New at selling

[trudy66]

I am about to start selling pre owned clothing items. I have spent time reading posts on here to learn the ropes. I have certainly gleened alot from problems posted.

Question now is - best way to post - do I use ebay posting or buy pst bags frm the post office - cost effectiveness is the first consideration followed by smoth transaction all round. What d you use to weigh parcels easily please?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thx.

[phorum_junkie*]

I use the ebay satchels with the ebay labels as it is slightly cheaper and as long as you lodge them over counter and get a receipt you have all the tracking you need. For items over $50 I also add SOD so if it does go missing I can claim from Aus Post as I don't see why I, the buyer, ebay or Paypal should be out of pocket for AP's stuff ups.

If for any reason I can't use an ebay satchel I use my own packaging if it is under 500g as it is cheaper than a plain, AP 500g satchel.

If an item can be packed thin enough I send by letter post, registered if it is more than 20 bucks as that is the most I am prepared to lose if an untracked letter goes missing.

Everything is placed in a ziplock bag so there is less chance of damage if the outer packaging is ripped which does happen.

I have never felt the need, as some do, to justify my delivery charges. I add around one to two dollars on top of the stamp cost per item and my postage cost star is perfectly fine without me having to tell everyone that I am charging for paper, ink, compliment card, plastic bag etc etc..

[trudy66]

thx Phorum,

What do you use to weigh with before listing pstal costs please? I am thinking of buying a digital scale but not sure if it should be kitchen, bathrom or parcel type

[clarry100]

We bought a little set of digital kitchen scales that go up to 5kg. I've checked the weights it says against my local po scales and they are always within a few grams of the same.
They cost around $30 or so.

[lyndal1838]

If you are mainly selling clothing the kitchen scales should be fine.....you will be mainly sending lower weight items.

[*tippy*toes*]

Like Clarry, I just use my $19 K-Mart bought digital kitchen scales. If the item is larger than the plate, I'll stand something on the scales first, like a cup or a box, then tare it back to zero and pop the item on. I was shocked to see that my scales weighed exactly the same as my local AP's scales. Not bad given my scales are flogged to death and never calibrated.

If you wanted to weigh something like clothing, I'd probably put a mixing bowl or something on the scales and pop the garment in that.

My items are either sent large letter or small parcel (under 500g). The only time it goes over that is if someone buys several items. I use all my own packaging and pay for postage over the counter. My eBay bill is enough each month without having a heap of postage costs tacked on. I'd rather just pay as I go. A lot are happy using the eBay postage system, but that's my preference.

I charge extra on my parcel items to cover the postage fees that eBay charge. My postage star is quite OK. As long as you don't go excessive with charging a bit extra, buyers don't usually have an issue paying a bit extra. I get charged $7.45 at the post office, I charge buyers $8.20.