To PH eBay sellers "postage and packing"?
Discussion
To the guys who regularly sell on eBay can I pick up a few tips please.
What's the cheapest way to get boxes and packing materials and what's the best way of working out what to charge without nipping to the post office?
Do you normally offer free postage and packing on your listings to entice the buyers or should I charge a token amount or the full amount?
I've moved house and there's a lot of crap I need to sell. I've got things like brand new unboxed trainers which were buried until piles of boxes, loads of printer ink cartidges, unused DVD player, cross cut shredder etc..
I reckon I've got at least 100 items I need to shift. How do I work out what the postage charge for each item is without lumping the whole lot to the local post office?
Alternatively are there any stores I can drop this stuff off to that will do the listing and sales for me in exchange for a cut?
What's the cheapest way to get boxes and packing materials and what's the best way of working out what to charge without nipping to the post office?
Do you normally offer free postage and packing on your listings to entice the buyers or should I charge a token amount or the full amount?
I've moved house and there's a lot of crap I need to sell. I've got things like brand new unboxed trainers which were buried until piles of boxes, loads of printer ink cartidges, unused DVD player, cross cut shredder etc..
I reckon I've got at least 100 items I need to shift. How do I work out what the postage charge for each item is without lumping the whole lot to the local post office?
Alternatively are there any stores I can drop this stuff off to that will do the listing and sales for me in exchange for a cut?
I just weigh mine on the kitchen or bathroom scales once it's packaged up and work out the postage from there. Typically anything weighing more than about 1kg will be cheaper to send by a courier than Royal Fail. Don't forget eBay now charges seller fees on the final value including the postage so don't forget to factor that in. As for packaging I try to hoard boxes, jiffy bags, bubble wrap, etc. from stuff I bought and reuse that but if you've got lots of stuff to shift then you might need to buy some packaging. You can get it quite cheaply on eBay funnily enough!
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/cheap-p...
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/cheap-p...
ive found free postage works best
you will have to weigh and measure the boxes then go on the post office website or hermes and enter the details to get a price , i use hermes for low value stuff , better stuff i use parcelmonkey or parcels2go who give a choice of companys then choose something like ups and they collect from the house or you can drop it somewhere local that takes them in
keep an eye open in supermarkets for boxes , or ask in any local shops they might give you some - pack everything to withstand it being thrown around like rubbish
you will have to weigh and measure the boxes then go on the post office website or hermes and enter the details to get a price , i use hermes for low value stuff , better stuff i use parcelmonkey or parcels2go who give a choice of companys then choose something like ups and they collect from the house or you can drop it somewhere local that takes them in
keep an eye open in supermarkets for boxes , or ask in any local shops they might give you some - pack everything to withstand it being thrown around like rubbish
We have hand held luggage scales for small parcels. Stick the 'thing' in a box, loosely wrap string or something around it, then lift it up on the scales. Check the weight against the post office pricing.
The other option is just guess, £6 for a medium sized item with Parcel2Go is fairly good going.
The other option is just guess, £6 for a medium sized item with Parcel2Go is fairly good going.
Buy a 50kg parcel scale (£20 on ebay) & get yourself a Hermes account. It's very easy to weigh the item, add a bit for the box & then get a price from the Hermes website. You just need to decide if it's a large medium or small parcel & add insurance & signature. Hermes is much more convenient than the RM website & using the ebay postage system may not cover your costs - you lose out, ebay still make money.
Don't forget you pay ebay & PP fees on the postage so add 10% on: if you're not careful & don't charge correctly you'll end up making a pittance (most of my parcels cost around £3.60 if they are worth less than £20).
Don't forget you pay ebay & PP fees on the postage so add 10% on: if you're not careful & don't charge correctly you'll end up making a pittance (most of my parcels cost around £3.60 if they are worth less than £20).
Regarding postage etc:
Weight of items - take the heaviest item to the nearest pair of scales, weight it, go on ebay and buy digital scales which will cope with the lighter items.
Once everything is weighed and packaged and or sold, sell the scales and get some money back but they're they're pretty handy to have around.
If you've got hundreds of items it will make sense to link your account to a Click & Drop account online, then you can get proper quotes immediately, buy postage, print your labels off and drop things in the post any time you like (if they'll fit through the postbox slot that is). No more queues, no more being forced to explain what you're sending.
Are you sure everything needs to be boxed? If it can fit through a postbox, might be cheaper to buy bulk padded envelopes.
Weight of items - take the heaviest item to the nearest pair of scales, weight it, go on ebay and buy digital scales which will cope with the lighter items.
Once everything is weighed and packaged and or sold, sell the scales and get some money back but they're they're pretty handy to have around.
If you've got hundreds of items it will make sense to link your account to a Click & Drop account online, then you can get proper quotes immediately, buy postage, print your labels off and drop things in the post any time you like (if they'll fit through the postbox slot that is). No more queues, no more being forced to explain what you're sending.
Are you sure everything needs to be boxed? If it can fit through a postbox, might be cheaper to buy bulk padded envelopes.
This was the sort of scale I bought:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50KG-110lb-Digial-Posta...
Make an offer & see if you can a few quid off. it's very accurate - far better than would be expected for the cost.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50KG-110lb-Digial-Posta...
Make an offer & see if you can a few quid off. it's very accurate - far better than would be expected for the cost.
If you're close to a MyHermes drop-off point, the eBay Shutl service is now the cheapest way to send stuff - from £2.75 for a parcel under 2kg.
For something like trainers, do you actually need a box? We've had a bit of a clearout recently and sent a lot of things in self-sealing bags - http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/self-seal-mailing-bags. No complaints so far.
For something like trainers, do you actually need a box? We've had a bit of a clearout recently and sent a lot of things in self-sealing bags - http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/self-seal-mailing-bags. No complaints so far.
I use Parcel 2 go, just enter weight, dimensions and delivery postcode and it spits out a list of options.
As said, a cheap scale is invaluable.
Also, err on the big side when you’re measuring a box or parcel, I’ve got stung for additional postage before when I got It slightly under sized. I guess that though depends on how close to the next charging size up you are.
You have the option of the parcel being collected, or you can take It to a drop off point, in my case the local COOP is the one for a couple of couriers, and it’s a 2 minute walk from my office.
My post office is also really close, I also use that for some things, especially really valuable stuff as I then use special delivery.
As said, a cheap scale is invaluable.
Also, err on the big side when you’re measuring a box or parcel, I’ve got stung for additional postage before when I got It slightly under sized. I guess that though depends on how close to the next charging size up you are.
You have the option of the parcel being collected, or you can take It to a drop off point, in my case the local COOP is the one for a couple of couriers, and it’s a 2 minute walk from my office.
My post office is also really close, I also use that for some things, especially really valuable stuff as I then use special delivery.
I use Arofol padded envelopes (buy 500 at a time off eBay-current sales volume doesn’t warrant buying more). I use 9x6x6 cardboard boxes for everything else, also bought off eBay in 500’s.
I use Royal Mail click and drop (large letter sizes) linked to eBay for the large letters, I use a set of Salter kitchen scales-up to 3kg.
For the parcels I use Hermes booked on parcel2go (1 in 500 gets lost), small parcel under 1kg £1.99ex VAT. I take to the local drop off shop.
Bubble wrap from JTF.
All labels printed off on 6x4 thermal labels and stuck to the Packaging, nothing wrong with standard a4 paper and sellotaped to the package.
Moving to Royal Mail for everything soon, volume of sales is growing, can drop off parcels/packages at local hub up to 7pm and will save me some time using two services.
A simple excel spreadsheet will help you work out the acceptable margin on sales.
Don’t forget the great pictures 👍
I use Royal Mail click and drop (large letter sizes) linked to eBay for the large letters, I use a set of Salter kitchen scales-up to 3kg.
For the parcels I use Hermes booked on parcel2go (1 in 500 gets lost), small parcel under 1kg £1.99ex VAT. I take to the local drop off shop.
Bubble wrap from JTF.
All labels printed off on 6x4 thermal labels and stuck to the Packaging, nothing wrong with standard a4 paper and sellotaped to the package.
Moving to Royal Mail for everything soon, volume of sales is growing, can drop off parcels/packages at local hub up to 7pm and will save me some time using two services.
A simple excel spreadsheet will help you work out the acceptable margin on sales.
Don’t forget the great pictures 👍
schmunk said:
If you're close to a MyHermes drop-off point, the eBay Shutl service is now the cheapest way to send stuff - from £2.75 for a parcel under 2kg.
For something like trainers, do you actually need a box? We've had a bit of a clearout recently and sent a lot of things in self-sealing bags - http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/self-seal-mailing-bags. No complaints so far.
I use Shirl direct from eBay...it's really simple.For something like trainers, do you actually need a box? We've had a bit of a clearout recently and sent a lot of things in self-sealing bags - http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/self-seal-mailing-bags. No complaints so far.
Just use eBay's print postage option, choose the weight range, and size, and it's a fixed price.
You pay with PayPal, print the label, and drop off at a local shop.
It's tracked, and signed for.
OP here, thanks for everyone's replies, I got a lot of things sold in the run up to Christmas by using a lot of tips here.
I eventually went with MyHermes. I bought a scale as you guys recommended, printed the label off the ebay site after each item sold and went down to my local shop who were listed as a pickup point.
The convenience of the electronic frontier continues to amaze me.
For those PHers born in the 1950's: what was life like before Ocado and sat-nav? Can't have been better than this surely?
I eventually went with MyHermes. I bought a scale as you guys recommended, printed the label off the ebay site after each item sold and went down to my local shop who were listed as a pickup point.
The convenience of the electronic frontier continues to amaze me.
For those PHers born in the 1950's: what was life like before Ocado and sat-nav? Can't have been better than this surely?
As other have said, Shutl through Ebay is by far the cheapest way to ship. Even UPS is only around a fiver with Shutl. Get your weights and measurements right though otherwise you'll get an admin charge of £2.50 per parcel.
As for boxes, just go to any store etc and get them for free. It's not worth buying them unless you really have to, if you do then ebay or amazon is best for them.
As for boxes, just go to any store etc and get them for free. It's not worth buying them unless you really have to, if you do then ebay or amazon is best for them.
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