| You have a number of choices when it comes to shipping your package. You can use the various services offered by the U.S. Postal Service (regular mail, Priority Mail, Express Mail, Media Mail, and so on) or any of the services offered by competing carriers , such as UPS or Federal Express. You can deal directly with any shipping service or you can use a local shipping store to handle the shipping ”and even the packing ”for you. (Know, however, that having another company do your work for you will cost you ”which means it's preferable to deal directly with your shipping service of choice.) Which service should you use? That's a good question, but not always an easy one to answer. Ultimately, you have to strike a compromise between cost, convenience, and speed. Pick the cheapest method possible, and customers will gripe when they don't receive their merchandise in a timely manner. Pick the fastest method possible, and customers will gripe that they're paying too much for shipping/handling. (You also may turn away potential buyers with your high shipping/handling fees.) Like I said, you need to strike a balance ”and also choose a shipper that is easy for you to deal with. And here's what makes the decision particularly difficult. Once you start checking around, you'll find that shipping rates vary wildly from one service to another ”and I mean wildly . For example, the costs for shipping a 2 pound box from New York to Los Angeles range from under $2.00 (USPS Media Mail) to around $30 (UPS Next Day Air and FedEx Priority Overnight). That's a big difference. You definitely want to check out shipping costs before you specify a shipper in your auction listings. To compare shipping costs for a variety of services on a single Web page, check out iShip (www.iship.com). This site not only lets you compare shipping costs, but also provides tracking services for all major carriers. This variation in shipping costs is yet another good reason to standardize the type of merchandise you sell in your eBay auctions. If you only sell one or two types of items, you can easily calculate your shipping fees ahead of time ”and know that they'll stay constant from auction to auction. If you're selling a wide variety of items, calculating shipping for all those different items becomes extremely time-consuming . (Standardizing the merchandise you sell also helps when buying your packing boxes ”you only have to buy one or two types of boxes, instead of having to keep a wide variety of packaging on hand.) Of course, cost isn't the only factor you want to consider. You also want to compare how long it takes the package to arrive , what kind of track record the shipping service has, and how convenient it is for you to use. If you have to drive 20 miles to get to a UPS office but you have a post office just down the street, that might offset a slightly higher cost for Priority Mail. The main thing to keep in mind is that you want to, as much as possible, settle on a single shipper and method of shipping for your eBay auctions. The last thing you want to do is to make trips to multiple shipping stations each day, and deal with a myriad number of packing boxes and shipping instructions. Standardize on a single shipper and method, and you'll make your shipping "department" much more efficient. Don't, and you'll waste a lot of time unnecessarily. tip  | You may need to factor weather conditions into which type of shipping you choose. If it's summertime and you're shipping something that might melt in extreme heat (like an old vinyl LP), pick the fastest shipping method possible. |
We'll look at each of the major shipping services separately, but with a decided emphasis on the U.S. Postal Service ”which is the shipper of choice for a majority of eBay businesses. U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS) is used by almost all eBay sellers, for at least some of their shipping needs. Dealing with the Postal Service is convenient, as most sellers have a post office within a short driving distance, and they're set up to easily handle the shipping of small items from individuals. The Postal Service offers several different shipping options: -
Priority Mail. This is the preferred shipping method for a majority of eBay sellers, big and small. Pricing is generally quite reasonable, and if you're shipping out a small item under two pounds , you can quote a flat rate ($3.85, as of summer 2003). Service is typically in the one-to-three day range, and ”as you learned in Chapter 7 ”the postal service has lots of free Priority Mail shipping boxes you can use. You can also print out your own Priority Mail shipping labels and postage, direct from the USPS Web site ”which we'll discuss in the "Automating Postage " section, later in this chapter. "Mike Sez"  | Which shipping services do I use? For small items, I typically default to USPS Priority Mail; it's inexpensive and relatively fast, plus I get free packing materials from my local post office. For CDs, DVDs, and books, I use USPS Media Mail, which is cheaper and almost as fast. For really big items (over 10 pounds or so), I go with UPS. But I find that, 9 times out of 10, Priority Mail or Media Mail does the job for me. |
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Express Mail. This is a less-used option, primarily because of its high cost ”considerably more expensive than Priority Mail. Express Mail is the Postal Service's fastest service, offering guaranteed next-day delivery 365 days a year, including weekends and holidays. Merchandise is automatically insured up to $100. -
First Class Mail. This is an option if your item fits into a standard- sized envelope or small box. It also provides the benefit of shipping directly from your mailbox, without necessitating a trip to the post office ” assuming you can figure out the correct postage yourself. Delivery is similar to Priority Mail: typically three days or less. If your item is relatively small, First Class can cost somewhat less than Priority Mail. -
Parcel Post. This used to be known as the "slow" USPS service for larger packages, but it's gotten faster of late ”and it's priced much lower than Priority Mail. Still, it might take seven to nine days to ship something Parcel Post from coast to coast , as opposed to Priority Mail's two (or three) days. -
Media Mail. This is a hidden treasure . Media Mail is what USPS used to call "book rate," and can be used to ship books, DVDs, videotapes, compact discs, and other printed and prerecorded "media." The rates are much cheaper than Priority Mail, especially when you're shipping heavy items, and delivery times are somewhere between First Class and Parcel Post ”typically less than a week. This is a good, low-cost way to ship many popular items; the cost for shipping a CD or DVD across country is less than two bucks, compared to $3.85 for Priority Mail. caution  | You can't use Media Mail to ship every type of printed material. The service is reserved for publications without advertising ”so you can't use it to ship magazines, newspapers, or comic books. |
You can find out more about USPS shipping at the USPS Web site, located at www.usps.com. You can also access the USPS Domestic Calculator (postcalc.usps.gov), shown in Figure 14.1, to calculate postage for all levels of service. Figure 14.1. Go to the U.S. Postal Service Domestic Calculator to calculate postage for your merchandise.  UPS While UPS is a little pricey for small, lightweight items, it's a good option for shipping larger or heavier packages. UPS offers a variety of shipping options, including standard UPS Ground, Next Day Air, Next Day Air Saver, and 2nd Day Air. You can find out more about UPS shipping ”and access a rate calculator ”at the UPS Web site, located at www.ups.com. FedEx FedEx is probably the fastest shipping service, but it's also the most costly. FedEx tends to target the business market (which can afford its higher rates), so it isn't widely used for auction or retail shipping.  | Less- experienced or occasional sellers might choose to do their packing and shipping through a professional shipping store, such as Mail Boxes Etc./The UPS Store (www.mbe.com). Because of the high fees these stores charge, this really isn't a good option for high-volume sellers. Still, you might want to go this route if you have the occasional large or overly fragile item to ship. You can check out shipping stores in your area at AuctionSHIP (www.auctionship.com), a national network of retail stores that provide packing and shipping services. |
FedEx's most popular shipping options are Priority Overnight, Standard Overnight, and 2Day. You can find out more about FedEx shipping at its Web site, located at www.fedex.com. You can access its rate finder directly at www.fedex.com/us/rates/. Other Shipping Companies USPS, UPS, and FedEx are the three most popular shipping services in the U.S.; they're not the only services available, however. Among the other services available are -
Airborne Express (www. airborne .com) -
DHL Worldwide Express (www.dhl.com), great for international shipments -
Purolator Courier (www.purolator.com) That said, you'll probably find that the U.S. Postal Service or UPS offers all the shipping options you need for your new eBay business. |
