Shipping Matters

I have been using and recommend United States Post Office Priority mail for shipping my smaller eBay packages. My local post office has an automated machine so that I can pay for and print labels without standing in line. I think most people are afraid of using the machine. They don't want to take the few minutes required to learn how to use it. But it beats standing in line.

I have recently been printing my own shipping labels at home. You do this from PayPal or at the Post Office's Click-N-Ship website. I would recommend using a laser printer to print your labels because the ink from a laser printer is waterproof. Most inks from ink jet printers will run or smudge when wet. Use labels where the entire sheet is one big label or sheets with two labels per 8.5 by 11 inch page. A good quality home business laser printer now costs less than $200.

You will also need a scale, but the post office sells two very nice ones for less than $40 on their site. I would recommend a scale that can weight up to 10 pounds. The 5 pound scales will not help with larger packages.

Unfortunately, you can only print Priority mail postage from the Post Office's website and PayPal's shipping center will only ship through UPS and USPS Priority Mail. One nice thing about each of these sites is that you can choose not to display the postage amount on the label. This is important for sellers who choose to offset some of their handling charges in the shipping & handling charges. Charging $19.95 to ship a small eBay item is unethical, but adding a dollar or two to actual shipping to pay for packing materials is certainly fair.

It is not possible to pay for and print shipping labels for USPS first class mail or media mail from either of these sites. You will have to go to a third-party mailing service such as Stamps.com. I really can not recommend these unless you ships more than 20 first class or medial mail packages a month because the third-party online mail providers charge at least $15.99 per month just to use their service. And lastly, whatever you do, do not have The UPS Store package your items for you. They do a good job, but charge way too much for putting your package in a box and adding packing peanuts that you could buy yourself in the same store.