Running a semi-busy business on ebay (need help speeding up the process)

TKPeters

We use Selling Manager Pro & select all our UK sales & select print an Invoice (with VAT)
We then put them all back into the printer in order & then select Paypal postage, which gets printed on the reverse of the invoice & also includes a returns address.

We then process the orders & placing the invoice into a clear document wallet & stick that to the front of the package.

Simon83

TKPeters wrote: »

We use Selling Manager Pro & select all our UK sales & select print an Invoice (with VAT)
We then put them all back into the printer in order & then select Paypal postage, which gets printed on the reverse of the invoice & also includes a returns address.

We then process the orders & placing the invoice into a clear document wallet & stick that to the front of the package.

Well, the problem I find when using ebay to print papers off, is that if our customers plae a comment in the notes section when paying via paypal, you wont see this unless you print through paypal.

TKPeters

Simon83 wrote: »

Well, the problem I find when using ebay to print papers off, is that if our customers plae a comment in the notes section when paying via paypal, you wont see this unless you print through paypal.

On Selling Manager Pro, it shows eBay Note: There is a message from buyer. we then click on the sales record & copy the note into the box below (edit it if necessary) & its printed with the invoice.

EDIT: Also if you using Firefox to print off multiple invoice, select landscape, as a bug with firefox using portrait seems to miss every 3rd page

Simon83

We can have upto 20 parcels for the post office to take, these have differant weights, it can be so long and annoying for people waiting in the post office.....

what other options is there, is their scales for the laptop, then I can print my own postage labels out.

is this something you do?

StaffsSW

If you regularly have a fair number of parcels daily, it may be worth asking the PO if you can drop them in one morning, let them process them in their own time, and pay either later that evening, or the following morning when you take the next load in. I'm sure they are glad of your business, especially in this climate.

You could look at SmartStamp which allows you to print off your own stamps from home via a website, and then drop the parcels in at the Post Office, but they do not receive any revenue from this method, and supporting local Post Offices is something I'm quite puritanical about (thanks Soolin for word of the day!). You could also drop them in at a Sorting Office, or if your sales are over a certain annual volume, consider something like PPI - The Royal mail website has a specific section for eBay users that covers the majority of options - http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/product1?catId=27500667&mediaId=79400741

With regards scales, I use a set of digitals that weigh up to 5kg in 1g increments. They are actually for monitoring the weight of my tortoise, but they can multi-task pretty well! Anything over 5kg is a bathroom scales job, but as most of the items I sell are regular lines, I only weigh items as I get a new line, or have a combined package to send.

TKPeters

Simon83 wrote: »

We can have upto 20 parcels for the post office to take, these have differant weights, it can be so long and annoying for people waiting in the post office.....

As stevew8975 says use a set of digital kitchen scales & then enter the weight into Paypal's postage system (similar to RM Smartstamp without the monthly fee's) to save the extra waiting around.

If using 1st class standard you can just drop them off at the local post office

All our UK parcels are sent 1st class recorded & we use a Royal Mail posting book (P1038) with the supplied Recorded labels (P2223) from Royal Mail Business Stationary on 08457 950 950 (just tell them your a business & that the address in your office address) & the people in the Post Office can then put them through as Bulk Postings without having to enter the address on each one.

ArmitageShanks

If your local PO is small try not to use paypal because that wont help keep them open.

TKPeters

They get paid the same commission for accepting the packages whether they do or don't sell you the actual postage

ArmitageShanks

Really? We were told otherwise by our local postmaster and also by someone in the main PO.

Perhaps they do, but it's probably tuppence.

soolin

TKPeters wrote: »

They get paid the same commission for accepting the packages whether they do or don't sell you the actual postage

My local PO also mentioned that they were unhappy at the people who prepaid their postage as this affected their turnover and made them lower in the 'Post offices to be saved' list, they even asked one of their regulars to go back to buying his postage over the counter.