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Package Your Item for Survival

Nothing is worse than getting an e-mail from a buyer that the item was damaged in transit.  You are out your item, get stuck refunding the purchase, and everybody ends up unhappy.  In my listings I make it clear that I am charging for shipping an packaging, and most buyers are happy to pay it if it is reasonable, meaning that you are not making a profit on shipping.

If your item is fragile, use a carton big enough to hold the product and enough packaging foam or bubble wrap to protect it from damage.

If your item is bendable, like a sports card, picture, or document, slip it between some stiff cardboard or put it into a corrugated flat mailer.  Wrap it in tissue, and slip it into a plastic bag to protect it from moisture, if that makes sense.

I worked on an computer project at a freight company for a summer, and I saw first hand the results of saving a nickel on a page, and losing the entire value of the contents when it was crushed, soaked, or stabbed by a forklift while in transit.

How to Ship Your Sale

The US Postal Service

This is the way I ship all my sales.  I generally use First Class or Parcel Post with Delivery Confirmation and Insurance.  I built this cost into my add, and pass it along to the buyer.  Delivery Confirmation allows you to track the shipment on-line, and costs between $0.14 and $0.60 per package.  I never have to dispute delivery with a buyer, I send them the tracking information so they can track their package too, and we both when and where it was delivered.

If you are shipping books or software, the Media Mail rate will be better.  For information on other Package rates, click the link. 

If you are in a hurry, Express Mail or Priority Mail will be better, but more expensive.  For information on Priority Mail rates, click he link.

United Parcel Service

The other big dog on the block is UPS.  There are lots of UPS Store locations where you can bring your item for shipping.  Or your can take it directly to the regional service center.  In the Twin Cities, these are located in northeast Minneapolis and Eagan.  I have found UPS to be a little more expensive, and will use it only if the buyer requests it and is willing to pay the difference.

Finding Supplies

You can order all the shipping supplies you want through the USPS.com - order in minutes on line - and have them delivered to your door. When you make your first order, the USPS will mail you a postcard to sign and mail back to them. Just what kind of supplies does the USPS offer? Small boxes, larger boxes, flat boxes, larger flat boxes, small flat boxes, flat mailers, "Priority Mail" tape, and labels. You can't have it all, you have to buy your own bubble wrap! The only real catch is that you must order the minimum, which can be a case of boxes. Since the boxes come flat, this is not as bad as it sounds.  Order boxes at the USPS.com shipping supplies page. 

For those that don't want to use Priority Mail or the USPS in general, there are still places to get boxes for free.

• If you work for a company that has a shipping and receiving department, they may be able to provide used, and even new boxes for you to use.  You may be able to pay to use their UPS account as well.  It never hurts to ask.

• Your local supermarket gets deliveries at least once a week. Just ask one of their employees on what day and at what time their deliveries arrive. They won't usually save boxes for you, but you can walk in and get as many as you like before they cut them down for recycling.

• Office Max or Office Depot has great boxes for larger items. They receive their reams of paper in sturdy boxes with lids, and these are always clean. Our local Office Depot receives paper deliveries twice a week. The store manager even agreed to hold the boxes for a few hours. We just need to go in on the correct day. Since these are such handy boxes, you may have to be the first to get to the store to beat others with the same idea.  Of course, they sell all kinds of shipping supplies, too.

• Liquor stores have the sturdiest boxes since bottles of liquor and wine are so heavy. If you sell bottles, these may even come with cardboard slots in them already to keep bottles from hitting each other when you send out several to one buyer.

• Dumpsters behind stores sometimes have good empty boxes. Sometimes you are lucky enough to find the boxes piled outside the dumpster. Either way, you should check them to be sure that they are clean and dry (a box will be weakened forever once it gets wet).

• The most obvious is for sellers to BUY on eBay. Your package will come in a box, and many will come full of styrofoam peanuts or bubble wrap also. Just be sure that the box is sturdy before using it again. And, don't use bubble wrap as padding for delicate items if the bubbles are popped.

• Get inventive, you may find even more good suppliers of boxes.
  Your local stores that sell breakable items usually have lots of bubble wrap and styrofoam peanuts on hand that they don't need. After all, most of their customers put their goodies into the car and drive home. Talk to them. They will probably be happy to let you pick up all of their extras once a week or so. They get to recycle and have less clutter, and you get to save lots of money.

You may need a lot of boxes, and in special sizes.  Local carton brokers will offer boxes in many, many sizes, and usually give you a discount based on the size of your purchase. Using larger boxes than you need drastically raises the postage cost, so spending 25 cents on the right box is a good investment in keeping customers happy and coming back for more. And, don't forget, whatever you spend on boxes is deductible at tax time. You can also get all your shipping supplies for less at the same place, usually. If you sell lots of fragile items, take a look at a peanut dispenser. It holds 30 cubic feet of packing peanuts at one time, it hangs from the ceiling out of the way, and you drop in all you need with a push of a button. This is a real time and space saver.  Lately, there has been a move to using larger air pillow packaging.  Like bubble wrap, they contain pockets of air, but are much larger than the bubbles on bubble wrap.  These are a lot less messy than styrofoam peanuts. (ebay Selling Secrets)

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