Ebay Logo - How to Ship on Ebay
Learning how to ship on Ebay can be confusing when you first try to sell on ebay. It is actually very easy though! You will need supplies and postage. Order early so you will have them on hand when it is time to weigh and post your listing!
How to Ship on Ebay – Getting your Ebay Shipping Supplies
We need our supplies first. Depending on what you sell, you will need different shipping supplies (boxes, polymailers, or bubble mailers).
- Polymailers are best if your item is made out of cloth. They are
waterproof and easy to use. Amazon has great prices on polymailers. I found that if I buy in bulk (cheapest way) then the 10″ x 13″ are best. You will save a little by going smaller, but there are a lot of products that will not fit in a smaller size. It will cost more to go larger, but most of your items will fit in a 10″ x 13″. Expect to pay $0.11-$0.21 each (when bought in a group of 100).
- Padded Envelopes are best if you are selling CD’s/tapes/books. Padded envelopes are more expensive. If the bulk of what you sell is CD’s/tapes/books then it is probably easier to go with these. Most media items will fit in a 7 x 12, which you can expect to pay $0.20-$0.30 each for (bought in groups of 100).
- Boxes are best if you have large items or if you plan on shipping Ebay packages priority. You can get free boxes (and flat rate envelopes) from USPS if you ship priority. Sometimes this is worth it – sometimes not. I use both this method and the polymailers because I ship a lot of items that can go first class.
Note: if you recycle a priority mailer or box then you still have to send it priority!
- Postal tape. If you use boxes then don’t forget the tape. The envelopes are self sealing so you should have some on hand, but you will not need as much.
How to Ship Packages on Ebay – Purchasing your Ebay Postage
For two of these methods you will need a home scale. You can find these on ebay (don’t forget to shop through your Ebates account to get your 3% ebay rebate) or Amazon. If you want a free scale then see “method three”!
. If you want a free scale then see “method three”!- THE POST OFFICE – Go to your post office and have them weigh it and add the postage. You will have to get Delivery Confirmation and it will cost you $0.70 at the counter.
- PAYPAL – Weigh it at home and print your postage at paypal. You can tape this postage to the box or you can purchase paypal labels so they will stick to the box/mailer. When your buyer pays through paypal you will see a link that says “ship this”. Click on it and it will take you through the steps to mail the package. Delivery confirmation will be free for priority shipping and only $0.18 for other methods if you use paypal to ship. There is no fee for printing.
- STAMPS.COM – Weigh it at home and print your postage with Stamps.com. I love Stamps.com because I use a Dymo Labelwriter instead of my printer (I bought it when I had my inkjet). If you print postage on an inkjet then it will run through the ink fast. The labels cost about $0.10 each. You can still use your printer though – and I really recommend at least starting out with this method… Why? Because you will get your scale and some postage for free! Start at Mr. Rebates use their link to Stamps.com. You will get a 4 week trial for free. If you continue the service then you will get $15 back from Mr. Rebates (which almost pays for the month) plus a free scale, a supplies kit, and $25 in free postage. You will get the delivery confirmation discount (free for priority mail and $0.18 for other methods). It normally costs $15.99 a month, but with the free scale, $15 back through Mr. Rebates, and $25 in postage you will come out ahead. You can cancel the service and move to a different shipping method and keep the scale and rebate (you will have to use the postage through stamps.com)
Stamps.com - ship packages on Ebay
- USPS.COM – The final method is through USPS.com. You can only ship priority or express this way and you will need a scale (see the second paragraph for how to get a scale), but you will get a discount on the postage and the delivery confirmation if you ship this way! It isn’t much, but you do get a discount. The postage will be printed by your printer.
For those of you who do not want to go to the post office, you can go to USPS.com to schedule a pickup by your mail carrier if you use one of the print postage at home methods 🙂
There you have it – how to ship packages on Ebay!
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you! This article is very helpful!
Thanks for the tip! 🙂
Regina
You’re welcome, glad I can help!
what a very informative article. I am thinking of selling some things on ebay and this was a great article. Thanks. Also I missed the Denny’s breakfast too. But only because the closest on is 18 miles. Not very frugal to go that far.
I figured Denny’s would have a line although when they showed it on the news at about 6:30 there wasn’t 🙂
Bubble mailers are definitely the way to go. When I started I tried shipping items in manilla envelopes with the item wrapped in bubble wrap thinking that this would be cheaper. When I actually sat down and calculated out all the cost it was about the same as bulk bubble mailers and took more time to pack.
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Good point!
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