Packing ebay orders.

[inhawaii]

I used to pack orders one at a time.  Pack the item(s).  Print out the shipping label. Leave feedback. Affix the label to the package.  Go on to the next order.

Sometimes i would do 2 or 3 orders at a time but once in a while i would get orders mixed up and customers would get the wrong item.  What a headache!  When ever that happens i always vow never to do that again and work on just  1 order at a time from start to finish. 

A few weeks back we had a hurricane approching so i decided to print out all my labels FIRST in case the power went out, then pack my items and affix the labels.

It turns out this new "method" works well for me and i continue to do it this way.

I was just wondering how everyone else does it.

[luckythewinner]

I pack all the items first, and immediately write the contents on the outside of the package where the label will go. 

Then I pick up each item, read what I wrote on the package, and print and add the label. 

The key for me is to never have more than one package on the desk when I print the label, so there is never a chance of messing it up. 

I've never had an issue with sending the wrong item. 

[voguevintage]

I pack each order first and write on the top of each what it is and the weight and then I print all of my labels one by one and affix them on top of each item where I wrote the info.

This keeps me from mixing up the items

The only exception is if I  have the same item packed the same way. Then I'll use bulk shipping

[inhawaii]

Moved to shipping and returns?

That's odd, this thread has nothing to do with shipping and returns.

It has to do with how SELLERS pack their items. Oh well, you can't argue with the ebay police.

Thank you everybody for your input.  It was very interesting to see how everyone does it.

Aloha and stay safe! 

[bigdeals.etc]

Didn't read any of the replies yet so I might sound redundant. But yes... once you get the hang of it, that is how you can totally increase your efficiency. That's a tactic in order to scale your business. But you should limit your amount to a realistic volume that you can handle.

I hate doing too many things halfway because I'm afraid too many things will be left unfinished. That's where you have to estimate how much you can handle... both time and accuracy wise. So I break everything up in batches. Take me for instance... baseball caps. I come in in the morning and print out every invoice/packing slip that needs to be shipped out before the day is over. Then I sort them by category. Caps is one category. Once I do that I judge how much time I have until lunch or my next break. I already know my average time to fully process 1 cap order from start to finish so now I know how many orders I can handle and complete by my lunch break.

Then I create the postage (I know the weights by memory) quickly. Then I pull them from the shelves respectively to my stack of invoices. Then I just pack them in order according to that stack and work my way down til the last one... stick postage on each one as I complete packing it. Done. Lunch break. I basically continue this throughout the day. My employees follow the same formula. So it's kind of like a hybrid between "one at a time" and "everything at once." It's calculated and sorted batches.

Some of my not-so-focused employees make switching mistakes. That usually is caused by distractions that can be limited or simply the batch was too large. Sadly mistakes will ALWAYS happen. I know some people here will say if you make a mistake, then you better change your methods. Honestly I've found that as long as the efficiency of an employee (or yourself) outweighs the mistake... then you're fine and don't need to change anything. Buyers may not want to hear that, but focusing on preventing insignificant mistakes (even if it means a buyer gets the wrong item) can kill a business.

[bigdeals.etc]

Okay I read the replies. I see value in pretty much all the methods each one has said... as all of our businesses and products differ. A couple of things I thought of...

@slippinjimmy I too use stamps.com pretty much exclusively. I find it has a better flow for me than the others. But it’s not perfect.

One reason why I can create postage before pulling and packing is because my products are all pretty similar and can easily be sorted by size and weight. Making postage first also helps me catch the buyers who make multiple purchases that I can combine into one package and postage. I wouldn’t be able to do that otherwise if the buyer bought a shirt then 5 hours later a hat. My stamps.com is sorted by buyer name, not purchase time. I get plenty of these multiple orders a day.

And in regards to circling the packing slip for quantities higher than 1.... OMG YESS. That is very important to me as it catches my employee’s eye so they don’t accidentally only ship 1 unit. Since about 80% of my orders are only 1 unit. Also in some of my initial sorting... I may create a new category stack for “multiples”. For example, having a stack for just caps and another stack for “caps QTY higher than 1”. So whomever is packing them know that every order in there consists of more than 1 cap. This is usually done in high sales days like Christmas time.

[myboardid]

My method is very similar to slippinjimmy's - I print all the packing slips as the orders come in, and pull the items in batches, placing each one with it's packing slip.  I make sure I have enough of my flyer inserts and my small labels printed - the labels have my website printed on them and I put them on the outside of the package. 

I pack each item and mark the package with the buyer's first initial and last name, then weigh the package.  My items can vary in weight even for the same thing depending on the weight of the box, as I use quite a few recycled boxes.  I make a running list of the names and weights. 

I print the labels just before it is time to go to the post office, place them on the packages with the matching names and print a scan sheet.  My dh takes everything to the van and off to the post office he goes.  All packages must be at the PO counter by 3 PM for the outgoing 3:30 mail truck to take.  He used to take them to the back door, but with the shortage of workers and COVID, now everything has to go over the counter.   

[bigdeals.etc]

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@inhawaii wrote:

Moved to shipping and returns?

That's odd, this thread has nothing to do with shipping and returns.

It has to do with how SELLERS pack their items. Oh well, you can't argue with the ebay police.

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Ever wonder how come some posts are treated differently when it gets moved to another section? I've noticed sometimes the post just gets moved without any notice and other times you see a post get moved and a Mod types some sort of blurb like "This post has been moved to ___". You know the ones... I always see Buttercup (Powerpuff Girl) on those.

[corvettestainless]

Most all my packages are different sizes, from 1 item to 12, sizes range from size of a playing card to a Large Game or Flat Rate Square box (sometimes larger). 

I fully pack them all, weigh them and write the item and weight on the box/envelope- all of this is done in the shop. Have anywhere from 3 to 12 orders on any given day to ship out. 

Then, in the office, I print One at a time, from oldest to newest order, and apply label. 

When done- do USPS pick up on line (although now I will be shipping Fedex and taking to them until USPS resolves their issues) 

Feedback- I have it set at 'automatic'.. gives feedback right away and never think about it. 

I also like clicking on buyers feedback to see if I've sold to them before as I will see my feedback on there. 

[pussboots01]

I don't understand how that would be. If you printed out the shipping labels, say you printed out 100 labels, now you gotta attach the labels on the bag matching the item with the person. ...but your occasionally not putting the correct label matching the person.

It seems to me that your not paying attention.  

Are you sealing the bags prior to someone buying the item?

This is what I would do.....

1)  leave the bags open

2) one at a time get label, match label to the item in the bag, fold it with both ends (shipping and receipt)

3) put them in each bag until you have no more labels

4) one at a time, get label open it up, check content in bag if match, cut then attach label, then seal..PAU, YOU WENT GO DOUBLE CHECK UM. LI'DAT. AT DIS POINT, YOU WENT GO CHECK, DOUBLE CHECK AND DEN TRIPLE CHECK UM.

5) TURN OFF THE TV OR RADIO SO NO MOA DISTRACTIONS, TELLS KIDS SHUT-UP GO OUTSIDE, WEA DA MASK. 

[yuzuha]

I always do them one at a time because I sell many types of items that go in the same size box and so it would be too easy to mix things up otherwise. All of my smalls go in 6"x4"x4"s, for example, and crane game prize figures go in 12"x10"x8"s. If I get more than one of those at a time (which happens a lot), I'd be worried that I might inadvertently put the wrong label on the wrong box if I'm packing more than one at once.

[bigdeals.etc]

Hahaha what?