Labels

[jon8nan]

I can't/ don't print labels. I use post office to ship items and their price is higher than what buyers pay and am losing money on sales. What good options are there?

[brightlightbookseller]

If you don't have a good way to print labels, purchase them off eBay with the QR code option instead, which gives you a code to scan at the post office and they'll print the label for you.

If you're low volume, that works well.  If you're shipping multiple items in a day, your chances of mixups go way up, though, in which case I'd recommend spending some money on a label printer.  I think they can be had for $50 and up now, though I don't know which ones I would recommend (at work we use the Dymo 4XL, but I know lots of sellers here use other ones, and Dymo can be expensive).

[powell-collectibles]

You have options. You can set your pricing so that buyers pay the retail price for shipping, or the commercial rate. If you are paying retail, and they are paying commercial, yes, you are losing a lot. Even if you are charging retail, and paying retail, you are losing a little bit. If you don’t account for the fees that eBay takes out from your shipping cost.

Scratch all of this if you use something like media mail. There is no difference between commercial and retail rates for this class of service.

depending on how much you sell, and what class of service you use, a printer would be a fine investment. I do believe there is an option to ship with a QR code that you can show at the post office. Use that – perhaps some can chime in and fill in the blanks.

[fern*wood]

If you can't / won't purchase your labels online (and even if you do), you should make sure your shipping preferences aren't set to pass the online discount to your buyers.   Recently ebay switched many accounts to do this rather than charging the retail rates. 

[buyselljack2016]

@jon8nan 

For QR code labels be sure that your PO does them to avoid extra miles to be traveled.

If you use the Sedalia office, they should have the capability to print labels with a saved QR code.

If using a smaller area office, they may not have the capability.

[grand-and-glorious-purpose]

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@jon8nan wrote:

What good options are there?

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Buy a label printer here on ebay

[tsme35]

Thermal printing is the way to go but if your only going to ship a couple items a week/month, you can use a regular printer. Print out label, cut and tape but inks not cheap, so you have to decide the point a thermal printer is cheaper.

 Plus if you print at home, just put in mailbox and save a trip to PO.

[toysaver]

You can go online and print a shipping label at most public libraries for a dime.  I use that as a back up when my internet goes down.

[itsjustasprain]

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@tsme35 wrote:

Thermal printing is the way to go but if your only going to ship a couple items a week/month, you can use a regular printer. Print out label, cut and tape but inks not cheap, so you have to decide the point a thermal printer is cheaper.

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I bought my label printer (an HP inkjet) at a garage sale for $5. Invested in a new black cartridge and that was it. My PC recognized the printer and downloaded the correct drivers as soon as I connected it. 

Just out of curiosity I put a sticky note on the side of the printer to track how often I needed to replace the black cartridge. (The color one hardly gets used.) I use it for packing slips and address labels in my selling account to sell around 30 items a month (with occasional printing of something unrelated) and I was surprised to see that each black cartridge lasts a consistent 5 months each before it finally goes empty.

[wastingtime101]

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@jon8nan wrote:

I can't/ don't print labels. I use post office to ship items and their price is higher than what buyers pay and am losing money on sales. What good options are there?

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The first thing you need to do @jon8nan  is check your settings on this page: https://www.ebay.com/ship/prf

Under the setting to offer buyers carrier specific discounted rates, make sure you do not have that enabled. You're buying postage at the post office which costs more than buying postage on eBay so you need to charge buyers retail rates and not provide them the online discount.

The second thing you need to do is make sure your listings have accurate weight and dimensions for the packed item, and use calculated shipping not flat shipping. This will ensure accurate rates.

The third thing you may wish to consider is adding a handling cost to your listings. Why? Because eBay charges a fee on total cost buyer pays (item + ship + tax), and by charging exact ship cost you are losing money on every single package. By using either a handling cost or bumping your item prices a little, you can cover those fees.

I'd also suggest getting a shipping scale and buying your postage online so you can take advantage of online discounts. If you charge buyers retail rates but buy shipping with eBay labels, the difference in online/retail is generally enough to cover the eBay fees on shipping.

Without a printer you can use the QR code option, but you can also get a nice deal on an eco tank printer with holiday deals coming up. With your sales volume, ink in an eco tank can last you years before you need to refill.

[redmodelt]

I only print black and white so got a used HP Laser Jet off eBay. 

[bdmh-enterprises]

I got a Canon eco tank a couple years ago. Well over a thousand pages of labels plus other printing and still have half a tank of the ink that came with the printer 🙂

[fm2000]

If you are going to ship things on any kind of regular basis, get a thermal printer so you can buy your postage online and get the discounted/commercial rate. Paying USPS retail rates is like setting money on fire. Shipping just 25-30 packages over 1lb at the discounted rate will probably more than pay for the printer.

Even better, if you can schedule a (free) pickup at your home with USPS so you don't have to go to the post office, you will save even more. You will save by paying the discounted rate AND save wear and tear on your car, gas and time. Doing both of these will save you a serious amount of time and money over the course of a year.