Pack First–ship Later?

When I started selling on eBay a few years ago I was one of these “pack first ship later” people. I was trying to solve a few issues I had when an item sold such as not having the right size box or miscalculating the total shipping weight after packaging is added. I very quickly learned that space was way too precious to use this method. I keep all my inventory in a 6’x5′ walk-in closet in my house and I pretty much filled it after only listing about 100 items. I now store items in numbered plastic bins and on numbered shelves and I can easily accommodate 500+ items. My inventory runs the full gamut of sizes from tiny little pieces of jewelry to large stereo receivers and luggage.

I look forward to reading the posts from the “pack first ship later” people.
I think it’s a natural idea when you start selling on eBay.
We actually tried it when we first started….for about two months!
I assume proponents of this method have very small stores.

The issue is all about scaling.
Packing items immediately works if you have under 200 items, but then you need to have either a giant warehouse or be selling very small items.

There’s also the issue with customers asking questions on an item they want to buy.
If the item is already taped up, you can’t go back and check on something.

I use calculated shipping almost entirely, so it’s important to know the actual ship weight of an item. For fragile and/or big and bulky items, I will pack for ready to ship. I don’t seal the box due to a need to do a quick final check before shipping.

As for issues with answering buyers questions with ready to ship. I have no issues with unwrapping something in order to answer buyers questions. It’s all part of the business. Besides, I never had a return from a buyer that had asked questions and when I do get questions, I tend to edit the listing to include those issues I answered since I inadvertently forgot or didn’t think of.

When I started selling seriously, I did it on my own without the help of this or any other group or forum. I just did what naturally came to me.

My store was about 100 items at any one time. I priced competitively to completed listings. To gain a sense of packing and to make sure I had a box, I decided to pack as I listed. My listing got the actual box size and weight down to the ounce. Every box got a bright yellow label on the side of what the contents were. I created a “wall of boxes” in my storage room. When an item sold, I grabbed the box and printed a label.

Once I committed to building a full business and bought a real storage building, I abandoned the pack first method. It does not work efficiently past 100 or so items – maybe more if items are very small.

What this method did teach me was how to gauge the weight, packing requirements, and box sizes for many different items. I can now create accurate shipping details in listings with ever grabbing a tape measure, box, or weigh scale. Through experience, I simply just “know” what size and weight any item I have will be to the nearest pound. So yes, I highly recommend any new seller start their small store with the pack first method just to gain experience while paying close attention to the details. Just don’t keep that system once you scale up. That would be a monumental waste of storage space.

I only do this with things that require uniquely-sized boxes, or would take a long time to pack, because I don’t want to do a last minute scramble. The rug loom I recently sold comes to mind. I don’t seal the box, though.