Does anyone use a postage scale?

[athomeinmi]

Our 3 boys are finally getting out the house, and I'm cleaning closets and selling on Ebay.  Am finding it a fun hobby, EXCEPT shipping fees always catch me off guard (as well as Ebay and PayPal fees... ugh!).

The lady working at the Post Office suggested I purchase a postal scale (for about $20) and use USPS online -- to allow me (1) to set an accurate weight when creating a listing so buyers can calculate postage fees, and (2) to allow me to take advantage of online USPS discounts.

Does anyone do this now? Is it worth it for me to invest?

Thanks...

[cherylmd1978]

Best investment I made.  Not only can you benifit from reduced rates by printing online, but it almost eliminates trips to the PO, just put your packages in your mailbox with the flag up, and when the mailman/lady comes they take it with them.

[ettasfamilyboutique]

Ditto the best investment.  You will repay yourself for the purchase by saving on the first one or two shipments.  Being exact saves a lot of money.  For example I ship smaller items, so it means the difference between shipping First Class (13 oz max) with tracking or having to ship Priority.

I found a great kitchen/postal scale at an overstock warehouse in my area for around $20 and it's saved me oodles of money.

[bostongrammy]

Yes, absolutely, I can't imagine a seller functioning without one. Get a good one with features like a tare option, battery (vs corded) operation, a rack to hold envelopes upright and a face that's readable even with large packages (mine pulls out).

I use this one and it has given good service for many years, but the price is a lot higher than I paid and you might be able to do better:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/My-Weigh-UltraShip-35-Digital-Scale-noAC-noSS-Postal-Shipping-Postage-Bench-/360397313871

Have fun with the downsizing -- you're at the stage I was ten years ago when I started on eBay. Printing your own postage online is one of those things that make you say "Why didn't I do this sooner?"

[rsto3129]

I use an el cheapo scale I bought here on ebay for about $20 and it works fine. I always weigh the item I'm going to send and give myself an ounce or two extra for leeway to account for packing material.

Get yourself a little 3 foot tape measure while your at it to measure the boxes, you need to know that too.

[athomeinmi]

Thank you so much for your suggestions!!

[theguitarpartsguy]

Ditto on the Ultra-ship scale that BG posted above, it's a great little scale, I have had mine for close to 5 years now, still works great.

Using a scale and paypal or eBay shipping is the only way to go as far as saving time and money is concerned.  If you get to shipping a lot of stuff, you might want to look into a label printer like the Zebra, too, but that's something that might or might not pay for itself... if you ship mostly boxed stuff where you have space to tape a paper label down, that works just as well, and paper is cheap.  I ship a lot of small 4X6 padded envelopes, so the label printer makes that real handy for me, just depends on your situation.  I really like that I can just peel and slap it on, saves time and tape.

[ipayuship]

if you're going to sell more than a few things a scale is a must!

question should be : who doesnt use a scale?

chances are itll pay for itself in no time.

[kansas_gal06]

A $20 scale will pay for itself very quickly with the discounted Delivery Confirmation price of 19¢  (or free) in some cases. That is versus retail of 80¢-90¢ when you go to the post office.

Then there is the lower commercial rate on the postage itself.

A few times I could have used a scale like boston described - one that you can put a big bulky box and have a meter that stretches on a cord long enough so you can see the weight. I have had to do some funny little flashlight tricks with my smaller scale to see the weight on bigger packages.  But, I dont ship a lot of big heavy stuff.

My husband came home with this scale a few years ago and it's one of hte best things he bought me. I was ripping my hair out, going to the post office too often, relying on flat-rate boxes and getting my stars dinged on shipping cost, and in general losing money over shipping.

Shipping continues to be the biggest challenge for me as far as eBay selling, but it's SOOOO much easier with a scale!

[kansas_gal06]

... with features like a tare option....

Just curious, boston, what do you use the tare option for?  I know what the concept is - for example if you're weighing food portions, you put the plate or bowl on the scale and tare it out so the dish weight doesn't get counted as food weight.

Do you tare anything out for eBay shipping? 

[mintrobmint]

Hi KG....my scale is MC 36 lbss....when I have oddball size packages and dont want to tip the scale I use a centering board and use the tare option. Like when I shipped my sons old guitar...it worked perfect.

[bostongrammy]

Whenever I have a box that would obscure the readout, whether it's a huge box or just a big book, I find it easier to put a #4 box on the scale first, to use as a pedestal, and tare so I can read it more easily.  The scale came with a little rack thing to hold envelopes upright, so I tare the weight of that when I'm checking certain FC parcels.

Also, my cat is on a diet and I lure her into a #7 box with treats when it's time for a weight checkup.

[ibuy6262]

[ibuy6262]

Sorry - twichy finger:-(

[strugglevilleauctions]

The scale I use is this - 330778749936 .  But I am one cheap sob so I know I didnt pay anything close to that for it.  It looks cheap but I have never had a problem with the weight of a package.  And going up to 50 pounds takes care of most things.  My only complaint with it would be on big boxes i have to sneak my hand under the box and feel for the HOLD button because otherwise I cant see the screen.  Not that big of a deal though.  I have probably been using it for 7-8 years.