Save Money and Headache in Shipping

This guide is written to provide the new seller with some simple tools and insights on how to select a shipping company and what you can do to save yourself and your customers money and improve your chances for a successful auction. It is our opinion based on all the mistakes we have already made.

The first thing any eBay seller needs is a good Postal Scale. Buy it on eBay! Knowing how much your product AND packaging weighs is essential. Get familiar with using the Shipping Calculator provided by eBay - it will keep you from underestimating your shipping costs. Get a ruler or yardstick to measure your packages. All 3 of the services to be discussed here have limits on weight/size before you jump into the oversize/overweight category at much higher costs.

The goal of all eBay buyers is to get the best quality product at the lowest cost, while the goal of every eBay seller is the most revenue at the least cost of delivery. We will concentrate this guide on delivering your product at the lowest possible rate and highest service level. This provides the seller with the most cost effective means of delivery at the highest level of satisfaction.

eBay provides shipping services through its site for the USPS & UPS. Both services are very easy to use through eBay/PayPal, but should you? There are a few other choices with FedEx being the most visible among them. This is where you must decide which one to use and when.

USPS is by far the best choice when sending products that weigh less than 2 lbs. Items such as CDâs, DVDâs, books, software, etc., can be shipped as Media Mail. This provides a great savings to the shipper and buyer with lower rates â but with drawbacks. Shipping times are long, even over short distances. As an example, a set of... ...read the full guide >>>