Are you still including invoices with your shipments?

[kathy507]

I bought several items on eBay recently and they all arrived fine, but none of them had an invoice or anything enclosed.

Is there a trend to not include invoices?  Maybe buyers no longer care?

Now that the invoices you can print from eBay do not include the price and shipping charge, is it worth wasting the paper  to include one?  Is it worth the extra effort to print one from PayPal?  (I don't know if managed payments lets you print invoices somewhere else if the buyer does not use PayPal but if you are in managed payments and know the answer please respond.)

I know buyers can print a receipt from their purchase notice, but in the past it seemed they wanted a receipt in the box too.

[cat20sew]

I also cut usable pieces of paper to add little thank you notes and also use small pieces of paper to write “free thank you gift”. And ship the order with it.

[disorderlieder]

I've never included one, I assume people can look online. Printer cartridges are freaking expensive.

[classic_luxe]

I've been selling for 14+ years (over $405,000.00 total) and have never included an invoice/packing slip and never received any feedback regarding not including one.

[bigdeals.etc]

I used to include the invoice in every package I ship. I don't waste ink because I use a thermal printer and set margins for the ebay invoice to fit perfectly on a thermal label. So you can say I waste thermal labels.

I recently stopped about a year or so ago when ebay glitched out and was displaying our personal names and addresses on the invoices rather than our company name and address. Ebay has since fixed the glitch but I realized no one cared about that invoice so I never bothered to include it back into the package.

I still print them out in order for me and my assistant to pick and package my items, but I just end up throwing it away instead of including it in. I guess including it in would lessen my garbage. *shrugs*

[rayjass]

I always include a packing slip and at the buyer's request, I include an Invoice as well.

The packing slip is the most needed accompanying document - referring item number, sales number, and date, seller's ID, email and contact information. And a short note with "Thank you for your order" and a kind remind the buyer to leave positive feedback if he (she) is happy with the service.

From my point of view establishing good communication with the buyers is very important. In this respect, the packing slip is part of this communication process.

Jivko

[penguins_dont_fly]

I always include a Packing slip.

Just in case the label is damaged. I, too, have gotten items in a baggie with the "we're sorry" label that only arrived because the address was included inside the box.

The other reason is to let the buyer know who sent the item. I've had a lot of "power buyers" over the years ... and even single item buyers sometimes get confused about who they bought from if they were watching different listings.  nd let's not forget guest buyers.

I have customized my packing slip to have my "customer service" email address.

I have added my Return Policy (60 days Free) and a statement about what to do if the item arrives damaged (contact me and send pics to the email on the slip)

I hand write "Thank you" at the bottom and attach my business card. The business card has all of my sales venues and my business social media handles.

By doing this, I have gotten cross-venue sales, private sales and leads on inventory.