How do you ship small packages

DrRod · Feb 17, 2020

As part of my general clean up and down-sizing effort, I am about to mount a sales campaign on eBay. I'm planning to sell old toys, antique cameras, automobilia, and the like. For me, the hardest part of the transaction is mailing the stuff out after sale. It needs to be convenient and economical at the same time time. So I'm asking your advice on UPS vs FedEx vs post office.

And do you find the boxes "if it fits it ships" a good value?

Thanks

kcflhrc · Feb 17, 2020

My experience is USPS is horrible so I always use UPS. Tracking with USPS is really bad. If you have a UPS Store close to you that is what I would use. No experience with the boxes however.

fried1765 · Feb 17, 2020

kcflhrc said:
My experience is USPS is horrible so I always use UPS. Tracking with USPS is really bad. If you have a UPS Store close to you that is what I would use. No experience with the boxes however.

USPS is almost always the least cost!

kcflhrc · Feb 17, 2020

fried1765 said:
USPS is almost always the least cost!

That is true, but they suck the most.

downsizingnow48 · Feb 17, 2020

We've used the USPS flat rate express boxes a lot, no issues at all. UPS is always more expensive. On eBay can you offer buyers a choice? If so let them make that decision and pay accordingly.

RickB · Feb 17, 2020

kcflhrc said:
That is true, but they suck the most.

Fast, cheap, good. Pick any two.

RNeumann · Feb 17, 2020

USPS is the way to go- especially with eBay. Go onto the USPS website and get the boxes you need sent to you.....they don’t cost you anything to get them. I have ordered 100 or so at a time. I keep a good selection of the small, medium and large flat rate boxes on hand at all times. I also like the USPS Tyvek envelopes.

When you sell an item, eBay can do the shipping label for a bit of a discount.

If you plan to ship internationally, get a bunch of the USPS international label/envelope things that sticks to the front of the package.

grsthegreat · Feb 17, 2020

Ive been selling on eBay for many, many years. Have exclusively used USPS flat rate boxes as most of my stuff is small and light, but I sell it that way and have never had any issues with it. Nearly every package is delivered within 2-3 days. Tracking always spot on. I just sold a 75 foot 4 wire generator cord. With a bit of work I got it into a large flat rate box and shipped it across country for $18. Fedex wanted 45, ups wanted nearly 60. It was a no brainer. Thing weighed nearly 45 pounds.

KennyG · Feb 18, 2020

USPS flat rate boxes are pretty easy but be very careful in packing if the object is in any way fragile. We see a large percentage of flat rate boxes mangled. It almost seems like they target them for rough handling.

Oaktree · Feb 18, 2020

kcflhrc said:
My experience is USPS is horrible so I always use UPS. Tracking with USPS is really bad. If you have a UPS Store close to you that is what I would use. No experience with the boxes however.

I haven't noticed a big difference one way or the other between the 3. For small-ish packages I use the USPS 100% of the time, if for no reason other than the cost is a little lower and it's WAY more convenient. Post office is 10 min away, and is open 8a-5p M-F and 8-noon on Saturday. Fedex is 45 min away, and is only open 10a-4p M-F. UPS is even worse...the local depot's counter is only open from 5-6:30p M-F. That's right, only open an hour and a half a day!! Staples is an option for UPS, but I believe they add a surcharge to UPS's already high rates. YMMV.

For something large and/or kind of heavy, yeah go with one of the package outfits, they're better equipped to handle larger items.