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Many of the larger companies have warehouses strategically located within the United States, so that shipping to the end customer is never too far away. This enables them to greatly reduce costs as well ship quickly.
Which Worthpoint service are you using Mike. There are three options and I think it’s time to expand my sources for pricing.. Thanks
I get in line each day I go to the Post Office to get them scanned. If I don’t, sometimes the package won’t get scanned until it hits the delivery city.
It’s funny, I don’t have any of these issues at FEDEX. I just drop it off and every package gets scanned every time.
If you were to get back every six weeks, that’s about 30 business days.. I suppose you could put the permanent store on extended handling time while you’re away and ship like a madman when you come back to check on it. If you needed a little more time, you could make your store inactive for a week or two when you first leave and then put it on extended handling time.
It’s a bit of a hassle, but your inventory would be available all the time.
I suppose you could open a basic (Free) store for the vacation place and just bring easy (small) or quick selling items with you. Depending on how often you’ll make it to the vacation place, you could either end the listing when you leave or play the inactive/extended handling time game with that inventory as well.
It’s just an idea..
I would make sure you talk to someone first and see how they want to handle it. My guess is they may send someone by to pick it up. Sending cash through the mail to an invalid address is a little risky. At a minimum, I’d take out the cash and write them a check.. or give them a note with your contact information.
Good luck.
Interesting..
I just had a buyer leave me 4 positive feedbacks for items purchased on the same day, but only received 1 to my totals. Ebay says I received 4 today and there are 4 individual feedbacks with comments, but my positive number went up by 1.. not 4.
Last month I looked in my change and there was a 1907 Indian head penny.. I thought the days of finding them was gone.. It’s not a lot of value.. but pretty cool.
Did you end up making any progress Ryanne.. or did it just end up creating a big mess that you have to sort through?
I haven’t heard it mentioned on the podcast or here, so I was curious..
Thanks
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.
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.
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
I had a similar machine, just the sewing machine part. There was no motor and it was rusty and a bit of a relic. It was originally mounted to a table and wasn’t meant to be operated by itself.
I still got $50 for it plus shipping, so I think you’ve got some money there, regardless of how you sell it.
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.
For what it’s worth:
I built wooden shelving units (2 feet wide) for all the walls. They pretty much go to the top. In the center I have more shelving and a dedicated shipping area. The shipping area is just an old work bench I converted. At the front, where the door is, I also have more shelving.
I found a great video on Youtube on building wooden shelves. It was made by some teenager.
If I were going to do it all over again, I’d seriously consider building a loft maybe 6 feet high for the last 8 feet or so of the garage. It would be a place to keep stuff I don’t need to see on a regular basis.
I’ve learned that you figure out the right way to do it, once you’ve done it the almost right way. However there’s no other way.. so just do it. It a paradox.
Good Luck.. Garages are cool..
