Choosing the Shipping Procedure
Online auction sellers usually want buyers to pay the shipping costs. But you have to let bidders know up-front what they can expect to pay for shipping if they win the auction.
Choosing the shipping procedures for your auction business may be fairly simple. You may simply camp out in the eBay Shipping Center and let buyers choose to have their items shipped by the post office, UPS, or a freight company as needed. Or, you may face some tougher choices. For example:
Your shipping choices may be limited to just one or two services because of your geographical location.
You may have had a bad experience with one shipping service and absolutely refuse to do any more business with them.
You may have to limit buyers to just one or two shipping choices and require them to buy insurance because your auction specializes in easily broken collectible dishes or delicate electronic instruments.
Many of your auction items may have to travel by freight truck or in the cargo hold of a bus because they are too bulky or too heavy for conventional delivery services.
Through a Buyer's Eyes
You can learn a great deal about effective shipping by paying closer attention to how goods are packaged for transport. Even a lowly cardboard box can project a positive image for your auction business, especially if the container is clean, sturdy, neatly sealed with shipping tape, and with professional-looking labels applied to its outside. Most auction sellers have been buyers first and still spend a lot of time looking for treasures and bargains that they can resell or add to their personal collections. Learn the online auction world from the buyer's side before becoming a seller. You will have more empathy for auction customers who need an item shipped a special way or who insist on more packaging materials and insurance “just in case.”
Your experiences as a buyer can teach you plenty about shipping and sellers' attitudes. Bid on a few items you want or will need in your business and see how well, or poorly, they are packed when they arrive. Make notes on the good ways and bad ways they have been boxed. Save any boxes, bubble wrap, padding, or Styrofoam peanuts that can be reused once you start selling.
When you are ready to start selling items on eBay and other auctions, take careful stock of your packing and shipping preparations. Ask yourself:
How much do I really know about the shipping methods and delivery services that I plan to use?
Do I have the right scales and a good tape measure?
Have I found, bookmarked, and tested useful online tools such as locator maps, delivery service Web sites, and the U.S. Postal Service Web site?
Have I carefully read the how-to information and tips presented on each shipping site?
Have I set up the appropriate accounts with the services that I plan to use?
Do I have shipping supplies, including boxes, tape, scissors, box knives, foam pads, Styrofoam peanuts, bubble wrap, and other quality cushioning materials?
Save your old rolls of duct tape and masking tape for repair jobs and painting tasks around the house. These tapes should never be used on the outsides of shipping boxes. They won't hold up to the stress of shipping. They may also gum up important sorting machinery. In addition, a buyer receiving a box festooned with these tapes will be appalled at your shoddy handiwork. Use only real shipping tape.
UPS recommends sealing boxes with (1) pressure-sensitive or nylon-reinforced tape that is at least two inches wide or (2) three-inch-wide, water-activated, reinforced tape. Use three strips of tape on the bottom and top of each box. One strip should seal the middle seam. The other two should seal the edge seams.
Always treat shipping as an essential function of your business not as a necessary evil. Devote part of each day to replenishing shipping supplies, researching new or cheaper ways to ship, and gathering how-to packaging tips from shipping Web sites and other online auction sellers.
