- This topic has 36 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 9 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
-
I have a large painting that I don’t have a box for. The last time I needed a large box it was a pain in the butt to find. So I was thinking of taking it to the ups store and letting them box it but my listing has USPS priority mail so I’m assuming I can’t now ship it ups. Do they offer just boxing the item services? Is there a better way to handle this? It’s going to Texas so it’s going to be costly either way.
-
I once found a site that showed a way to ship art without having a particular size box. I can’t find that link any more, so I’ll try to recreate it in words here. I don’t exactly follow her steps, and I prefer to have an actual box for the last step, but I don’t always have the correct size.
First, wrap the art in bubblewrap.
Second (and I haven’t followed this particular step), buy wallboard (I think the green wallboard used for bathrooms) and cut out a piece to cover and protect the front of your art. I forget how she attached the board to the art – maybe tape.
Third, get a large box and completely open it up flat. Wrap the art in the box, folding as needed, to make a cardboard cover. Tape it up.
Fourth, wrap it again in bubblewrap.
Fifth, wrap it again in another cardboard box and tape it up. You can also add additional packaging material here.
So, I hope this helps. You can always use two cardboard boxes if you don’t have one big enough. Also, if you have an eBay store subscription where you get the free boxes, always save the box that the boxes come in. That box is sometimes good for art.
-
-
Hi. I have a buyer who purchased some perfume and wants me to ship to Israel. I cant do it through GPS..any thoughts?
I have not shipped anything international without doing GPS
-
-
You know Terri I thought the same thing earlier when I saw the post. Also of a little puzzlement. If LauraLux participates in the GSP program, then how was someone in a country where an item is prohibited or a country you can’t ship to end up being able to buy in the first place. In our case GSP is our guard dog. If it doesn’t go through GSP we don’t bother with it, even though we could do an end run. Ask buyer to cancel, change the listing and re-buy and things like that. But was just a puzzlement as to how this transaction was purchased? Did the buyer see the GSP pop up and then contact you do do something different? If so, you as seller and them as buyer won’t have much protection. just curious.
LauraLux, since it is your listing, care to share?mike in Atlanta
-
-
-
I am not sure what happened. The buyer contacted me and I told her I only did the Global Shipping. She went ahead & purchased it..thinking I would mail on my own. It is frustrating because I would think it would not even let her purchase if it could not be shipped overseas. It must be a eBay glitch.. I spent about 45 minutes calling eBay and researching and finally canceled the sale. (She purchased but it said to invoice the buyer).
Thanks for the input.
Laura
-
-
Jay/
Thanks for the tip. i will call eBay but I looked and I think its locked down. ( I will post a update ).
Laura
-
-
Yes, unless they make offer and I accept..Can the settings be changed to make them pay right away if you accept a offer?
-
-
No, if you sell something by going through the “Make an Offer” and they do and you accept, Ebay does not enforce the pay immediately rule. It gives them 48 hrs. I believe.
What we do, we assume and agree with Jay, that 99.9% of the buyers are honest and have good intentions. So if we accept, an offer we go ahead and pull that item with the days other items. We then pack it last after our items going out today and then it is ready to ship same day when the buyer does pay. If in a very few [rare] cases the buyer renegs and doesn’t pay then the item goes back into storage but at least it is ready to ship fast whenever it sells again.
-
-
Hello,
I was wondering if anyone has shipped an item that was too long for boxes and envelopes owned and what your solution was besides doing an extensive search for the exact size box or envelope. Would putting as much of the item in one poly envelope and then cutting a second poly to fit around the bottom of the item and taping it onto the first envelope be an acceptable way to ship a long item?-
Yep, I do it almost once or twice a week. I put two USPS Priority Shoe Boxes together all the time. I will slide one inside of the other to make a telescoping type of box. I also will pull boxes apart and re-score them where I want them to fold and then tape them back together to the re-size I want. But as SKYDOG says, DON’T do it with Flat Rate Boxes.
I also do the same with my Ebay boxes. Combine two or even three boxes together. Once taped up then I use the USPS Priority 2″ x 10″ long decals and put those on all corners and size and print out my Priority Labels and apply.
For very long pieces, long tri-pods, I cut up and roll a whole bunch of boxes together and tape them all up until I am satisfied the item is protected. THEN, I use my large, heavy weight black Home Depot Construction plastic and wrap the whole thing up in that heavy plastic. Much thicker than poly envelope type material. The black plastic is 8 and 10 mils. Then after all wrapped up in that black plastic like a nice Christmas present, I use the 2″ x 10″ USPS Priority decals, place them in all the obvious places and then apply my USPS Priority Shipping labels.
All you have to be aware of is taking note of when your package size gravitates into the Oversize package and DIM Weight size categories. I have done this so much I know ahead of listing when to include extra costs for DIM Weight sizes.
Also I still suggest one of the SL members web site “FitShipper” for determining box sizes, calculating weights ahead of listing and which shipping service to use.
Hope this helps a little.
Mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta
-
-
I have done it with envelopes a couple of times without problems and once with a box (GI Joe Aircraft Carrier toy). HOWEVER, don’t do it with flat rate Priority Mail through USPS (legal envelopes, Regional Mail, flat rate large box, etc). I understand they have cracked down on that. You could tape two Priority Mail boxes, envelopes together and pay the weighted/measured price-just not with flat rate.
-
-
A quick update… Anysize package in any type of box can go USPS Priority. You don’t have to use only the USPS Priority Boxes. Those are just for convienence and for some type of cost savings and reward for using the USPS Service. But make any type of box, out of any material [cardboard, coroplast, sheet rock, styro-foam, plywood, masonite, etc., etc [[of course those would be very heavy and costly]]], but any box you can make out of anything, cover it with the black plastic, keeping the corners and edges tight and neat and then put the Priority decals on it and weigh it and pay, then your label and it is good to go. As long as it doesn’t get so large it is outside of their parameters for what they will carry.
Did you know you can even put postage stamps on a box as long as it covers the price of Priority postage. Wrap up a box, weight it and measure it, put an address label on it along with the Priority decals, then for postage, you can put $6.75 worth of stamps on it and it will go just fine Priority. Now of course your mailman will dislike that he-she will have to count up the stamps, but stamps are the same as cash to the post office. BTW, this is confirmed with the post office, so it’s true.
Mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta
-
Yes, Priority mail is just another service.
Items can ship in a box, or a tube, envelope or a poly mailer. The USPS label is what matters. You can also get Free Priority mail stickers from the post office, in case you ship with your own packaging. They aren’t necessary, but sometimes help.
You can also cut, alter or marry the Priority Mail boxes to suit your needs. Priority Mail Flat rate packaging can only be used for that service and cannot be altered.
-
-
-
Hey SCJ: I just can’t figure out why sellers use Flat Rate? We have been doing this since 2002 and have only used Flat Rate anything maybe 2 or 3 times. Our Top Rated Seller Plus Discounts are anywhere from 20% to 40% off Priority and have always been less than any flat rate costs that we see that are presented right beside our prices when we go to print labels.
In some cases I think Sellers may also just not know any better. We just got a poly mailer into our office for a small light weight item in a Flat Rate poly bubble mailer that is 9 x 10 x 3 inches and weighs in at .6 lbs [10 ozs. and the seller sent it to us Flat Rate?? That could just have gone 1st class parcel for about $3.50 +/- why would they ship as FR?
I have also seen the Chinese sellers sell something for $1.69 and ship to us with Free Shipping. Sometimes it just doesn’t add up to me. But I just keep moving along.
mike in Atl.
-
Mike,
We use it all of the time– if something weighs 5 pounds and will fit in a small or medium flat rate, it is going in.
As for the chinese shippers, it’s the ePacket thanks to our government. We subsidize the nickel and dime knock off stuff for next to nothing. It’s hard to swallow when you consider the impact on most of us.
-
Interesting.. I have a smaller size undercounter radio going out right now. It weighs 5 lbs. 12 ozs. and going to Kentucky from GA. It fits a medium flat rate box easily. My priority shipping rate is $7.29 [that is $10.40 less a 30% discount of $3.11] = $7.29. The flat rate med. box says $12.05 in the column right next to it. So you would ship it FR???
So just to experiment, I started changing the weight on this small rectangle radio. So I added 10 lbs to it for 13 lbs 12 ozs. and Priority shows $11.48 and FR still shows at $12.05. I had to move the weight of the radio up to 15 lbs. 12 ozs. and it came out at $.27 cheaper FR. So according to my shipping calculator items would need to be over 15 lbs. to save anything going Flat Rate. And that is what FR is suppose to be for. Shipping smaller items that are very solid and heavy or multiple items packed tightly that add up to heavy weight.
So if you had this radio, same size that fits in a 11x8x6 box and weighs 5# 12 ozs. you would ship it FR for $12.05 instead of $7.29. and pay $4.76 more? Even take away our TRSPlus discount and it is still showing $10.40 [$1.65 less than FR].
This happens all the time. I have never seen hardly anything that is lower cost going flat rate except when it gets very heavy, maybe shipping bricks or bars of lead at 15 lbs or heavier.
Please show me your math on this size and weight at 5 lbs 12 ozs. and how Med. FR is a less expensive choice. Something must be off somewhere, unless it is just our discount drives that cost way down.
mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta
-
Mike,
Weight is one factor, but distance is another. I agree that flat rate is somewhat useless, and I rarely use it. However, if someone in CA, OR, PR, etc., wants to buy something relatively heavy from me in NJ, then flat rate may make sense.
Here is a listing for 6 glass bead placemats – the package weighed 6-7 pounds.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182363880386She lived in Wisconsin and paid a bit over $18 for shipping. A medium flat rate box ended being the best fit. The Regional A box was too small, and the B was more money than med flat rate because of the distance.
For the padded flat rate envelope, I find that many small items, even just over 1 pound, will ship for $7.20 anywhere in the US. The price may still be $7.20 non flat rate priority shipping within my zone, but anywhere outside of my zone and the price starts to go up.
Just saying, there is a place for the flat rate boxes. Now, the small flat rate box, I don’t think I’ve ever used one.
-
Yeah we know distance affects it along with other factors. We ship more packages to California than any other state and still have never sent a FR box yet. Our regular priority is still cheaper all the time. maybe just never hit the right combination of size, weight and distance.
When we have had really large, dim weight items it just jumps up to FedEx at that point.
But yes you are right..
mike
-
-
Ouch. I haven’t saved past examples as I wasn’t aware my veracity was an issue. From Oregon, anything going further than somewhere around Kentucky that is over 3 pounds will certainly be less exensive to ship in a Regional or Flat Rate box. I certainly know how to compare prices. We don’t get a 30% discount and that may or may not be the difference, but we certainly don’t choose a more expensive alternative. I will certainly report the numbers to you when the next time comes up.
-
Oh Whiskey I wasn’t doubting your truthfullness of the matter, just wanted to know what the numbers [i.e. cost was, size and the weight] that is all so I could play around with the calculator. I think it is probably #1] the discount and #2] most things we ship are too large for a MFR, so smaller items may be a good fit. That is all. No casting of a shadow of doubt intended. Sorry if sound like that.
-
No worries. The next go round I will try to screenshot it and get it up here. I truly wish we could ship 5 pounds for under $8 or even without the discount, $10. It would be a game changer for us as we leave a lot of items that we just can’t justify the shipping cost given the weight of the object. I would love to think we missed a trick, but we have played with the shipping multiple times trying to find a way to ship heavier low dollar items. At 5 pounds we are typically moving to Smartpost as our only viable option as priority will be in the $18 range if I remember correctly.
-
Oh I know what you are saying. After reading that link about the e-pack deal for China it just makes me shake my head.
But same here, we turned the weights and boxes everywhich way to try to work it out. But many times we have a lot of one of a kind and a few dollars more or less doesn’t seem to be an issue.
We sold an $880 dollar wide format printer last week but it was for local pick up. The buyer emailed and asked if we would ship. I said no but provided him with several links for services he could contract. Well, it is about 30 inches wide, 18 inched deep and 15: high and weighs 47 lbs. He told us that U-ship was going to pick it up on Nov. 24th. It is going to cost him about $300 ++ for them to come here, pack it and then carry it 3,000 miles. His total will be about $1,100 for that thing. I could hardly move it out of storage.
So it goes to show, who knows what people will agree to on the more unique items if they really want something. But we do what you do, we watch the sizes and weights at auctions and estate sales just for the reasons you mention.
mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta.
-
-
-
Whiskey just read that article. I had a hint of an idea but this explains it perfectly. We are at such a disadvantage. I sure grit my teeth everytime the USPS says it is going up on rates to cover it’s expenses. How about just going up 10% to 15% on these Chniese deals and leave the US sellers alone. Really a bummer. Trump just said last night, Chniese trade is way out of balance and it was us that let it get that way. don’t know if it can ever be changed back. My neighbor does embroidery and sells baby items. Everything she buys to produce the products she sells here in the US is bought in China, shipped obviously through this e-packet program and then she tries to sell and compete on Ebay with all of the Chinese producers.
Sad, just really sad. I knew I should have gone to Law School instead of Art School.. LOL
mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta
-
-
-
I couldn’t agree more Mike. Yesterday I sent a package in a Flat Rate Medium box. It was just heavy enough and going just far enough that it made sense. I rarely ever use them, and wasn’t even sure I had one on hand. The buyer paid for Smartpost, but I upgraded him, because it cost me less than a dollar more.
When I go to the Post Office, it’s pretty obvious that most retail customers have no idea how to ship and really aren’t that interested. They do whatever the clerk suggests. I imagine a lot of sellers are that way in the beginning. I think the Post Office would love it, if everyone used flat rate boxes. Of course the Flat rate Padded Envelope is another conversation entirely.
I also get items from sellers who don’t print their own shipping labels. To each his own..
JOE
-
Joe.. I laughed when you said you could hardly find one. Same for me. I have a few of each size, but nd up cutting them up more often that not and using as some sort of extra layered protection or just as a junk-storage box here inside of the office.
I replied above and just couldn’t figure out the math on where anything under 15 lbs. makes any sense. And if it is 15 lbs. or more the item is usually then much larger than those flat rate boxes. Even flat rate padded envelopes, which members seem to really like, have the same sort of metrics. It must be fairly heavy and besides we ship glass, crystal, pottery, dishes, glasses, plates and because of this hardly ever use a padded envelope due to it’s smaller size and certainly less protection. Then if we do a pre-box it usually ends up being too large to slide into a padded envelope. Then on items less than a pound. of course first class padded envelope is the way to go, if it is a “soft goods”.
But for some reason I read about everybody praising FR all the time but just don’t see the savings on the calculator when I weigh up the final package and am ready to ship, our discount gets applied and the Priority Rate is always the cheaper way to go.
mike in atl.
-
I agree, generally any item that would benefit from a Flat Rate Box, doesn’t fit.
The Flat Rate Padded Envelopes are another story.
I place a (7 X 5 X 4) inch box inside of the Flat Rate Padded Envelope. This means I can put packing material inside the box and outside the box. It actually creates the effect of being double boxed.
I use them to ship coffee cups, Polaroid cameras or anything that is over a pound and will fit. I use these a lot.
-
-
-
Thank you so much skydog, MDC Galleries, and So Cal Joe for sharing your knowledge, expertise, and experiences with shipping. Shipping can take a moment to navigate through, so I appreciate you taking the time to share these insights with me and easing my shipping experiences.
Thank you again. -
I live on the east coast. Whenever I sell to the west coast, if the weight will be 3 lbs. or more, it’s less expensive to use a MFRB. Postage with the TRS discount is $14.45 regular PM and $12.05 for a MFRB.
-
as I stated it does depend as you say on weight, size and distance. Guess our items just haven’t hit those magic metrics. I have used FR boxes but only a few times.
BTW… the best place to ship from is Kinsley, KS zip code 67547. It is the middle of the country. It is equi-distance to ship to almost all points, north, south, east, west.
I read an article one time from a seller who used this zip code as his shipping base rate for all items he listed as Free Shipping. His mind set was if he divided all his sales by 3 [1/3rd]. That 1/3rd of his shipments would be less than that so he made money, 1/3rd would be about that rate so it was a wash and the last 1/3rd would be further away and he would lose on those. BUT all in all according to his calculations he made money by year end because most items fell with the “make money range”. This is compared to those “Free Shipping” guys who just calculate the furthest shipping point from their home office and pad that into the item cost and then offer Free Shipping.I still prefer, customer pays for shipping and the cost is what it is based on all metrics. Size, weight and distance.
-
-
The ePackets are what have caused so many issues on eBay and Amazon. The subsidies are so high that most of the time you simply can’t compete. On the few items that we do sell that are in competition with the ePacket sales is to point out we are a USA seller and therefore the item will be there much quicker. Doesn’t always win the day, but it keeps us in the game.
-
For what it’s worth, I just shipped a 3 lb item from California to New York. USPS Priority was $14.45 and Flat Rate Medium was $12.05. If the weight goes up, the difference get bigger fast. I think SmartPost was just under $11.
If it’s close by, Priority is generally the cheapest (my cost), regardless of weight. I’ll often send it Priority, even though the customer paid for SmartPost. It costs me less and the customer gets it quicker. It’s a win/win.
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.