What does it REALLY cost you to ship? What Helps Reduce Cost?

[netwizz760]

Has anyone checked out what it REALLY cost to ship?

For example, let's say I ship an 11 ounce item.  I am NOT Top-Rated, so I just pay a slightly higher rate.

ON the Surface 11 ounces falls between (9 to 12) and costs $4.46

In the past, I would generally try to re-cooperate about $4 because I did not want to irritate buyers who somehow think it costs like $2 to $3 to ship their items.

Consumables:

Label $0.23 (I waste a sheet of two labels to print one...)

#2 Poly Mailer 8.5" x 12" $0.38

Thank you Sticker $0.02 (Is Bright and keeps the beige bubble mailer highly visible in the mail carrier's beige bag)

Paper $ 0.02 (I use two sheets of 97 bright, 24-lb F@ $7.99/800 sheets Costco)

Black Toner $0.02 (Based on generic $15.99/3000 sheets estimated)

__

$0.67 Consumables

Where this sometimes saves me is these Poly Mailers are $0.18 cheaper than the Bubble-Mailers I used to use.  Additionally, they are lighter and hold slightly more, so they have the potential to save postage if I am at say 12.1 ounces.  I already play with the packaging material sometimes for example sometimes 0.1 ounces can save $1.24 or even keep you below Priority Mail.

If I become a bigger seller, and order in bigger bulk, I can save another $0.18 by buying them in bulk around $0.20 to $0.21 per similar mailer.

I can probably get my label cost down by figuring out how to print two labels per sheet.

What are your best tips and tricks to save on shipping and consumables?

[cityslickercreations2004]

I think you have done just about everything you can reasonably do. 

I too, use a variety of padded envelopes or poly mailers with or without bubble wrap.

I don't use the thermal labels due to cost. I use stock paper and just tape them to the mailer. I am not a high volume seller so I don't mind the extra step. 

[martin2001]

you forgot to add sales taxes

[Anonymous]

To ship vintage paper, I have to add foamboard so that it doesn't bend and that costs me 25 cents per order.  What REALLY tweaks me as a buyer, is the sellers that calculate shipping to absurd amounts!!!  I bought 2 items from a seller, 4 ounces of paper and when he combined shipping and sent the invoice, he charged me $12 AND shipped that little bit of paper in a BOX.  No common sense is needed  here for shipping paper and I am still almost angry enough to leave the seller a negative.  Or at least a neutral.  But since I've never done either of those, I'll just keep on thinking about it and continue my slow boil.  It ONLY takes a little forethought to ship properly and save your customer and yourself some money.  Also, ALWAYS use eBay shipping labels to keep the costs down!!!

[nobody*s_perfect]

Top Rated Sellers do not get any extra discount on First Class postage.  They get a 3% discount off of the regular online rate for Priority Mail.

Why do you "waste a sheet of two labels to print one"? You apparently need to turn off the optional half-page of "instructions".  It's a checkbox when you're setting up labels.  If you really wanted to save money you'd print on plain paper and tape it on.  There's 20 cents saved.  

What are the two sheets of paper for? Why do you think you need a special sticker to keep your mailer visible in the carrier's bag?

[martin2001]

You need to use labels that are 2 per sheet. I buy them from onlinelabels.com.

They are usually $ 25.95. The postage comes to 6.55 and the sales tax is around $1.50. If my math is correct it is 6.8 cents per label. From time to time they send a sales coupon to save $10 on the labels. Last two times I purchased them for $15.95 + 6.55 +0.96 = 4.7c/label

It is 18.3 cents less than what you pay. After using all 500 of them, you will have saved $91.5.

So when you say ....(I waste a sheet of two labels to print one...)...you also waste money

[soh.maryl]

What "sales taxes"? If you are referring to the seller's cost of buying mailers, etc, I would assume he has included that in his calculations.

If you are referring to state sales tax on the buyer's purchases, the BUYER pays those, not the seller.

[richard1rst]

A lot of this depends on what you are selling.

For example for belt buckles, hat pins, patches and decals, and any other "smallish" item that will fit an 8"x12" white catalogue envelope:

I print the shipping "label" directly onto the envelope. That eliminates the cost of the label itself. And it saves an (admittedly very small) amount of time by not having to peel and apply the label.

Then I wrap the item in a half sheet of bubble wrap. Done.

[netwizz760]

Thanks.  I used to print labels on regular paper and tape it.  While it did not take long it was an inconvenience.  Turns out I used to pay 4.5 cents per foot of shipping tape, too and used to overlap and cover the entire label using an estimated 4’ of tape per label.   That’s 18 cents to tape a label.  I also used to buy paper from Office Supply stores or Walmart, so it could have costed around 2 to 3 cents per sheet.  Hence, it used to cost me 20 cents to tape a label...

Obviously buying tape in bulk helps.  I spend about 2 cents per foot, which would be a 10 cent savings per parcel if I taped a half page label.   That said, I learned USPS does not want the barcodes taped over completely because their automated system sometimes has issues scanning them if they are too shiny.

Where I could improve is NOT buying Avery brand labels.  I could have gotten 400 labels cheaper than I got 200 labels.   If I print 2 labels per page on cheap labels it costs about 5 cents per sticker label, which is cheaper than 8 cents in tape I currently pay for 4’.  Not trying to be a cheapskate just realizing it makes sense to do two labels per page and not using name-brand labels ... saves 18 cents per parcel, which is very significant especially for a larger seller.

Also buying eight(8) rolls of Scotch Heavy Duty shipping tape from Costco works out to 2 cents per foot vs how I was buying it from Walmart where it is almost 2.5 times more for a single roll with a cheap plastic dispenser.

I am just trying to figure things out.   Some folks pay over 80 cents for a bubble mailer, then 20 cents per label (probably more with name-brand ink-jet ink)...  then they get bumped over to a higher First-class rate, etc.  it is very easy for a new seller to spend $2 too much to send a package.

As for the stickers, it is polite to thank someone.  I really don’t care about the 2 cents.  It’s super cheap insurance (even if it only makes me feel good) that if it saves one unhappy buyer or prevents one lost or delayed bubble mailer, it pays for the entire roll of stickers.  I think it helps on beige  boxes and mailers making yours stand out a little.  The Japanese saying, “the nail that stands out gets hammered” is true.  If your package is noticed the carrier is more likely to deliver it than it getting accidentally lost in a bin for a day or two as a shift ends and someone sees the bin empty from 20’ away... a bright neon sticker could make a difference.

[netwizz760]

The seller still pays PayPal fees 2.9% on the sales tax, too.