Ebay - Posting/Packing stress

bylromarha

Another one here who has a friendly small post office who loves her ebay customers and works hard to keep them happy.

She'll take parcels+cash in the morning and give you proof of postings and change in the afternoon/next day.

She'll make sure she gets a colleague to open another till if she sees an ebayer in the queue.

And she knows both my kids by name and has seen them behave beautifully, screaming, fighting, bored, playing nicely, reading and everything inbetween as they've grown up going to the PO every day. Don't know how old baby is and what the routine is, but have you thought about timing the visits so she's just been fed and less likely to scream or for just after a nap, or earlier in the day. You know DD best, so you'll be able to calculate the best times to take her out.

soolin

free3reeder01 wrote: »

Hermum I like your idea, might give that a try. It's the time consuming nature of loading box after box onto the weighing machine while people tap their feet behind me and my darling daughter practices screeching until she turns purple!

I've looked into using a postal company but it seems to me that the cost is pretty high - I don't know if ebay users would accept those charges. But I guess if I explain I use a courier service they would understand.

2kg is about the cut off point for saving money by switching to a courier, although with standard parcels the weight can be higher before it pays to switch.

If you charge for a courier even though RM will be cheaper you will lose some buyers and start getting issues from others wanting to know what is wrong with using RM and reducing yoru postage costs. Buyers no longer disregard the postage element, they will normally be comparing you with other people and if you are expensive will just ignore you.

Also, many of us have so many issues with couriers that we would actively seek out sellers that do not use them .

li'l_p

I use the Royal Mail postage online and it has revolutionised the way I post things. I no longer have to queue, as I just pass everything in at the post office. You do not need to wait at the counter, UNLESS you want proof of postage or a service that goes beyond First or Second class standard.

I have had a few showdowns with some of my local PO's who reckoned I needed to have every item re-weighed by them to check that the correct postage was applied, however after writing to Royal Mail I have received confirmation that this is not required and I can just drop them off.

Try Freecycle or local recycle group, as there are quite often people on there that have jiffy bags & bubble wrap they are willing to get rid of.

icearrows

I buy packaging materials on eBay (mainly send clothes and plastic mailers are just a few pounds for 50-100). My local post office lets me go in, drop off a bag of packages and come back and pay the next day. Like others have said, small post offices tend to love their eBayers as it helps keep them afloat. Maybe if you usually go to a big post office try a smaller corner-shop style one.

LauraHush

Hiya, I share your frustration. Postage costs just keep going up and up! I wrap things in tissue paper then pop them in a simple plastic mailbag which I buy in bulk from ebay (hehe) - generally works out at about 15p for packaging per iten which isn't bad, but I guess this wouldn't work for fragile items - I usually sell clothing.

Hermia

I use the Royal Mail's online postage and just post stuff in the postbox. My local PO opens at 9.30am and shuts at 5.30pm so I can't get there in the week and the sorting office is too far away. I sell small, inexpensive items so am happy to risk not getting proof of posting. I just refund the person if something goes missing, but I haven't had a lost parcel in ages. If I have a potentially dodgy buyer or an expensive item I will go to the PO on a Saturday (and that always reminds me why I now use online postage!).