For those that sell clothing, can you offer advice on how to mininize shipping costs?

[currencyoftime]

I am selling some of my clothes and there are some dresses with lining (on the heavy side).   In the past I sold shirts which were simple .   I know I should protect them from damage and my thought there is saran wrap but to keep both the packing simple and protect the product, what would some of you seasoned sellers advice?   I do have some left over tyvek or something similar envelopes and that was my first thought, only large enough to accommodate a heavy lined dress.    I want to incorporate the cost of the item into shipping to offer free ship. (semantics and mind games )

thanks!

[chicboutique31]

i also have many dresses listed and sold and i use bubble mailers and never had any issues with them. If the dress weighs over 1 pound, i use flat rate bubble mailers that you can order online for free from USPS.

[swenson8781]

I store all of my items in ziplock bags prior to shipping, then put the ziplock directly into whatever size mailer/polybag I'm using.  That gives them another layer of protection from water/snow, etc during shipping.  I use the regular gallon size for most of my items, but in the case of larger items (not sure of the size of your dresses, ball gowns, etc) I use the larger 2.5 gallon ones.  

The gallon size ziplocks fit very nicely into 10 x 12 polybags (for 1st class), or FRE, or Padded FRE.  And the 2.5 gallon ones fit into 15 x 12 polybags, Priority tyveks or Priority Medium flat rate boxes.

[duggmills]

I realize clothing is a tough, overpopulated market, however don't get overly-frugal  with shipping as ultimately you are still responsible for the product getting to the buyer  (hopefully) undamaged, unstained and in a reasonable time frame.

"undamaged, unstained and in a reasonable time frame." Gee, wouldn't that be nice?

[gone_4_good]

If it weight less than 1 lb it goes into 9x12 white envelope folded nicely. (TAPE OVER THE FLAP WELL!!)

If it weight more than one pound it goes into a flat rate envelope, if it doesn't fit I try a legal flat rate envelope or a flat rate bubble. I will nicely roll it up and stuff it in 🙂 No complaints so far. I dont bother with plastic wrap of anything like that

Flat rate Regional A boxes are also handy for larger items

[ozarkjoe]

When I choose shipping options here on eBay I see something called "standard shipping" or "parcel select".  Is that a real option, something cheaper than Priority Mail?

[gone_4_good]

standard shipping is a general shipping category - rates vary

USPS parcel select is slow and generally the same cost as priority until the package gets bigger and heavier then it is cheaper