Shipping for Beginners: How to Ship From Home Selling on eBay + Ground Advantage USPS Update
Whether you’re an individual looking to sell items from your closet or a budding entrepreneur starting an online business, understanding the basics of shipping is crucial. With the rise of online marketplaces like eBay, shipping items from the comfort of your home has become easier than ever. In this article, we’ll walk you through the process of shipping items from home, specifically focusing on the use of USPS (United States Postal Service) and its Ground Advantage service.
1. Preparation:
Before you start shipping, it’s important to make sure you have everything you need. Here are a few essential items:
– Packaging supplies: Boxes, padded envelopes, bubble wrap, packing tape, and labels.
– Weighing scale: A digital scale to accurately measure the weight of your items is essential.
– Printer: You’ll need a printer to print shipping labels and any necessary paperwork.
2. Dimensions and Weight:
Measure the dimensions of your item accurately. Length, width, and height are required when estimating shipping costs. Be sure to include packaging in your measurements. Weigh your item using your scale as well. Consider rounding up to the nearest pound or ounce to ensure accurate pricing.
3. Shipping Options:
USPS offers several shipping options, each with different features and costs. The most common services are:
– First-Class Mail: Suitable for lightweight items (up to 16 ounces) with a delivery time of 1-3 business days.
– Priority Mail: Ideal for heavier items or quicker delivery (1-3 business days).
– Media Mail: A cost-effective option for shipping books, CDs, or DVDs (2-8 business days).
4. USPS Ground Advantage:
USPS Ground Advantage is an affordable solution for shipping medium to large packages weighing between 1-70 pounds within the US. This service is particularly beneficial for eBay sellers who often deal with bulkier items. The Ground Advantage service provides competitive pricing and convenient options like doorstep pickup, tracking, and insurance.
5. Shipping Labels and Packaging:
Once you’ve chosen your shipping option, it’s time to prepare your package. Use appropriate packaging materials, ensuring your item is adequately protected. Print your shipping label and affix it securely to the package. Remember to include your return address and consider adding a tracking number for peace of mind during transit.
6. Scheduling a Pickup:
With USPS Ground Advantage, scheduling a pickup is a hassle-free way to ship your items. Visit the USPS website and schedule a pickup at your chosen time and location. The carrier will collect your packages, eliminating the need to leave your home.
7. Tracking and Insurance:
After your package is picked up, tracking becomes essential. USPS provides a tracking number that allows you and your buyers to monitor the progress of the shipment. Additionally, consider purchasing insurance to protect your item against damage or loss during transit.
8. International Shipping:
If you plan to ship internationally, USPS offers competitive rates and various services like First-Class Package International, Priority Mail International, and Priority Mail Express International. Always research customs regulations and shipping restrictions before sending items overseas.
9. Postage Payment:
Finally, remember to pay for your postage. USPS offers convenient online payment options, allowing you to print and pay for your shipping labels from the comfort of your home. Alternatively, you can visit your local post office and pay for postage in person.
Shipping items from home has never been easier, thanks to USPS and the rise of online marketplaces. By following these simple steps, you’ll be able to efficiently ship your items and ensure a smooth experience for both you and your customers.
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Can I buy my own label from usps website for my item or you have to use those from ebay? those labels created on ebay have no option to add a signature or insurance and that sucks I want to create my own label on usps website and add whatever I want schedule pickup etc can you do that?
This helped thank you!
Grocery bags are good packing material, looks cheap but works and free
I pretty much send everything ground advantage
To my state, ground advantage cost more and is four times slower than flatrate priority.
wait hold up, I can offer multiple options for shipping on my listings? I can't seem to figure out how to do this on google. Can anyone help? TIA!
HELP! I'm new and I can't find the shipping rate chart you referred to at the beginning of the video. I've searched Usps and Ebay.
Ground Advantage quickly gets expensive when you go beyond the 1st pound. USPS rates are currently ridiculous, making their advertising of this new shipping method deceptive! Ebay doesn't really make it easier either with their thieving fees…
Every since they started this Ground Advantage i have had nothing but problems!!!!!! I have Never in 15 years of being on ebay had so many MISSENT, LOST or SHIPPED ALL OVER THE PLACE before it gets to the buyer and so far 3 Negative feedback because of them! TOTAL crap!
Can you take a priority mail box and wrap it in brown shipping paper and use it for non priority mail? Great video answered a lot of my questions!
It's always good to brush-up on certain things & shipping is one of them! I appreciate all the details you included and I will check your supply list for that box scorer since I've spent way too much time making my own! Thanks again, Wick!
You can cover the priority box with brown paper bags and ship it ground Advantage
Link for baseball bat boxes? Got free ones from usps but now I met you lol
What's your thoughts on harvesting your own boxes if you work at a retail store. I work at a big lots and have practically an almost unlimited supply of boxes
Hey Wick – great information, thanks!
Do you pass along the discount on shipping, or do you have ebay collect the full shipping amount and take the discount as profit? (I have mine set to pass along the discount, but am adding $1 handling charge to offset packing materials a bit.)
Have had good luck w/ABB – thanks for letting us know they have tape, I'll get that next time – been getting a decent deal at Sam's on 3M.
Where can I buy the printer for the labels? Which one do you recommend ? Thank you 🙂
any tips and or recommendations for what shipping option to use to sell those 3.5in Star Wars action figures?
Is shipping a tax write off?
what scale do you suggest , Thank you ‼️
thanks! great info
can someone please help me? last week i sold items through mercari with usps ground advantage using priority mail boxes. i went to the post office to print out paid labels using their kiosk– fast forward, everything was delivered/went smoothly. today i tried to ship out more boxes doing the same thing except this time the kiosk was down. i went to the desk so one of the postal workers could print out labels and put them on my packages… and was told i was using the wrong boxes. they also told me "if you use these boxes they'll be returned to you". the postal worker then directed me to an area where i should purchases the "correct" boxes to ship my items. my question is, if what they were saying is true… why did my previous packages get delivered okay? am i being scammed into buying more boxes from them? please let me know!
I love Pirate Ship! Their customer service is top notch. I had an insurance claim for a missing package, and they handled it extremely quickly. I use them for pretty much everything now.
2:52 where do you get the free brown boxes?
"Everybody is going to make a mistake when they start out." That's really true and you still goof even after years every once in a while, thanks to changes like the USPS long package deal recently. As much as we'd LIKE it to be: shipping isn't completely an exact science. Thanks for featuring the box reducer/sizer tool. I resize boxes a lot, and that's a real struggle for me, even more now that I have arthritis in both hands. I'm happy to have that recommended. I'll pick one up.
Can you do a video on offering free shipping
How do you show more than one shipping option on your listing in ebay?
Thanks so much for covering shipping so thoroughly! I'm brand new to reselling & I've been searching YouTube for videos that explain which of the free USPS boxes can be used for shipping items through USPS, especially now that Ground Advantage is now in place. You have answered all of my questions & you are the only one in my weeks of searching that covered all of this information. Thank you so very much!!! I now feel much more confident after watching this video, thank you again!
If I just throw a box or a Rubix Cube inside a poly mailer, is that considered non machinable and subject to a surcharge because the dimensions aren't the same for the whole package? I mean it will be lumpy and not exactly square or rectangular throughout the entire pkg. For example I get medicine bottles shipped to me at home and they are just tossed in a poly mailer. How do I determine the size, is it just the size of the poly mailer regardless if it's lumpy? Hope you can help me with this because I've searched everywhere trying to figure out how to calculate the dimensions.
Thank you so much for this video!
I’m brand new to eBay and frankly totally lost when it comes to shipping. Still relatively new to Poshmark but at least shipping there doesn’t scare me and now thanks to you I realize I can just keep using usps priority shipping and don’t have to figure out where to buy the mailers from, etc.
Thank you!
Don't use calculated shipping. Always put a flat shipping rate a few dollars lower than it will be. Feels like a good strategy considering I'm usually a few dollars into something I'm flipping times 10 to 20
Thanks for the updated info on shipping ❤
Can customers choose whether they want Ground Advantage or Priority?
Thanks, I never thought about reducing the size of the box.
Can you ship boxes using USPS Ground Advantage or just poly-mailers?
Im trying to ship shoes to a buyer & USPS shoe box isnt showing up? It just says small, medium, large?
Which one is the shoebox?