Top 5 Shipping Supplies Every eBay Seller Should Keep on Hand
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1. Free USPS Shipping Boxes & Envelopes
We are very thankful that the post office provides free shipping materials! We can’t even image how much money we’ve saved by being able to use these free materials. Depending on what you are selling, it’s a good idea to order a variety of different sizes to have on hand. Any boxes that you don’t end up using can be returned to your local post office. It takes 1-2 weeks for the supplies to show up on your door step, so we recommend ordering a few weeks ahead of when you know you’ll be needing more, especially during the Christmas season. One of our favorite supplies from USPS is the Priority Mail Padded Flat Rate Envelope. We can fit most of our clothing items in it and it only cost $5.35 to ship ($5.95 if you are not a top rated seller).
2. Packing Tape
It would be disastrous to have an item to ship and find that there is no packing tape to be found! Make sure to always keep a steady supply of this on hand! Our favorite packing tape is Scotch Shipping Tape. It’s heavy duty and very durable. We’ve tried other cheaper, tapes but this one has been the best we’ve been able to find. It’s a little more expensive but worth it!
3. Various Packing Material
The type of packing material that you need will depend on what you sell. For us, since we have a lot of clothing, we make sure to keep plenty of tissue paper. All of our clothing is neatly folded and wrapped in tissue paper for the customer. This gives a nice touch when the buyer opens our package. For other items, make sure you have packing peanuts, bubble wrap, air packs, etc. on hand. Be sure to keep track of your supply and order before you get too close to running out.
4. Postage Scale
A digital postage scale is absolutely necessary to shipping items from home and skipping those long lines at the post office! We recommend getting a scale with at least a 40lb capacity since you never know what kinds of treasures you’ll find and how much they will weigh. We don’t want our customers to have any surprises by receiving an item that has postage due because we entered the weight incorrectly. It’s a good idea to always double check your weight after the item is completely packaged and taped. If the package weight is over what you paid for, just ask the clerk at the post office to weigh it and you can pay the extra postage right there.
5. Thank You Note
The final touch to your package should be a very nice and personable thank you note. This could be in the form of a business card or a small, hand written note. We want our customers to know that we appreciate their business.
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