topic Re: Posting small objects through letter delivery in Selling

Posting small objects through letter delivery

sayf_mohtadi — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 03:44:57 GMT

I'm very new to selling on eBay and I would love to get some help. The objects I intend to sell are very small (ie phone cases and protectors) and thin. I heard that such objects may be shipped using an envelope and through letter delivery, hence being very cheap. Can someone tell me the risks associated with such a delivery method as well as how to avoid these risks.

One more thing, do CD mailers count as envelopes (and hence cheap shipping)?

Also, i noticed these CD mailers http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/100-152x132x16mm-CD-DVD-DISC-MAILER-Mailing-Box-Rigid-Envelope-Large-Letter-Size-/320975318555?pt=AU_Envelopes_Bags_Boxes&hash=item4abb9eae1b for a pretty cheap price. Ik this question may seem stupid, but I'm extremely new to all this... Would these envelopes need stamps before being shipped out? If so, how many stamps will they require? How do I know which envelopes need stamps and which don't?

I really need help and would really really really appreciate it if someone could help me solve my problems. Thanks 🙂

Re: Posting small objects through letter delivery

lyndal1838 — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 04:15:32 GMT

You need to pay postage on any item that is not prepaid. The amount to be paid will depend on the size and weight of the packaging/envelope.

Check the Australia Post website for postage rates.

Re: Posting small objects through letter delivery

treasuress.4207 — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 04:46:41 GMT

Hi SMC!

I post a lot of 'flat' items too, so I use a lot of envelopes with stamps. The rigid envelopes you are talking about are great protection for posting things like phone / ipad cases etc but they are not pre-paid - you will need to put stamps on them. You CAN buy prepaid ones from Australia Post, but in my opinion it's not good value for money.

This is Aus Post's guide on what they call "large letters" - it will tell you how many stamps to put on what.

Hope it helps 😄

Re: Posting small objects through letter delivery

tournamenttackleaustralia — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 04:57:44 GMT

Hi,

Many sellers ship large letter for basically one reason, Cheaper rates so they are competitive (price wise) and can offer "free shipping". Ebay loves free shipping, unfortunately free shipping is not free for instance those cd mailers you have a link to will need somewhere between 1.40 to 3.50 worth of stamps on each one when sending depending on weight . All letters will need some sort of stamps there is no free postage in this country see link below for letter rates

http://auspost.com.au/parcels-mail/domestic-letters.html

There are also many risks involved that you have to consider and deem acceptable before you choose this method for shipping they are;
No tracking
Items go missing all the time so you will have to replace/refund the buyer (Auspost take no responsibility)
Items get damaged so will have to replace/refund the buyer (Auspost take no responsibility)

However you will find that in your category most people probably use this method to be competitive on price and deem the losses acceptable and covered by their turnover.

Hope that helps.

Cheers Chris

Re: Posting small objects through letter delivery

sayf_mohtadi — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 05:09:53 GMT

Wow thank you! That really helps! 🙂

How do I know how many stamps an envelope will require in order to meet shipping requirements? Also, do you think those CD mailers are good value for money?

Re: Posting small objects through letter delivery

i-love-my-sheep — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 05:23:42 GMT

Further to what the others have already said, if you feel it's going to be a long term venture, buy your envelopes in bulk. I bought 200 small padded bags for $25.50 with 'free' postage. The padded bags are 180mm x 100mm. If the item including the padded bag is under 20mm, it usually costs me $1.40 to post (my items are small and light). Anything larger than 20mm, I send as a parcel in a box.

The seller I bought these from has all sizes of every type of envelope and when I was looking around for them, was the cheapest on eBay at the time (in Australia). Here is the item number for the ones I got 220678678187 and you can then search the sellers other items if those ones are too small for your needs. They run both buy it now's and auctions, but most of the time, the final auction price is higher than the buy it now price, so easier just to buy it now. I received them 2 days after payment.

For the first few sales, take them unstamped to the PO and make sure they come in under 20mm. Once they exceed 20mm, you get charged parcel rate, which is $7.20 for up to 500g. Once you''ve posted a few, you'll get to know whether they are the right size or not. If the items are difference sizes, make a 20mm slot that you can check the items before postage. I just measured one up on some thick cardboard and cut out a hole 20mm wide. If something looks borderline, I'll package it up, then slide it through the slot.

If they are just things like the clear plastic screen protectors, they could just got in a normal envelope with a 70c stamp (providing they are under 5mm).

If you plan to charge for postage on your items, make sure you factor in eBay's fees. They take 9% of the sale price and 9% of the postage cost, so factor that into both the item and the postage. If you will be offering free postage, remember to factor the postage cost and fees into the purchase price. If you will be running auctions, don't start them at 99c. Start them at the lowest price you are willing to accept for your items because often things sell with only one bid. The last thing you want is to be paying people to take your items off you. You need to make a profit, not just eBay.

Good luck with it all!

Re: Posting small objects through letter delivery

i-love-my-sheep — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 05:26:42 GMT

@sayf_mohtadi wrote:
Wow thank you! That really helps! 🙂

How do I know how many stamps an envelope will require in order to meet shipping requirements? Also, do you think those CD mailers are good value for money?

I just checked your link above and that's the same seller I used. I believe their prices are pretty good, in my opinion. Someone else may know someone who has better value. I need to buy more padded bags soon and I'll be buying from that seller again.

Re the stamps, if it's under 125g and under 20mm, you will need 2x 70c stamps. Standard stamps are 70c. Using the table above, depending on the weight, depends on how many stamps. If you're unsure, take them to the PO for the first few times.

Re: Posting small objects through letter delivery

polly.the.cat — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 05:49:56 GMT

Welcome to Our Boards smc-finance,

Yes starting out for the first time can become rather daunting, but there are a number of well meaning and knowledgeable "Boardies" on here to help you. Please keep in mind that people here give of their time & effort for nothing, just to help out fellow ebayer's, well, those that want to be helped. Treat them with Respect and be "Thankful" of the time and help given to you.

ln answer to your questions about cd-mailers, etc, etc, it might be wise to get a cheap set of Digital small Scales, l did, to weigh your envelopes, and cd-mailers. Download and print out the info that you need from Aust. Post and place it in an A4 Plastic sheet, l did this, and it keeps it nice and clean, and shows how organized you are.

There will be trips and falls, but get up, dust yourself off, and keep going. All the Best & Love your determination already, great. !!!!

Re: Posting small objects through letter delivery

sayf_mohtadi — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 05:56:04 GMT

Thank you so much "i love my sheep". You've just solved all my problems

Thanks attic! I'll keep that in mind

Re: Posting small objects through letter delivery

clarry100 — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 06:15:26 GMT

A decent set of kitchen digital scales is a must have.

We spent about $35 at a kitchen shop and I have tested them against the scales my local PO uses.

We are awlays with 2-3 grams of the same weight as the PO so we are confident in what they are telling us.

Most of our stuff goes by large letter in standard white B5 sized envelopes and almost always between 5mm - 20mm thick and under 125gm and therefore 2x stamps.

Some will fit into a DL sized envelope and are under the 5mm thick so 1x stamp.

Following the guidelines set out above we have never been pinged for underpaid postage. And we just drop all our large letter envelopes into our local red street box.

We get around 1 in 500 or so mailed out reported lost. In such cases we ask the buyer to validate their paypal mailing address and check at their local PO or with neighbours in case they are holding it. If all is good we just mail out a replacement item. Self insurance I guess.

We get the occasional scammer who you can tell is lying but not much you can do about it with large letter. Just suck it up and move on.

If you argue with them you will almost certainly win yourself a big red dot. So in those cases we resend then block them.

Re: Posting small objects through letter delivery

tournamenttackleaustralia — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 06:46:49 GMT

"cant insert link to even Auspost without post being deleted...."

However you will find that in your category most people probably use this method to be competitive on price and deem the losses acceptable and covered by their turnover.

Hope that helps.
Cheers Chris

not sure where this reply went first time around?... Oh wait must have got deleted becuase of the auspost link??

Re: Posting small objects through letter delivery

spottymeg53 — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 08:38:55 GMT

Postage can be very tricky at times I sell a lot of Magazines which I post in a Large Cardbord Envelope and Charge $3.00 to the buyer but as often happens a buyer will buy 5 or 6 at a time. To post these from SA to Vic would cost $13.40 but if I put them in 2 different envelopes it only costs $7.00 ant the buyer is always more than happy

Gayle

Re: Posting small objects through letter delivery

treasuress.4207 — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 08:51:04 GMT

I use digital kitchen scales too but mine are free tupperware ones hehe I returned my old analog scales to be fixed but they couldn't

Re: Posting small objects through letter delivery

aps1080 — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 09:07:04 GMT

I post DVD's in A5 paper envelopes as letters. Only ever had one case break and for what I saved over sending them as parce;s, I came out ahead.

Not sure I would post CD's without padding due to them being more fragile.

Re: Posting small objects through letter delivery

sayf_mohtadi — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 12:06:54 GMT

Thanks for help guys.

Last thing, does having 2 stamps on the envelope make it fall under a "large letter".

Re: Posting small objects through letter delivery

sayf_mohtadi — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 12:42:25 GMT

Ohhhhhh, just read through all the replies very carefully and now I understand everything. Thank you so much guys!!!!! You guys are awesome, voluntarily helping others. I can't thank you guys enough

Re: Posting small objects through letter delivery

lyndal1838 — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 12:59:55 GMT

It depends on the size and weight whether it is a large letter.

Re: Posting small objects through letter delivery

cq_tech — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 13:04:54 GMT

I post single DVDs in a PB1 padded bag with 2 stamps as they weigh around 118g. Double DVDs unfortunately weigh over 125g so I cover them in bubble wrap and send them in prepaid C5 envelopes which cost $1.70 (but take up to 500g for the same price). I send 2 x DVDs in a PB2 padded bag with 3 stamps, and all of the above go as large letters as they are all under 50mm thickness.

Re: Posting small objects through letter delivery

i-love-my-sheep — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 22:27:35 GMT

Everyone is here to help. If you have any other questions in relation to starting up selling, don't hesitate to ask. Just start a new topic for each different query so they don't get jumbled and you can access the answers better.

It's so much better for new sellers to pick others brains, because in the early days, we all made silly mistakes that cost us money. In the very early days, I didn't know you could open a dispute against a non payer to get your fees back. I found out after the second one when i hit the help pages. At that point I didn't know about these forums, so went in search myself.

It's even useful picking other sellers brains when you start to create your listings because what may look good to you, may not look good to others. A lot of people use the phone app these days so listings need to look good on those too.

Anyway, don't be a stranger. Glad we all got you sorted on the very important issue of postage.

Re: Posting small objects through letter delivery

aceantman — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 00:25:37 GMT

Some tips

Get a post letter gauge. this is invaluable some post offices will give you one.

Buy padded bags in bulk from Aus post, about 50 cent each,

print your own return address labels quicker than writting it, enclose an invoice , .

charge a set rate ,when you get to now your products.

Anything more than 20mm will cost 7.20 minimum to post.

Use ebay Satchals , ebay postage if larger than a letter.

Remember to cover your selves in the case of loss. Add a little bit extra for handling and postage, eg where i live if i need to pick parcels up it cost me $10 if i need to pick up a parcel as i need to catch a bus, train ro get to the postoffice, car fuel.etc

remember to cover ebay and paypal fees mine run about 17% due to small cost of items and ebay paypal fees. and 10% on postage .

Stick to your pricing structure.

hope this helps a little

Anthony