways to ship a package, and no one has any answers to my postage inquiries. I can get my own boxes to use, wrap and pack them myself, and have someone pick them up, that'd be fine.. but is it expensive? Do they just bill me for shipment or what?

So, those of you who sell on eBay (or otherwise), how do you handle shipping? Do you weigh the stuff yourself with a postal scale and have the labels and everything there?

Confused.
Jeremiah

 

[RedPop4]

USPS will let you print off your own labels, and pick up from your location, simply tell them where the package will be in relation to your mail box. They also take VISA/MC etc. for click and ship.

 

[Mr_Misanthropy]

So I assume I do all of this online? Do I just tell them how much it weighs and pay online? Or do they weigh it and bill me later? Am I needlessly turning this into rocket science?

 

[TommySalieri]

Hey, Jeremiah. Keep me up to date on this.

 

[Mr_Misanthropy]

Sure thing, Tommy.
I'd like to start up a sort of 'unofficial" eBay buying/selling business. Countless times I've heard people say they have lots of stuff they want to get rid of, they're just intimidated by eBay. Well, I was thinking of offering my services and listing items for them in exchange for a percent of the profit. I have people lined up who have stuff to sell, but I don't know how to go about it. i have only sold one thing ever on eBay, and I just kind of guesstimated the shipping and handling, which ended up being $20 more than I thought. I do NOT want to make that mistake again.

 

[RedPop4]

You tell the weight as you fill in the form.
Yes, it is all done online. I've had good and bad experience. I had one where I marked it under the mailbox, and they left it sit out overnight and I put it in the box, even though it didn't really fit, for them to take it the next day.

But on the whole, especially if you have a good regular carrier, it'll work.
Just don't overcharge your customers on postage.

 

[Mr_Misanthropy]

Ah I see. I've looked over the USPS site more closely, and I think I'll be OK. lol Now I just need a good scale.

 

[Washington]

My wife and I have done a good bit of selling on eBay. My advice, get a decent postal scale and use USPS' website. You can use their shipping calculator and figure out what the cost will be once you know the weight.

If you're an honest ebayer, you won't try to pad the sell price by charging exhorbitant shipping rates. For heavier things however (more than a few items of clothes), USPS is generally more expensive and we tend to use DHL. Still, as long as you are quoting a shipping rate in your auction your customer has already agreed to the price. As RedPop said, you can print out the labels and you're set to go.

Good luck,
Washington

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Intimidated by Ebay???

Sure thing, Tommy.
I'd like to start up a sort of 'unofficial" eBay buying/selling business. Countless times I've heard people say they have lots of stuff they want to get rid of, they're just intimidated by eBay. Well, I was thinking of offering my services and listing items for them in exchange for a percent of the profit. I have people lined up who have stuff to sell, but I don't know how to go about it. i have only sold one thing ever on eBay, and I just kind of guesstimated the shipping and handling, which ended up being $20 more than I thought. I do NOT want to make that mistake again.

Perish the thought. It's not very difficult. Once you have made a few sales it gets much easier. I generally use Paypal to print my labels and to pay for postage. If I should over-estimate postage, I can simply give the customer a refund online. And they always like that!
Luckily, I can just take packages to work and the shippers pick up my stuff along with the company stuff.

 

[Pilgrim]

Make sure to get an accurate digital scale (possibly via Ebay) and pre-weigh the item including packaging before you list it. After all, you're going to have to package it sooner or later, so why not sooner and get an accurate weight?

Don't pad your costs, but DO include the costs of carton and packaging in your pricing.

If you have anything really valuable to ship, my advice is DO NOT use USPS for that item; instead, use FedEx Ground or UPS, and insure the whee out of it.

Study the conditions that others put on their Ebay sales, and come up with your own boilerplate statement that addresses these issues:

- Time allowed for payment (My suggestion: 1 week maximum)
- Methods of payment (include Paypal, it's necessary)
- Items sold AS-IS, no returns or refunds
- Work out other terms as seem fair to you

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Make sure to get an accurate digital scale (possibly via Ebay) and pre-weigh the item including packaging before you list it. After all, you're going to have to package it sooner or later, so why not sooner and get an accurate weight?

Don't pad your costs, but DO include the costs of carton and packaging in your pricing.

If you have anything really valuable to ship, my advice is DO NOT use USPS for that item; instead, use FedEx Ground or UPS, and insure the whee out of it.

Study the conditions that others put on their Ebay sales, and come up with your own boilerplate statement that addresses these issues:

- Time allowed for payment (My suggestion: 1 week maximum)
- Methods of payment (include Paypal, it's necessary)
- Items sold AS-IS, no returns or refunds
- Work out other terms as seem fair to you

All very sound advice Pilgrim. Especially the insurance aspect. I always offer it as an option, but require it for items over a benchmark cost of say,....$20 to $25 or so. With UPS packages are insured automatically for values up to $100. With the US Postal Service, it's only an additional $1.35.