Authors: Marsha Collier
Tags: #Electronic Commerce, #Computers, #General, #E-Commerce, #Internet auctions, #Auctions - Computer network resources, #Internet, #Business & Economics, #EBay (Firm)
EBay for Dummies (50 page)
Figure 12-2:
USPS Flat Rate Priority boxes ready and waiting for you!
If you print your postage electronically, through a service such as Endicia or PayPal, you get a discount on your Priority Mail postage.
Express Mail:
If the item needs to be delivered the next day, use Express Mail. The Postal Service promises delivery no later than noon the following afternoon (even on weekends or holidays). And you can get free boxes.
Cost? Express Mail runs $13.05 for packages 8 ounces and under. Express Mail also has a flat-rate envelope, which is the same size as the Priority flat-rate envelope and ships for $17.50. (You get a 5% discount when purchasing your postage electronically).
The Postal Service offers a free special pickup for Priority Mail and Express Mail, no matter how many separate packages are included. If you have several packages, carrier pickup is an excellent option.
Get to know your mail carrier and have your parcels ready and stacked up for him or her for the regular stop at your home. The mail carrier will be happy to take your packages back to the post office at no additional charge. (A bottle of icy-cold water for your letter carrier on hot days will go a long way in your relationship!)
First-Class Mail:
If your item weighs 13 ounces or less, you can use First-Class Mail. First-Class Mail is considerably cheaper than Priority. I try to ship as much as I can via First Class mail so I can have the edge on other sellers by offering lower shipping prices.
Media Mail:
This is a popular option among those who sell books on eBay. It’s the new name for two older products, Book Rate and Special Standard Mail. Media Mail rates start at $2.23 for the first pound and increase by $0.35 for each additional pound.
Other options:
The Postal Service offers all sorts of add-ons. I always get the delivery confirmation service that you can add to Priority Mail, as well as with other mailing services such as First Class or Parcel Post. The cost is a mere $0.75 — free on electronic purchases. It buys you the knowledge of when and where your item was delivered. Not only that, but if buyers report to PayPal that they want a refund because they never received an item, the scan on the delivery confirmation code prevents you from getting a chargeback.
You can check on whether the package was delivered (or whether an attempt was made to deliver it). By typing the number online at
www.usps.com/shipping/trackandconfirm.htm
.
If you’re an occasional shipper (you
buy
more than you sell on eBay) and don’t use PayPal, you can print bar-coded shipping labels with free delivery confirmation (for Priority Mail only) at the USPS site. No online e-mail functions are available, so you have to do all the e-mailing and record keeping yourself. But hey, the service is free. Just go to
www.usps.com
and find the Click-N-Ship link.
Delivery confirmation also comes in handy if you try to collect insurance for an item that was never delivered or if the buyer says the item was never delivered. It gives you proof from the Postal Service that the item was sent. (I explain insuring shipments later in this chapter.) But understand that you cannot accurately track your package. Delivery confirmation is merely proof that the package was mailed and delivered. If your package gets lost in the mail for a few weeks, this number rarely acts as a tracking number and won’t reveal the location of your package until it’s delivered.
The USPS Web site (
www.usps.com
) gives you an overview of the U.S. Postal Service rates so that you can see all your options. It sure beats standing in that endless line! For a complete explanation of domestic rates, check out
www.usps.com/prices/welcome.htm
.
Even better, USPS has a page that can help you determine exactly what your item costs to mail (after you’ve packaged it and weighed it, of course). Start at the Rate Calculator page at
postcalc.usps.gov
and follow the instructions.
UPS
The folks in the brown UPS trucks love eBay. The options they offer vary, with everything from Overnight service to Ground service. UPS also takes many of the odd-shaped large boxes, such as those for computer equipment, that the U.S. Postal Service won’t.
UPS makes pickups, but you have to know the exact weight of your package so that you can pay when the UPS driver shows up. UPS charges for this service unless you have a daily shipper account and ship a minimum number of packages with UPS per week.
The rates for the same UPS shipment can vary based on whether you have a business account with UPS, whether the package goes to or is picked up at a residence, and whether you use the right kind of form. If you’re going to use UPS regularly, be sure to set up an account directly with UPS.
Although UPS offers “discounts” to eBay PowerSellers, don’t be fooled. If you ship mostly small packages, you’d have to ship truckloads full on a daily basis to compete with USPS rates.
You can find the UPS home page at
www.ups.com
. For rates, click the Shipping tab and then click Estimate Cost on the left side of the page, which gives you prices based on zip codes and package weights. (Note the ominous “estimate” rates.)
The UPS.com Quick Cost Calculator prices are based on what UPS charges its regular and high-volume users. When you get to the counter, the price may be higher than what you find on the Web.
Sí, oui, ja, yes! Shipping internationally
Money’s good no matter what country it comes from. I don’t know why, but lots of people seem to be afraid to ship internationally and list “I don’t ship overseas” on the auction page. Of course, sending an item that far away may be a burden if you’re selling a car or a street-sweeper (they don’t fit in boxes too well), but I’ve found that sending a package across the Atlantic can be just as easy as shipping across state lines. The only downside: My shipper of choice, the U.S. Postal Service, does not insure packages going to certain countries (check with your post office to find out which ones; they seem to change with the headlines), so I use private shipping insurance with U-PIC.
Here are a couple of other timely notes about shipping internationally:
You need to tell what’s inside the package. Be truthful when declaring value on customs forms. Use descriptions that customs agents can figure out without knowing eBay shorthand terms. For example, instead of declaring the contents as “MIB Barbie,” call it a “small child’s doll.” Some countries require buyers to pay special duties and taxes, depending on the item and the value. But that’s the buyer’s headache.
Wherever you send your package (especially if it’s going to a country where English is not the native language), write legibly. (Imagine getting a package from Russia and having to decipher a label written in the Cyrillic alphabet.
’Nuff said
.)
My favorite link on the UPS site is the transit map that shows the United States and how long it takes to reach any place in the country (based on the originating zip code). If you’re thinking of shipping that compact refrigerator to Maine, you can check out this fun and informative page at
www.ups.com/using/services/servicemaps/servicemaps.html
.
FedEx
I use FedEx Express Air all the time for rush business, but Express seems rather expensive for my eBay shipping. However, if the buyer wants it fast and is willing to pay, I’ll send it by FedEx overnight, you bet.
FedEx Ground service has competitive prices and carries all the best features of FedEx. I use FedEx Ground for items that are heavy (say, antique barbells) or extremely large (such as a 1920s steamer trunk), because FedEx ships anything up to 150 pounds in a single box — 80 more pounds than the U.S. Postal Service takes. FedEx also delivers on Saturdays — which UPS won’t. It also charges $4.00 to pick up items from shippers who ship less than $60.00 in weekly package charges.
I also like the FedEx boxes. Like one of my favorite actors, Joe Pesci, from
My Cousin Vinny
and the
Lethal Weapon
movies, these boxes are small but tough. But if you’re thinking of reusing these boxes to ship with another service, forget it. The FedEx logo is plastered all over every inch of the freebies, and the company may get seriously peeved about it. You can’t use those fancy boxes for its Ground service.