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I see items piled up by sellers in their home and they are listed for sale on ebay, so how is the required box size and wt. calculated to be added in the listing accurately.
If I photograph an item and I list it on ebay how would I calculate the box measurements and wt if the item is not yet sold.
Other words; Then only after the item sold do I the calculate the box size and the wt.
thanks
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Hey Albee. I think people can better answer your question if they know your starting point.
–Have you ever sold anything on eBay?
–Have you ever shipped anything from home that you’ve sold? (rather than going to post office)
–Have you ever used eBay labels?
–Do you have a postage scale at home?If you’ve never done any of this before, then the answer is simply: you get better with experience. Once you list and sell items, you can quickly judge the shipping you’re going to use since items are often similar sizes and weights. We have a postal scale that we use to weight items when we list, then we take add a little weight for the expected packing material.
Doing a google search, this is the first result and it looks pretty comprehensive:
http://www.ebay.com/gds/How-To-Do-Basic-USPS-Shipping-From-Home-/10000000004572695/g.html
If this is all new to you, take time to read it.Best advice is to just get started and learn by doing.
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- Location:
This may sound crazy, but it works.
While the item is on my scale – I visualize a box around it, add a couple inches for
bubble wrap and measure it with a sewing measuring tape.Depending on the item, I add about a pound to the weight.
Then I just enter the box size and weight to the listing
If it’s under 16 ounces, I list it 1st class
If over I list Priority and sometimes other options and let the buyer pickWhen it sells, I pack it, re-weigh it and measure it, make any adjustments and then ship.
I always make $1 – $2 on shipping that pays for the bubble wrap, tape, labels, and the new boxes that I always use (unless I use free PO Boxes)
After a few weeks, you’ll see that you get really close to size on the actual box size.
I never include shipping cost in the price. I am in NY.
i.e.-
If I sell a widget to CA the shipping of a widget might cost $23
If I sell a widget to NJ the shipping of a widget might cost $12If I add $23 then I price myself out of the market for any East Coast buyer.
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Jay and joeMEZZ nailed it.
We are actually removing this from our hard goods now, as many of them are going to our outside warehouse (storage unit). We are boxing these up and they are ready to ship when they go over there, so we have actual dimensions and weight. That is a thought if you want to go down that route for hard goods.
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Pre-boxing items does sound cool and makes things easier.
But it’s not a solution if you really plan to grow your inventory.
We’d need a 100′ x 100′ warehouse if we boxed up 5000 items of different sizes.So good idea, but only if you plan to keep a smallish inventory of hard goods.
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Agree, you lose some space, no doubt. Anything that we would sell local, Craigslist, etc, it doesn’t make sense. But I can stack on shelves easier, I can have employees (or us) ship faster this way.
If they were unboxed, I have to pick up, bring home, box, then take back to FedEx. This way, I drop off in the way back. One trip and saves time.
Plus the item is protected from dust, bugs, etc while in storage.
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The best way to learn is to prebox when you first start seriously selling. Always be willing to learn new techniques, try new tools and supplies, etc.
When I list items now I just “know” what size box I will use and how much it will weigh. That is purely learned from experience – there is no shortcut. Many times I don’t even need to weigh or measure the item – I just know size/weight just by looking and handling the item.
There is a lot of slack in the shipping calculator. The dimensions really don’t matter until you cross the dimensional weight threshold. You also only need to know to the nearest pound, rounded up, for the calculator. Always error on the heavy/large side by a bit and then try to beat that when you actually pack. The reward for beating your estimate is an extra dollar or two savings on shipping.
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Let me clarify a bit further,
I actually photographed, boxed and weighed a bunch of items already and started listing after asking questions on the forum.All of these items are tools from my welding business of 35 yrs. Some are as little as a ball point pen and as large as 1000 lbs. plus a few trucks.
Only after seeing both Jay and Ryanne on youtube was I convinced to sell my stuff on ebay I postponed my intended winter stay in AZ and remain here at home to continue doing this.
It is time consuming and I thought that some of the pro’s may have some ideas to make this easier such as the system Joemezz had indicated in his reply here, this may work with some of the smaller items.
Storage is not a problem, I have a few acres and some buildings to use.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to offer answers here, they are all appreciated.
Al
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Great. Sounds like you have valuable items waiting to be sold!
As RetroTreasuresWV and Tsatt suggested, just weigh and box each one as you list. That’s good practical, hands-on learning right there.
Most sellers here who have sold hundreds and thousands of items just know how to guesstimate since it becomes second nature.
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Jay,
I just posted a reply but it seems to have disappeared. Just wondering if you might be able to see from your end what happened to it.
Thank you.-
AdventureE wrote:
Albee,
If you are new to selling on ebay, I would offer that you do like you have been doing and take it one at a time. If you are going to continue doing one item at a time (which is highly suggested when you are beginning) you may want to put together a set of listing supplies (polys and boxes) including one of each of various sizes. Ebay sells a Classic – eBay Branded Shipping Polymailer / PolyJacket Starter Kit No padding which may help reduce your work in having to find the right poly. Then you can find boxes as you see fit. If you have a listing supply kit next to where you are doing your listing, you can simply look through your supply kit for the right poly or box and then weigh the item inside of the unsealed poly or box. Put the dimensions of the box or poly in the listing and then round up on the weight to account for packaging materials including the tape, shipping label, and packaging label. The price will vary based on the nunmber of ounces (up to 16). Once you get into the pounds, you will see that it is the same price for 1 to 2 pounds, 2 to 3 pounds etc and the weight is always calculated on the upper limit. Using a poly or box from the supply kit when listing will allow you to create the listing but not have to package each item until you ship it.I want to share with you that this knowledge came with alot of study and practice. I have only just scratched the surface of learning how to sell on ebay/online. All of us are students of this learning process, so I would offer that you give yourself plently of space and time to learn what works for you and what your rhythm is. Although I have never been in the wedding business, I imagine selling on ebay is much the same. Lots of moving parts and pieces and lots of learning and practice to get mastery.
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Not sure if this is what happened…but if you post a long comment and then immediately hit “edit”, the comment seems to erase itself because it didnt have time to load. We’re not sure how to fix this on our end.
So please edit comments, just give it 30 seconds to upload to the server first.
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Shipping is a major part of selling on Ebay. If you can ship efficiently, you can keep more of the money an item sells for. Also, I believe, if an item is packed well and shipped quickly, customers are much more likely to give positive feedback. These are a few brief rules I go by.
1. Ship on time.
2. Pack it well.
3. Consider alternate carriers based on the item shipped and destination.
4. Print your own shipping labels. The online discounts are too big to ignore.
5. Get an accurate digital scale. Guessing on the weight is risky and not cost effective. The last thing I do, before printing the shipping label is weigh the package.
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Less than 1 Lb.ships USPS First Class.
Over 1 lb ships Fedex Smart Post or USPS Priority Mail.
Books ship USPS Media Mail.
Oversize or Heavy ship Fedex Ground (Home)
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Regarding weights there are a few questions I ask myself, due to the rates.Is it 8 oz or less?
Is it 1 pound or less?
After that the postage due increases with each pound.
Using poly mailers, light boxes and light packing materials all help to keep the weight down.
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Regarding size:Is it oversize for USPS?
Length X Width X Height must be 1728 cubic inches or less.
12x12x12=1728 or 16X12X9=1728
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It’s that simple.And I love the flat rate padded envelopes.
Those the very shipping basics for my business and are just suggestions.
Good Luck.
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So Cal Joe,
In point #5 you say “The last thing I do, before printing the shipping label is weigh the package.”
This were I am confused, how does the buyer calculate shipping if he dosn’t know the size of the package or the wt of it or does he just accept whatever is charged for shipping even he dosn’t know what it is before he commits to pay.
thanks for the help here
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When the seller inputs the weight, size, and shipping carrier information into the listing, the buyer will be told exactly what the shipping cost will be based on their own zip code through the ebay shipping calculator. If you guesstimate these numbers, that is what the buyer pays. If you were wrong and it ends up costing more, that is on you as the seller and you have to eat the loss. If you overestimated and the buyer paid too much, well you can either keep the difference or refund it back to the customer.
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When you look at a listing on Ebay, as a buyer, the vast majority already have the shipping charges listed. The buyer knows ahead of time what the charges are. It’s in the listing.
I believe you are over thinking this whole process. You should probably start out listing some small relatively inexpensive items and don’t be afraid to make mistakes.
If you don’t have a small scale, buy one right away.
As long as the package isn’t oversized, the dimensions are really not relevant for USPS shipments. You can change them when you print the labels anyways.
When listing, weigh the item, add an appropriate amount for the box, packing etc and start listing. Estimate the dimensions. When in doubt, estimate everything a little high, keeping in mind that over 1 LB tends to bring the cost up to the next tier.
After the sale, you can change the dimensions and weight before printing the label if the need arises.
Good Luck.
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Albee,
Buyers have to make the choice when buying an item as to whether they will pay the shipping charges. They do not know the weight and dimensions unless revealed in the listing which I have only seen a few sellers do. If they do not wish to pay the shipping charges on top of the price of the item, they move onto the next item which is why free shipping is being so strongly promoted. The idea is that if buyers see free shipping, they will be more inclined to buy even if the price for the item is high. This is not always the case though. You can have free shipping and still not make sales. If you use free shipping, you need to add that into the price of the item in order to cover it. As has been noted in a previous forum, there is no real free shipping. Someone has to pay for it and it sure is not ebay or the shipping service you choose to use.
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