Shipping

[weister1]

I'm just wondering what's the cheapest way to ship. Between Ebay fees and shipping its hard to make money unless you buy dirt cheap.

[orangehound]

This may sound elementary, but it is going to depend on weight, size, and distance.

• Under 1 pound, you would use USPS First Class package
• In the 1-2 pound range, USPS Priority Mail is typically the best price ... and FedEx SmartPost will give better prices on longer distances.
• Over 2 pounds and within USPS Zones 1-5, USPS Priority Mail usually gives the best price with SmartPost better in the higher zones.
• If you have large dimensional sizes, you would need to go to USPS Parcel Select.
• Small heavy items over 1 pound are shipped economically in the USPS flat rate envelope mailers (padded, regular and legal).  Sometimes a regional A or B box will give better prices ... it is extremely rare for a USPS Medium or Large flat rate box to give you the best price.
• I have found UPS to be my most expensive option, but that's because I don't have access to better pricing.

If your post was referring to packaging, I feast on poly mailers and bubble wrap whenever possible to keep weights down, and Priority Mail boxes to keep supply costs down*.  I always use boxes when shipping internationally or for more expensive, fragile items.

*Though free, I would never dumpster dive for packaging materials just because I think that looks like a poor presentation to the buyer.

[weister1]

thank you i really appreciate it

[mantionco]

Under 16oz USPS First class

Priority mail for anything zone 1-4

Priority mail 5-9 for anyting less then 1728 Cubic Inches  ex 12x12x12

For Items Larger then 1728 Cubic Inches you will need to calculate "dimensional weight" 

Ex lets say you have a 5 pound package in a 12"x12"x12.2" 

you have to round every messurement up so it would be 12x12x13 which is 1872 cubic inches.

You divide 1872 cubic inches by 194(magic number they just made up) and you get 9.65, you then round that up and it is 10 pound rate.

Its stupid I know but that is our government.  In general if you are shipping things with the correct amount of cushoning the price of dimensional weight makes Priority to zones 5-9 a mistake. 

So in general, large box, light item zone 5-9 USPS Parcel Select Ground

It doesn't hurt to check FedEx rates, I haven't shipped FedEx in a long time.  They used to bill ebay, which then bills you, which you then choose to pay through pay pal.  So if you are short of cash sometimes its nice to ship FedEx and pay at the end of the month.  This might have changed. 

I have never had a good rate with USPS, it might be a little cheaper for some items but not worth the time checking plus USPS has a bigger delivery window and more drop off locations.

[weister1]

what are the zones im not familiar with them?

[sam9876]

Zones are basically determined by how far away the recipient is.

[7606dennis]

Actually, it has often been said that profit is made at the time of acquisition rather than at the time of sale.  

[lja440]

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@7606dennis wrote:

Actually, it has often been said that profit is made at the time of acquisition rather than at the time of sale.  

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True indeed, when buying I know roughly what I can sell it for, I try to max out my buying at around half of that. 

With this, I also have to keep in mind either the space and rent it will take up at the B&M or the shipping costs as these ultimately will have some impact on what I can sell it for. An item that will cost a lot to ship for the most part will have less profit potential.

I actually had a special order that the buyer only wanted to pay what I had in the purchase of the items. I told her that I was actually asking for LESS than what I had in them considering it took a month and traveling around 3 counties to fill the order. It's not just about the purchase price of your inventory, you have to pay yourself also.

[partial*eclipse]

If your package is over 1 pound and also over the threshold for dimensional weight (1728 cubic inches) just set up the listing with a calculated postage cost for both Priority Mail and Parcel Select (or Retail Ground) so that the closer buyers can choose Priroity and farther ones can choose cheaper (Parcel Select) vs faster (Priority).   There's no need for the seller to figure out the actual dimensional weight postage cost.

[amandadulce2009]

I thought USPS first class mail was for 13oz and under?

[ce-9809]

*Though free, I would never dumpster dive for packaging materials just because I think that looks like a poor presentation to the buyer.

So then why are you not purchasing inflated eBay shipping supplies then?

Surely customers expect official eBay boxes with items wrapped in eBay tissue paper and eBay tape only.

Perhaps go one step further any opt for your own branded boxes, tissue paper and tape. Surely customers deserve this.

I worked for a large wholesaler. We reused the boxes we received our goods in from manufacturers for customer orders to ship via UPS and our own truck firm. Our customers were only interested in getting our items the cheapest way. They could care less about packaging which will immediately end up in the trash or reused again by them.

How do these same customer purchase items from any retail store then? The vast majority of these goods are shipped inside one use cardboard boxes which you as a eBay seller would be giving another life before they are recycled. So your customers are against the green movement?

I feast on poly mailers and bubble wrap whenever possible to keep weights down

These provide NO PROTECTION AT ALL.

A Priority Mail bubble envelope is good if you can first fit your item into a protective box that will fit inside the bubble envelope. In some instances this will be cheaper that sending the item in just the box.

Keep in mind that just because you are shipping something soft, such as sweatshirt, in a bubble mailer it does not mean it can't be damaged. Poly mailers and bubble envelopes can get caught in machinery which will mean your soft item will get caught in the machinery. Your soft item will have other packages falling on it during the sorting process. Will the graphics printed on the front of the sweat shirt survive repeated packages falling on it when often such graphics can be easily damaged by tumbling in the clothes dryer.

[ce-9809]

eBay is one selling venue.

Too many people assume that eBay somehow sets the price for anything or somehow controls the marketplace.

Its a dying venue.

If it had been meeting the needs of consumers we would not have seen the growth of Amazon and hundreds of other sites while eBay has declined year after year.

I make more money on Facebook Marketplace and consignment stores.

[ce-9809]

https://pe.usps.com/cpim/ftp/manuals/dmm300/notice123.pdf

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@amandadulce2009 wrote:

I thought USPS first class mail was for 13oz and under?

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The weight limit for First Class packages is 13 ounces when you purchase postage at the Post Office counter or ship with stamps.  But if you purchase an online postage label, such as through eBay or PayPal, the weight limit is 15.999 ounces.

By the way, you have resurrected a thread from 2017 which contains information that is now obsolete, regarding dimensional weights for packages over 1728 cubic  inches. There are 3 changes:

1. Dimensional weight now applies to all zones, not just 5 - 9.

2. Dimensional weight now applies to Parcel Select Ground as well as to Priority Mail.

3.  The divisor, formerly 194, is now 166.

[kh-stanley1]

Hi everyone,

Due to the length of time that has passed since this thread began, we have locked it from future replies. If this is still an issue that warrants discussion, don't hesitate to begin a new thread here.

Thanks.