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I had this issue as well. I found a few of my first class packages didn’t get scanned until they were delivered. Then a media mail package got delayed 9 days before scanning! My buyer had contacted me about a week after I had dropped it in the drop box, and I told him that media mail is slower and that he should wait a few more days. I was about to call the USPS when the scan finally came through.
My solution is to wait in line and have the clerks hand scan in my packages. Because of my new policy, I no longer drop off packages on Sundays and holidays or after 5PM.
If you print shipping labels for multiple packages at a time, there is a point where eBay gives you the option to print out a scan list. I learned about that on this forum just a month or so ago. You print out the scan list and bring it to the counter with your items. The clerks then just scan your list and not each individual item. It saves time, and the clerks appreciate it.
Usually, waiting in line is no big deal. However, yesterday, I had to wait in line for about 15 min. I came at a later time than normal, so maybe I need to be careful about my timing.
When I check the tracking numbers, I don’t necessarily see the scan right after I’ve brought the packages in. I think that the scan doesn’t get into their system right away or maybe they have to verify the packages before it is allowed to post. Sometimes the scans don’t show up until the next morning. However, I have had no problem with my packages not getting scanned properly. Perhaps this will help me keep my TRS status in line with the new policy for 95% on-time rate.
Hope this helps.
I also wanted to mention that my low listing number is because I’ve been getting ready for doing my taxes. I did not do a good job last year with keeping my expenses recorded, so now I have to go back and put them in. Not fun. I did get some picture taking done, so I will be listing much more this week.
Week of Feb 26 – Mar 4
* Total Items in Store: 679
* Items Sold: 16
* Cost of Items Sold: $11.27 + $6.85 Commission
* Total Sales: $166.56
* Highest Price Sold: $25 for 2 Dinner Plates
* Average Price Sold: $10.41
* Returns: 0
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $75.46
* Number of items listed this week: 5I found scavengerlife.com in January last year, so I’ve been listening just over a year. You’ve really helped me make a business for myself, and I’m very grateful. This podcast is now part of my life – something I really look forward to. Congratulations on 300, and I hope for many, many more!
The theme this week was selling low price items, but there were a good number of them. I happy for what I can get, and this new week started out with a bang! So, I’m good. The bang will have to be discussed next week.
In other themes, I’ve noticed this past week that many of my sales have been between breakfast and lunch and in the evening. I’ve not woken up in the morning and seen sales that happened while I was sleeping. In the past, I’ve had weeks where most of my sales were made while I slept. I have no idea why, and it doesn’t make a difference one way or the other, but I noticed the trend.
Welcome back Sheldon! You were missed. I will be watching those videos and catching up.
Yes Brian, I’ve noticed your location, but never said anything. I actually went to Stevens, so I am familiar with Hoboken. I don’t get up there very often these days. Whenever you say something about space constraints, I think about the row houses / townhouses that are so common there. I assume you have a place like that.
The Italian bowl was something I bought from an online auction in Rahway last September. I spent a huge amount of money there, but I bought tons of great stuff. It’s part of my “pipeline”.
Steve – Nice to see the dogs. Your new backyard looks like your old backyard if I remember correctly from previous videos. Unless this was from the old house?
This is a pretty handmade vintage bowl from Cava in Italy. I bought it in an online auction lot of many decorative items. I assigned it a cost of $1 and sold it for $50:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=182322504315My dad recently gave me a ton of clothes to sell. He had three dress pants with buttons for suspenders. The same buyer bought two of them, so I only have one left to sell. Got for free, sold for $25 each plus shipping:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=182459741025
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=182459743198I bought an online auction lot of placemats, which have not been selling well. I recently added best offer on them, so I’m hoping those sales pick up. This is a set of wicker or straw placemats or trivets. Paid about $2, and sold them for $24. The buyer is in CA and paid about $23 to ship them!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=182363905874I’ll try to summarize what I know from my experience and what I’ve heard on the forum here.
Technically, Smartpost packages are to be dropped off at FedEx only, not the USPS. However, certain local post offices will accept it as R&J and some other folks on this forum have stated.
You can schedule a USPS pick up only if you have at least one priority mail package. I would assume that if your post office will accept Smartpost, then they will pick it up, but only if you have that minimum one priority package. You will need call your local post office to confirm any of what I have just said. I happen to have a FedEx store in my town, so I’ve personally never bothered to ask my PO; I’m just repeating what I’ve heard.
I’m pretty sure that FedEx won’t schedule a pickup for Smartpost. Maybe if you have other FedEx ground packages in addition to Smartpost? You would have to call to find out.
Smartpost is absolutely the CHEAPEST way to ship packages over a few pounds assuming what you are shipping doesn’t fit in a USPS flat rate box. If your item happens to fit in a flat rate box, a good option would be to offer Smartpost, but then upgrade to priority if that ends up being the cheapest option.
At a certain point, maybe 10 pounds or so, it is better to ship via the regular FedEx ground option.
A disadvantage of Smartpost is the insurance. If your item breaks in transit despite your excellent packing skills, FedEx will only pay up if the carrier marked the package as having been damaged in transit. Otherwise they will point to the USPS and the USPS will point back to them and you get nothing. So, for pricey items, you could either not use Smartpost or you could buy insurance through eBay from Ship Cover. Personally, I have stopped offering Smartpost as an option on breakable items such as glass, china, etc.
For speed, Smartpost is about as slow as Parcel Select, maybe slower. I recently had a seller specifically ask me to add Smartpost as an option because he wasn’t in an hurry, but wanted to save money. When a buyer looks as the shipping options, eBay will give a delivery window. Not every buyer is that attentive, so you might have to field complaints. You can just point them to the tracking information and explain that they opted for an economy service.
I haven’t scheduled anything just yet; I was doing some research before I listed the rug. It is now listed, and I will arrange for the pickup once it sells. I will most likely schedule it online. What I read on the FedEx website is that you can change it and get status online, which you don’t get if you call in.
Coincidentally, I just called up FedEx to find out about cost for a pickup. They told me that pickup for regular ground shipping does not have a cost, even for a residential home. There is a pickup for freight, but I was told my 75 pound carpet was still considered regular ground shipping.
I sold two items to someone in Canada about a month ago. I was not able to combine shipping on my own, but, when I went to pay for the label, eBay automatically combined the two into one. You can then edit the shipping record for the actual box size & weight, and then reimburse the buyer through Paypal for any savings.
I’m not sure how/if eBay reduces the cost to the buyer for the international shipping if the purchase is through GPS. I can’t imagine that eBay would reimburse the buyer.
What?? How did I miss this from December? Maybe I didn’t subscribe to the Forum Firehose until later.
@Roundup – I live in East Brunswick and do my eBay thing out of my house. If you work in East Brunswick, perhaps we can meet up for lunch some day? Message me through eBay – my ID is upsmartsales, and we can exchange email addresses and make plans from there. Leave a message here with your ID so that I can verify your identity.I’d be happy to drive out of my area as well for a bigger group, if that is of interest!
Just so you know, there is a way to exclude PO Boxes. If you scroll all the way down to the bottom of a listing (this is the eBay listing tool, not sure what it is called), there is a section called “Exclude shipping locations”. Click on the highlighted words “Create Exclusion List”. That menu has three sections: Domestic, International, Additional Locations. Under Additional Locations, there is one check box for PO Box.
I used this function because eBay’s software wouldn’t allow FedEx Smartpost to ship to PO Boxes, but allowed a person with a PO Box to select it as their shipping method. I got screwed once because I had to pay for priority mail when someone had paid for Smartpost. Later on, Ryanne mentioned on this forum how to get around that bug and use Smartpost to ship to PO Boxes. So, I went back and allowed PO Boxes again.
Week of Feb 19 – 25
* Total Items in Store: 690
* Items Sold: 13
* Cost of Items Sold: $11.27 + ~$5 Commission
* Total Sales: $269.05
* Highest Price Sold: $50 for vintage La Cava Italian bowl
* Average Price Sold: $20.70
* Returns: 0
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
* Number of items listed this week: 32This was a good steady week. I’ve spent way too much money on new inventory recently, so I was glad to step back this week. My main thing is online auctions, and there are two with pickups for next Saturday. I’m sure I’ll list money spent on new inventory next week.
For the topic of Facebook, I belong to a local “yardsale” group. I know that several people who list there often are making some decent money. They might not be getting eBay prices, but definitely not flea market prices. I believe that they also list on several sites, so they will say “XP”, which means cross-posted, on their listings. So someone will say “interested” for one of the items, and then the seller will answer that the item is pending pickup from another site. Just like eBay, there is a whole acronym language. Other than XP, there is PPU that might mean Porch Pickup or Pending Pickup depending on where it is used.
So far, I’ve used it only for items I didn’t feel were worth selling on eBay. I recently sold a large ceramic decorative watering can for $10. It was made in Italy and looked expensive, but had a $30 price tag from Home Goods on the bottom. I could have made more on eBay, but it was rather large and breakable, and I decided I didn’t want to bother with packing it. So, I was happy to meet someone at a local CVS parking lot and do an exchange.
Here are a few of my interesting sales – or, at least interesting stories – from last week:
Over 6 yards of nice upholstery fabric – I listed over 10 remnants in the summer, and this is the second to sell. The first sold only last week. Perhaps folks are getting ready to do projects for the spring. I paid about $1.50, sold for $41.60:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=182296001351This is a set of Noritake dinner plates from the 50’s or 60’s. I bought an incomplete set of this pattern at my first auction, and I listed them in April last year. I tried selling them by the piece, selling them in sets, putting them on sale, etc, etc. These are the first to sell since I added best offer. I’ve also sold some bowls yesterday (although they have yet to pay). Best offer rocks!! I paid a $4 and they sold for $30.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=182211279487I bought a box lot of vintage Stangl serve ware at a recent auction. The Stangl factory was in NJ, so I run into it often especially at this particular auction house. I like Stangl because much of it looks contemporary even though they closed in the 70s. The whole lot was $11. I was expecting prices to be higher, but it is not too bad. This pretty bowl is the first to sell. Paid $1, sold for $17:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=182444389885
