It pains me when I see people at the PO putting stuff in the Priority Flat Rate Boxes to ship items that can go in another size Priority box most likely at a much cheaper price. Flat Rate BOXES should only be used for HEAVY stuff. The Regional A & B boxes are money savers and each come in 2 different sizes. I recommend you order these (and other FREE Priority boxes and envelopes ~ They have around 50 or so variations of Priority items) from the USPS site under shipping supplies. DONT order the ones with PREPAID Postage, just the FREE ONES. All you need is to setup an account is a unique ID and password and they will ship these Priority boxes and envelopes FREE to your door. Mind you that you are supposed to use them for mail use only and not as storage or moving boxes (as I have seen visiting many garage sales).

Educate yourself on the weight restrictions on the Regional boxes That go Zone (distance) shipping at the 2 pound or 4 pound Priority Rate. Another handy tip is to order some Priority 1096L Priority boxes and you can put whatever small HEAVY stuff in that box and then get the PADDED Flat Rate Priority (bubble) envelope and that 1096L heavy box slips into the Padded F/R bubble envelope like a glove and ships at the flat rate, not weight and distance shipping costs.

Now many of the items like the Regional and Padded Flat Rate BUBBLE Envelope are not supported on the Bonanza LABEL print (been asking for that for years now) so you need to go to ship them thru the USPS site and then use your Paypal to pay for the label cost to get the commercial based pricing. Dont pay for these types of containers at the PO COUNTER as you will pay more than thru the PO online site.

Buying a scale is a must but the ones at the PO are much more than you can buy them on the Auction site (that will remain nameless). Dunno if any sellers on Bonanza sell scales. The one I have is named DigiWeigh and is extremely accurate.

With all the yearly increases the USPS puts thru on shippers every January for years on end, it is getting more difficult to squeeze savings out of the PO now but there are still a few ways left if you use some of the hints above. Shipping is a REAL Expense and many buyers minds have been conditioned that shipping should be FREE since they get it from the big businesses but they forget that the actual shipping charges are actually hidden in the price if Free shipping is offered (or they are paying a hefty charge like a Prime membership to get the Free shipping).

Happy Sales to You

I was LOST without my legit, non cooking scale ($19 on ebay). I had a huge problem initially with shipping. It’s an extra step, but I weigh/measure everything, I have a list weights of mailers + packing, add that to it, and use calculated shipping.

If offering free shipping, USPS has a calculator, use zip for area far away from you to get an idea of costs and if it’s worth it. Shipping is very expensive, lots of people offer free shipping which makes it hard to compete. But, if it’s over 15.99 oz, it’s going to cost a pretty penny and you may need to up the cost of your item to cover it.

The regional boxes are a lifesaver once you figure it all out. You can order all your priority FR boxes, regional & mailers for free online at usps.

Shoes are definitely a difficult one!! They have a specific priority shoe box but it isn’t flat rate so depending on where it’s going, it can be very pricey.

I have known sellers put as much as possible in the padded flat rate envelope which is $7.10 (commercial) $7.25 retail. I have managed to get sandals in one of these, but I doubt regular shoes would fit.

The bubble mailer is usually the only flat rate I use for heavy things, unless it’s too big. I agree with Trinketbox, first class & regional and print labels through PayPal.

Another [URL removed] check USPS site for first class requirements. If your item happens to be less than 1/4" thick, it’s even cheaper, and if it qualifies for media mail, it’s super cheap. BUT check the RULES on MEDIA mail! Even throwing in an extra piece of candy can disqualify it.

You’ll get the hang of it, it takes some time. A scale and measuring tape is going to be your best friend!!

For low-cost sales, I only buy low-weight products and I like to ship them as first class mail to keep the shipping price from being a sticker shock. If it is a higher priced item and low in weight, I still ship as first class mail but I purchase UPIC insurance because I trust them more than I do the USPS with their insurance (priority mail comes with insurance automatically). I had to use UPIC a few times and they were very professional and did back the insurance I purchased. I will even purchase UPIC insurance when shipping as priority for a higher priced item.

So, this is how I handle first-class mail, which has worked well for me over the years.

For a pound up to 2 pounds (but not over) I will ship priority mail but just in a regular priority box 99.99%. Of course, for heavier packages flat rate priority boxes work well as you know.

BUT I do make sure that the item I am purchasing has sold on the internet for a decent price when shipping 1 to 2-pound packages via priority mail. Even between 1 to 2 pounds, the price goes up pretty hefty when I ship to Texas. One of the main reasons I look at what the item has sold for on the internet is because I tend to lower the price on priority and eat part of the cost (I do this on first class too). So in a sense, yes, I am eating part of the shipping cost but in a sense, I am not because I am able to get a decent enough price for the item to cover this.

For anything above 2 pounds, I usually state that the listing ships via parcel select rather than priority, as long as parcel select is still less expensive. I know parcel select takes longer but seeing the shipping price lower rather than higher is a positive to me. Plus, I state in my listings that the shopper can email me for a shipping price if they prefer a different method of shipping. So that covers that and they have an option. BUT, if the item can sell for a nicer price, I will do a priority shipping price rather than parcel select. Regardless, I always state in my listings the shopper can email for a different shipping service.

I choose to set my shipping prices individually rather than using the shipping calculator for the reasons I mentioned above. Plus, I like to offer a hefty shipping discount to the shopper if they are purchasing more than one item from me. I have had some multiple item sales and I did definitely eat part of the cost of shipping. I was still happy with my bottom line profit though because like said, they purchased multiple items. Having like items in my booth helps with this.

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I see that we have some of the same logic when looking at what we can sell the item for compared to the cost of shipping it.

It takes a balancing act all the way [URL removed] Cost of the item and what it can sell for are the biggest indicators of what to do with shipping. I never used to have a cell that would get on the internet. I’m glad I do now because whereas before when I did not have the cell to see what items sold for, I’d get about 75% of what I picked up to look at. Now I only get about 10% of what I pick up to look at, sometimes less.

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[URL removed] I’m not sure if you offer Amazon as a payment method. But if someone were to purchase from you through Amazon, you could still create your shipping label on paypal. Just log into Paypal and look for Multiorder shipping on your left, click on that and follow the prompts. Then bingo, you can create your label.

Sharon

As mentioned above you need a good quality accurate digital postal scale. Then you can know what and how you will ship before you finalize the listing. I keep empty different size boxes and padded bubble envelopes ready and close so when I am listing I can try and know by the scale what the shipping is going to be before I list. I concentrate on items of 3 pounds or less, using First Class Package or Media when possible. I just today finished editing my shipping on over 2000 items due to the recent Over the Top Postal increases on First Class Package. It took hours over a week. I hope the Post Office is not Killing the Golden Goose.

Another point I want to make is educate your customer to the high cost of mailing, Most do not realize the high cost due to the big players hiding the cost in the price. Be open and honest, and explain there is No Free Shipping only reasonable and fair shipping.

Fathertime – “reasonable and fair shipping” – that is great! Thanks. I
’m going to borrow that.

Now many of the items like the Regional and Padded Flat Rate BUBBLE Envelope are not supported on the Bonanza LABEL print (been asking for that for years now) so you need to go to ship them thru the USPS site and then use your Paypal to pay for the label cost to get the commercial based pricing. Dont pay for these types of containers at the PO COUNTER as you will pay more than thru the PO online site.

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