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@almasty: Interesting. So, quick question. What is the Endicia rate for shipping a Padded Flat Rate envelope? If it is $7.33, it is the same shipping rate as eBay. If it is $7.55, it is the same as the other 3rd party shippers I have seen.
We ran into a person that is doing a short term rental in the area our son moved to. Said that the short term money was 3-4 times what they could get on the long term market. More work on the booking and cleaning, but better money overall.
@Sharyn: Nope, the only way to get the SCAN sheet is to bulk print the labels.
@SEAM: Yeah, I have thought about that part too. I just need to try going back to that process to see if we like it.
We already told our carrier that we were suspending the porch pickup for the next two weeks while we get a process sorted out. I really liked the outside software to ship. Way faster and easier to ship out using it over eBay. I told eBay that they if they want to stay World Class, they need to either partner with a company like ShipRush to keep this, or they need to get moving with new software.
We will see.
@Sharyn: Great idea, and I called eBay.
Downside is that the only way to get the SCAN sheet is to bulk print. For us, that sucks. 10-20 packages a day, many looking the same (shoe priority boxes, multiple 9×12 poly bags) that we have to match up. By that time, I can get to the post office and back doing the dropoff myself.
Ok, I do have an ask for all the folks on the forum. Basically, like a mini poll on what everyone uses for shipping.
We have been using ShipRush as our shipping platform for the past 18 months (and Shippo before that). The advantage to using it was that it was free through the eBay partnership, provided a SCAN sheet for drivers to scan all packages quickly, and brought all shipments from eBay, Etsy, and Bonanza to one platform (we also did TrueGether here, though through a manual entry).
Well, now the partnership is over. To keep the service, we would have to pay a monthly subscription. We WOULD have paid it, only because the software makes our shipping very fast. HOWEVER…. the shipping rates are more than on eBay. For comparison, a Padded Flat rate envelope on eBay is $7.33, yet on ShipRush it is now up to $7.55.
I have contacted ShipStation, and PirateShip, and their rates are also higher than eBay.
So…what does everyone else use to do shipping and what are your rates? I would like to find a solution that would still let us print labels one at a time and then get a summary SCAN sheet later. I ABHOR the way that eBay does the SCAN sheet (print all labels at once, then match all the labels to all the packages). With having USPS do parcel pickup at the house, the SCAN sheet is critical to that. Without it, we would go back to dropping off at the post office every day. I am NOT going to ask drivers to scan 30-40 packages on a Monday one at a time. I will let the office do that, but not force the drivers to stand in wind and rain and do that.
But, most solutions to provide that SCAN sheet have higher rates than eBay, so that is a no go.
Sooo…what is your shipping solution?
Way behind right now, prepping for some time off over Memorial Day, so quick hitter on our numbers….
Week of 05/12-05/18
Total Items in Store: 3,316 (Up 55% YOY)
Number of Items Listed: 131
Number of Items Sold: 120 (Up 62% YOY)
(Includes 1 Etsy, 6 Poshmark, 2 Bonanza, 0 TrueGether)
Weekly STR: 16% (UP 1% YOY) – First time in months the STR has been better this yearTotal Product Sales: $3,020 (Up 41% YOY)
Sales Volume Variance to Prior Year: Up $1,334
Sales Price Variance to Prior Year: Down $461
Cost of Items Sold: $688
Cost of Labor: $260
Highest Item Sold: $100 – VTG Cast Iron Griddle
Competition: Highest Priced Sale: Veronica wins the week and Veronica leads for the year 12-9.Clothing
# Listed: 1,994
# Sold: 79
STR: 17%
ASP: $21.53Shoes
# Listed: 720
# Sold: 28
STR: 17%
ASP: $34.17Hard Goods
# Listed: 602
# Sold: 13
STR: 9%
ASP: $27.92EBay
# Listed: 3,316
# Sold: 113
STR: 15%
ASP: $24.07Etsy
# Listed: 225
# Sold: 1
STR: 2%
ASP: $12.99Poshmark
# Listed: 779
# Sold: 6
STR: 3%
ASP: $47.83@ThinkLink: That is a tough one, but you have to maybe watch when this carrier is arriving, go out and have a conversation with them. Just start out friendly, start a good relationship with them. See where it goes. Once you are a friend and not just the PITA with the heavy packages, they may change how they react.
If they don’t, let them know that you have security cameras on the packages in case of theft. Maybe if they know that they are being watched, they will change their behavior.
If that doesn’t work, confront them and let them know you have fragile items that need to be handled correctly.
Last resort is to go to the post office directly and tell them all the steps you have taken to resolve this, and maybe they need to get involved.
I always try to walk things up to the least level of force needed. In the end, you need to have a working partnership with them.
@Jay: When I say heavier, I mean items that are 1lb and heavier, up to 5lbs. Since these items would ship for $7.33 at the lowest on eBay (Padded Flat Rate), then a buyer is getting a deal at $6.79. For boots that would be $15+ on eBay for shipping, they can get on Poshmark for $6.79 shipping.
I am thinking that this is why my First Class items have less traction on Poshmark, since the buyer has to pay $6.79 for shipping on Poshmark, and I can ship for $5 or less on eBay.
Price doesn’t change between the platforms. I just like to crosspost the items that are more than 1lb on Poshmark since that will drive velocity of sales.
@Jay: Yeah, so they may just have straight negotiated a deal for a flat rate for PoshPost, up to 5lbs. You notice that over 5lbs gets pricey, and that comes out of the seller’s side, not Poshmark.
This is why I’m wondering of the heavier items go better on Posh vs the items that would be First Class on eBay. $6.79 is cheap for 2lbs+ items vs eBay, but expensive for items under 1lb on eBay.
I just don’t get much traction for lighter items on Posh, so I’m not fighting it. Listing the higher weight and higher dollar items there…
Week of 05/05-05/11
Total Items in Store: 3,269 (Up 55% YOY)
Number of Items Listed: 155
Number of Items Sold: 99 (Up 27% YOY)
(Includes 1 Etsy, 9 Poshmark, 0 Bonanza, 0 TrueGether)
Weekly STR: 13% (Down 3% YOY)Total Product Sales: $2,437 (Up 18% YOY)
Sales Volume Variance to Prior Year: Up $555
Sales Price Variance to Prior Year: Down $179
Cost of Items Sold: $498
Cost of Labor: $222
Highest Item Sold: $69 – Hickey Freeman Sport Coat
Competition: Highest Priced Sale: Troy wins the week and Veronica leads for the year 11-9.Clothing
# Listed: 1,960
# Sold: 65
STR: 14%
ASP: $23.23Shoes
# Listed: 708
# Sold: 20
STR: 12%
ASP: $29.21Hard Goods
# Listed: 601
# Sold: 14
STR: 10%
ASP: $24.54EBay
# Listed: 3,269
# Sold: 89
STR: 12%
ASP: $23.32Etsy
# Listed: 237
# Sold: 1
STR: 2%
ASP: $24.83Poshmark
# Listed: 788
# Sold: 9
STR: 5%
ASP: $34.44So…change in plans. I’m going to get this out of the way, since Veronica won’t be keeping this part up when I’m gone. She will maintain the cash and credit card recons, but not this part.
Good week, more short sleeve and shorts starting to sell, bringing down the ASP. Weird that the past three weeks in a row, we have sold exactly 65 items.
Other than that, still just heads down and keep working. Only one day for the contract gig this week (like last week), so easier to hit our 150 listings/week goal.
@Jay: On Poshmark, all labels are $6.79 Priority.
8oz shirt (anywhere in the US)? $6.79 Priority.
5lb Boots (anywhere in the US)? $6.79 Priority.Yep…I dunno how they do this either. Best I can figure is that they negotiated this with USPS. Most items will be lower than the 5lb limit, so $6.79 is like a middle average compared to the actual cost to the USPS (in terms of space, cost to transport in gas, etc.)
Unless the USPS is tracking each package and getting a weight on a scanner in the process. So when the package is shipped, the barcode scanned is assigned the ACTUAL weight on the conveyor at the time.
That information is routed to a computer that can compare the actual weight and cost (using the absolute lowest commercial weight) with the flat $6.79 rate, and Poshmark and USPS true up monthly, quarterly, or annually. I have seen similar processes before with raw materials, where a flat rate is used on every transaction, and the actual costs are calculated and reconciled.Jay and Ryanne: Your ears were totally burning! I was EXACTLY thinking that! Just drop your numbers into a spreadsheet each week and then you can take the data, slice and dice it and make Julienne fries!
I’m ready when you guys are do start doing some video stuff. I will try and get some more test with other software so that maybe we can do a live event rather than just with the two of you. Maybe my internet connection too. Dunno, but that OBS software was crap when I did test live streams. The screen looked fine in the OBS, but when it broadcasted to YouTube, couldn’t read the screen. Skype worked out better.
And we can do a few of these. One on how I collect and do my data (with graphs of course), how I use that data to forecast our numbers, how we use SixBit (especially how it helps us do Poshmark crossposting in 2 minutes). Open book…
Gonna start posting our numbers more on like a Tuesday or Wednesday. Teaching Veronica how to do this step in prep for the Colorado Trail this summer, and all our downloads show up Monday night/Tuesday Morning.
Ok, here is the Poshmark info from the sales that we have had.
All Poshmark sales have Poshmark providing the label to us (we don’t pay for the label. The buyer pays $6.79 for the label to Poshmark, Poshmark provides the label to the seller). All labels are Priority and are good for up to 5 lbs. If someone buys three items, still $6.79 up to 5 lbs.
For packages over 5lbs, the upcharges are paid by the seller, and are shown below. We have not had this yet…
Up to 5 pounds Free
6 pounds $3.99
7 pounds $7.98
8 pounds $11.97
9 pounds $15.96
10 pounds $19.95PS – There are times that you can discount your item, and Poshmark will discount the shipping for the buyer to $4.99. Or, you can provide a discount and you eat the discounted shipping.
@Sharyn: Veronica and I have considered this for a 6-12 month driving vacation. But after that, I don’t know.
I would do it longer term if I felt that I was still working and being productive.
One guy in San Fran has an RV parked in a light industrial area where he lives, and has a small car to go to work, errands, etc.
Interesting culture…
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