Simple Way to Save Time and Money on Shipping / Ebay Ideas

  So as I was getting ready to print the label for my Fathers Day gift it occurred to me how much easier it is to ship items in most areas than it was even a few years ago.  I also think that the idea of dealing with the post office scares some people away from selling on Ebay.  Not so long ago every time you wanted to send a domestic package you had to wait in that ever so long line at the post office.  Well my friends for a large amount of us that is a thing of the past.

  Now, in most non rural areas you can not only print your shipping label on line at usps.com but you can also schedule a pick up by your carrier with out ever leaving your home here.  It is so simple. It saves me a ton of time and grief. Even if you do not sell on Ebay doesn't the idea of not standing in the long holiday line at the P.O. entice you?

  It gets even better.  On most Priority mail shipments you will save 15% on the cost of mailing and get free delivery confirmation when your print your label at home.  You can also take advantage of the FREE Priority and Express shipping supplies the post office carries.  Check out the wide selection of FREE shipping supplies offered to you here.  You can have them sent right to your door for nothing.

  For most areas you can schedule a carrier pick up at your house if you have at least one Priority or Express package to be picked up.  It's a life saver to high volume shippers.  I also want to mention that if you are selling multiple items on Ebay you will want to check out PayPal Multi Order Shipping  on your sellers home page.  This is a great tool that will speed shipping along for you and save you some stress.

  If you are shipping from home you do need to make sure you have access to a good scale that shows ounces.  There is nothing worse than a package getting to the destination with postage due or worse yet having the package returned to you for insufficient postage.  I invested in a postal scale that I purchased on Ebay because I knew I was doing a high volume of shipping.  I have known other sellers or people who just ship items on a regular basis who use a kitchen food scale for shipping.  I think if you are mostly shipping light items that type of scale would suffice.

  There are other carrier options of course when shipping. I know most people automatically think of the post office when they ship but in fact as a general rule Fedex and UPS are cheaper for large heavy boxes.  Those carriers also offer pick up but you must have an account with them to take advantage of their pick up service.  As a seller it is a good idea to offer multiple carrier options when shipping a large heavy item.  There are some shoppers who live in areas such as certain apartment complexes where it is more difficult to receive deliveries from one carrier or another or they may have had a poor experience with a particular service.  Ebay has a free shipping calculator that is wonderful.  It will allow you to see what services will work with what you are shipping.  I use it with all my items and offer a variety of shipping methods and have found it to be very effective in boosting sales.