Shipping your items is the most important process of all. It seems all of the problems, and all of the things that can go wrong in a transaction happen during the shipment process. Sure, things can go wrong at any point, but shipping is where I see most problems occur. Let's discuss what can go wrong, and how to avoid those problems.
I am going to assume that you will have access to multiple carriers. Here in Cincinnati, I have the post office, of course, plus UPS, FedEx, as well as Greyhound for over-sized items. You will want to grab a notebook of some sort and create with it a sort of ebay "cheat sheet". One page with the addresses, phone numbers and business hours of all of the carriers in your area, as well as the phone numbers of customer service (usually a 1-800 number).
[On these cheat sheet lines, it'll be a good idea to write down paypal's toll-free number, 1-800-221-1161, as well as your means to contact ebay, should the need arise. If you plan to head out to thrift stores in your area for ebay-able items, you can write down all the thrift stores in your area, their addresses and phone numbers, managers' names, and dates they hold 50% off sales or other promotional sales on a regular basis, if they do so at all. You will find yourself referring to your "cheat book" often!]
In your cheat book, you are going to want to write down the websites of all the carriers, and create accounts within each. You can create accounts on USPS, UPS and FedEx in much the same way that you created accounts on ebay and paypal, and in doing so, you may open yourself up for shipping discounts just for having opened up an account. Account information is more things to write in your cheat book: log in names and passwords.
In my first sentence in this post I said shipping is the most important process of all. This is because it's the one you have absolutely the least control over. Sure, you can select which carrier to use, if you have more than one to choose from. But, once the item leaves your hands, you have totally lost full control over that item, which is now at the complete mercy of the carrier.
No carrier is totally perfect. Some are better than others. UPS is excellent in most regards. I've found that UPS is cheaper and faster than the post office for most items I ship. UPS also offers free insurance on your items, up to $100, and the ability to add additional insurance on top of that, should your item be valued at over $100.
UPS, being a private entity, also has a greater stake in handling your items with care. UPS is a company, like any other, whose objective is to show a profit at the end of the year. Part of the philosophy of showing a profit is to minimize and eliminate waste and loss. That said, UPS (and FedEx, for that matter) have a reason to handle your item with care. They know that if your item arrives damaged, that they are going to be held responsible, and will be expected to pay out a loss claim for such damage or loss. For this reason, you'd better believe that UPS and FedEx are going to be on their toes about caring for your parcel and getting it to its destination in one piece, intact, and safely.
The post office, not so much. USPS lost how many billions of dollars last year? Do you think USPS is too concerned with losses? I would venture to guess that USPS will be a thing of the past in 20 years. They simply have lost their ability to do things well.
That's not to say that they are completely incompetent. They handle a billion pieces of mail daily, and most arrive at their destinations on time and intact, and for this amazing feat they deserve credit.
It should be obvious that you are going to have to place some careful consideration on just how you package your item to minimize damage in transit. There needs to be a delicate balance on packing items. Something fragile, such as a lamp, will need more padding than something like a necklace. As you are writing your listing, you'll need to be conscious of how much padding, and how big of a box you'll need to pack each item you list, because in most cases, the cost of shipping an item is a function of the items' weight, it's dimensions, and how fast it needs to be delivered.
Something fragile, such as a lamp or vase, may need to be boxed in one box, then placed inside a larger box, with foam peanuts or wadded-up newspapers filling the gap between both boxes. I've found that this measure works well. But what does this measure also do? It also adds to the weight, as well as to the full dimensions of the item, all of which adds to the shipping cost. And it doesn't take a genius to figure out that buyers are going to be weighing the costs of shipping an item when making buying decisions.
You could always explain your shipping process and costs in your listings, which is what I sometimes do. This not only can instill a degree of confidence in your buyer that you've placed some thought on just how you intend to get your item to your buyer, but it can also emphasize just why the shipping estimate that they see is $22.50, when other sellers are only charging $16 to ship the same thing. Sometimes explaining the costs involved goes a long way to convince buyers your item is the best choice.
Sometimes I'll add something like this to the description of one of my more fragile items: "This vase is extremely fragile, and to ensure that it arrives to you safely, in one piece, I plan to double box the vase, and use foam padding between the two layers of cardboard. This added foam and cardboard adds protection, but it also adds to the cost of shipping the item. Please consider my efforts to get this vase to you in one piece, as well as the added costs involved, when making your buying decision." There. Simple, to-the-point, explanatory, and professional-sounding.
The discerning buyer who really wants that vase likely isn't going to be too concerned with the added costs of the extra shipping materials, anyways, and may even appreciate your conscious effort to ensure its' safe arrival.
I've already mentioned that UPS holds a special place in my heart because of their business practices, but there are times when I'll prefer the post office, instead.
For items with a total shipping weight of 13 ounces or less (a total shipping weight is the weight of the item all packaged up), USPS First Class Parcel can't be beat. It's very fast, and very economical.
And for bigger, bulkier items, USPS Parcel Post will be the way to go. Parcel Post is slower, but also more cost-effective than Priority Mail or UPS Ground.
There will be times when UPS Ground will not only be cheaper than USPS Parcel Post, but faster as well. I that's the case, why not use it? You'll save a few bucks, and your buyer will be delighted to get his item the following Monday, instead of the the following Thursday by USPS Parcel Post.
Although I don't use FedEx as much, occasionally I'll log on to the FedEx site and compare rates, particularly for larger or heavier items. I've found that in most cases FedEx's rates are comparable to UPS, and since UPS's drop-off location is closer to me than FedEx, UPS is the more logical choice. With the price of gas, you'll definitely want to be factoring in the cost of driving your parcels to the post office, UPS or FedEx, not to mention your own time involved.
I try to make sure I am at my house when my mail carrier is due to make her appearance. I can simply hand her my boxes, and save myself a trip to the post office. Same goes for UPS. With paypal, you can print ALL of your postage at home, so there is never a need to head out and stand in a line. And if a mail carrier or UPS delivery man is going to swing by my house at some point throughout the day anyway, why even waste the gas to head out to either?
I know the sounds of the UPS truck, and I run out and flag down the driver if I hear him coming down my street. My next door neighbor gets a UPS delivery every other day, it seems, making it quite convenient for me to simply run my boxes over when I see the truck parked in front of my neighbors' house.
When 5:00 rolls around and if I've missed one or the other, that's when I start making plans to make a run for the nearest UPS drop-off location or for the post office such that my items make it out on that day's pick-up. But I generally won't waste my time or gas if I don't have to, and you'd better believe, at today's gas prices, if I need to head out at all, I am going to think of two or three other stops I need to make while I'm out to make the most efficient use of my time and gas.
I can hit the post office, UPS, an ATM, drop off a movie at the movie kiosk, buy lottery tickets, fill up the car, return movies at the library and get bread and milk, all in the same trip. And since I print out all of my postage at home, there is NEVER standing in lines at my post office. It's kind of a neat feeling walking in to the post office with a dozen boxes and dropping them off at the counter, totally by-passing the line altogether, as the 12 people in line watch with amazement my efficiency and the fore-thought I had to do what they likely could have done at home, but didn't.
In most cases, your buyers are going to decide which carrier they wish for you to use to ship their item. In most cases, if your listings are set up properly, your buyer will choose your item, which shipping method they want, buy your item and pay for it, all in a matter of minutes. This is how it happens to me 99% of the time. In most cases the buyer is going to opt for the cheapest means of shipping that I offer.
A buyer may buy a toy from me for $25, and pay $9.75 for USPS Parcel Post shipping. A little bit of calculating on my end shows me that UPS Ground will ship it for $7.60. Usually I will send the buyer an email saying that "I'd be happy to upgrade to the faster UPS Ground...." I won't tell the buyer that the reason I'd be happy to do so is because is because in this case UPS is $2.15 cheaper, or else the buyer is going to want a refund. The buyer is likely going to be ecstatic to get the faster upgrade. I like to get a tacit approval from my buyer to switch carriers before I actually do so, but usually this isn't an issue- most will willingly agree for a faster upgrade for no additional cost to them.
The reason for my desire to get an approval from my buyer is simple. What if I upgrade and switch carriers, and in doing so, the switched-to carrier ends up delivering the item damaged? The buyer is going to come back with "Well, if you had shipped by the other carrier that I had originally wanted, this wouldn't have happened." Maybe. Maybe not. The other carrier is just as likely to damage the item, right?
Items getting damaged or lost in the mail is pretty much the exception rather than the rule. If you pack things well, you'll find that 99%+ of your items will arrive safely, undamaged. Sure, one or two are going to experience some sort of delay, damage, getting lost, etc. But the standard rule is that pretty much everything
you ship within the US is going to arrive safely. Just be aware that things can and do sometimes go wrong.
Shipping internationally is another issue. Here, pretty much the only shipper available is the post office. Yes, UPS does offer international shipping, but their rates are generally prohibitive. The post office's international rates simply can't be beat. Check out my post involving selling to buyer in other countries for more information.
Finally I'd like to discuss shipping over-sized items. The post office and UPS will ship things that fit within their size guidelines. They will not ship oversize items. When in doubt, call the carriers 1-800 number and ask if they can ship your wooden rocking horse to Utah, and if so, what the rate will be.
Greyhound, however, can and will ship over-sized items. And they'll do it quickly, and quite inexpensively. So that large wooden rocking horse that neither UPS, USPS nor FedEx will touch, Greyhound will accept, and at a rate that would beat the other three (if the other three did accept the item).
No comments:
Post a Comment